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12
I am the Soul
Remember this! You do not have to go out anywhere to ascertain if there is an awakening of faith in renunciation, if there is a liking for renunciation. Just ask your self “Is there one passion, out of the passions that satiate the five senses; one passion that has begun to bother my soul?' You indulge in the passions, yet as you take the pleasure does this thought occur to you, 'O Jiva! How long will I enjoy? When will my urge for passions die down? I shall strive to curb my urges.' Brothers! A great effort is necessary for this. The urges do not leave so easily.
Sometimes we notice a naturally detached disposition in a person. But it is the result of efforts done earlier. Sometime in the past that Jiva would have made efforts to develop the feeling of detachment; the results become visible now.
Let us just consider the sense of taste. As we sit for a meal and as a food preparation is placed before us, our thoughts about taste-distaste awaken. Invariably, the feeling of 'this is liked and that is not arises. And yet, even today you come across so many people who have no exposure whatsoever to religion, but exercise a great control over their taste buds. You offer them anything to eat, they eat up without comment, without nursing any feeling of approval or resentment. Only when the womenfolk sit down for their meal do they realise that something was amiss in the preparations.
The natural command over the taste buds seen here is apparently the result of great efforts made by the Jiva in the past. It shows there have been attempts to conquer the sense of taste. That accounts for the natural indifference towards the taste. It is also possible to find such indifference towards other passions.
In Maharashtra, near Kolhapur, there is a pilgrim centre by name Kumbhojgiri. A Digamber Muni lives there. You will find in his life a natural fading of passions. We have lived in his satsang (good company), studied Digamber scriptures there. Once we asked him, “Munishri!! Don't you ever get angry?”?
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