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I am the Soul
727 The atma is afflicted by the illness of self-illusion. It is stuck in mithyatva. As such, first of all it is necessary to seek refuge at the feet of the Sadguru, who has himself realised the atma. Not just that, even the Sadguru was earlier afflicted as we are. He has also suffered the agony of mithyatva and then freed himself from it to attain samyaktva. He has experimented on himself. Its not as if he has learnt by merely working in external laboratories or by simply reading the scriptures. A doctor who treats the maladies of the body would have learnt through external experiments, reading or through others' experiences. He would not have experienced all the illnesses within his body. As such, he may be very experienced no doubt, but he cannot have experienced himself.
While in the spiritual path, it is a great advantage that the Sadguru, at whose feet one has to go to get rid of the illness of mithyatva, was himself a sufferer earlier. He took the medicine and cured himself. Therefore, there will not be any shortcoming in the advice and instructions that come from him. From his own experience he will tell you what the illness is and what the medicine should be. In fact, he has even experienced the joy of being healthy. He has a true awareness of the joy of the atma which comes with the diminishing illness of mithyatva and the attainment of the healthy state in the form of samyaktva that is the original disposition. That is why he has been called 'sujan in the gatha.
To such a knowledgeable Gurudev, let us hand over the own self without any reservations. Let us declare before him every thought that arises inside us. Let us open up our state of ignorance and he will immediately diagnose us and say, “You have nothing else but the great illness of mithyatva. Your atma has forgotten itself. The great impurity called mithyatva has manifested itself in the atma and as a result all the sorrows of the material world have arisen. Try as you may, to remove these sorrows, much as
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