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60. Truth Personified
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hrimad had been in a remote place in Uttarsanda woods for a while. Ambalalbhai had been attending to his needs for a fortnight, Shrimad now wanted complete solitude and therefore asked Ambalalbhai to leave and take back all the household things he had brought with him. Shrimad allowed Motilalbhai to stay with him. As Ambalalbhai was packing, Motilalbhai requested that a mattress and a water jug be left behind.
Later that evening, when Shrimad returned from the woods, he noticed that there was a mattress on the swing where he slept. He asked Motilalbhai why it had been left behind to which he replied that he had kept it for himself but wanted Shrimad to use it. At his insistence, Shrimad allowed him to leave the mattress where it was. At night when Motilalbhai checked, the mattress was on the floor and Shrimad was covered with mosquitoes. Motilalbhai covered Shrimad with a dhoti to protect him but a while later saw that that too was on the floor. Shrimad was so absorbed in contemplation that he no longer had any physical awareness. As the observer is distinct from the object, the soul that witnesses all is also distinct from the body.
One day Shrimad and Motilalbhai were taking a walk, when they passed a banyan tree and saw a monkey happily perched on its branch. Shrimad casually addressing the monkey said :
"O Mahatma, you have no possessions and yours is an attachment-free habitation. But, remember, Moksha can not be attained like this."
Superficially these remarks are very humorous, but they contain a deep spiritual message, conveying a vital principle in the path to liberation. What Shrimad was really saying is that by renouncing all worldly possessions, living in solitude in a deep forest and contemplating liberation, the Soul will not secure the desired result. For an infinite amount of time, the Soul has conducted itself as it sees fit, and yet not attained enlightenment. Instead, taking refuge in the guidance of a Self-Realised True Guru and following that Guidance with full faith, the Soul can even attain Enlightenment within 48 minutes!
Just as alchemy turns lead into gold, the living presence of a True Guru, a Personification of Truth, turns ordinary bound Souls into great, liberated Souls.
MOTOR
