Selected 100 Letters by Shrimad Rajchandraji

Author(s): Shrimad Rajchandra,
Publisher: Shrimad Rajchandra Prabhavak Trust Hubli

Page 71

SELECTED 100 LETTERS
118
Shri Tirthankara-Six Jivanikaya Adhyayan
The path of right knowledge is difficult to propitiate and before reaching the stage of complete mergence in it there are many pitfalls in the way and they are doubting, diversion of mind, whimsicality, atiparinamipanu (too much transformation) etc.
Such factors obstruct the aspirant as causes of his losing the path of knowledge or in other words these factors do not allow the aspirant to rise up to realize his pure self.
In the path of following spiritual devotional practices, pride for non-truth, insistence on following traditional religious practices, delusion of acquiring spiritual exceptional power, meeting occasions of one's adoration, propitiation, spiritual welcome with pomp and honour and having strong faith in one's bodily activities of a religious kind are all possible pitfalls which a spiritual aspirant should watchfully avoid.
Excepting some extraordinary great spiritual saint, many thoughtful persons have adopted the path of unqualified devotion with extreme humility and child like simplicity and they have seen complete obedience to a spiritual master or complete surrender to the highest spiritual guide as the best way to spiritual progress, and they have actually acted accordingly but such occasion of meeting a spiritual master should happen in the life of a spiritual aspirant and if it does not occur, then the rare human birth may go a waste by following the normal rut of births and deaths.
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SELECTED 100 LETTERS
Ralaj, Shravan Vadi Fourteenth, Sunday, V-S 1952.
Thinking persons behave as if their death is very near them till they achieve the stage of Kaivalya or absolute self existence (knowledge).
To brother Anup Chand Malukchand at Bharuch.
Mostly the secret trend of ego invited human deeds is disclosed
at the time of the death of a living being. At that time there can be seen two kinds of aspirations (1) rarely contacted spiritual aim of liberation and (2) the acceptance of traditional religion led by his usually known imagination etc. In this world we rarely find an exceptionally unique person who has acquired sight to his pure self as a result of his right reflection and consequent indifference to all worldly ups and downs. This is the first kind of aspiration. With such exception the second kind of aspiration is well known from long past and it is found in practically all living beings and even at death prominence of this aspiration is found in all men.
Bearing this in mind, at the time of approaching death, a thinking soul continues to work for realizing his pure self as he has been doing for a long time before facing death you should really be firm in your aim of self-realization and so meditate on it continuously, by leaving aside all considerations of your body or obstacles caused by it in your spiritual progress, also setting aside all religious injunctions and prohibitions of traditional religions or by developing total indifference to them. This is what you should do now. In doing so at death, it is immaterial to go on fast, or to adopt a particular posture of body and mind or writing your final words or instructions for