No one enjoys worrying. Worries that eat away at you inside are meaningless. They harm your mental and physical health and blind your reasoning and knowledge. One has to think about the good and the bad aspects of any situation, but there is no reason to worry. There is a lot of difference between being careful and worrying. Carefulness is awareness and worry is to have anxieties, which eat you up from within.
What is worry? When a thought goes beyond a certain level it is called a worry. Thinking has to be done up to a certain level which should not exceed its limits. What is normality in thinking? It is normal as long as it is does not distress you. Once it goes beyond that and troubles you, you should stop. After the limit is reached, it turns into worry. One has a right to think, but when it results in worry, one should stop. Everyone knows, ‘we are going to die one day’. What do people do when they think of death? They push the thoughts away. ‘What if something happens to me?’ When such a thought enters a person’s mind, he pushes it away. In the same token, when worries come to you, you have to say ‘not here’ and push them away.
In regards to worries, the Absolute Enlightened ones say, ‘Enjoy what is present in front of you. Do not worry about that which is not present.’ When your meal is present in front of you, enjoy what is in front of you and do not worry about what is not present at this time. Live in the present.’ When you are in the kitchen, do you go to the bedroom? When you are supposed to attend to a matter at hand do you go elsewhere in your mind ?
You should not take the worries of one department into the other department. Complete all the work that needs to be done in one division first, where you are. When you go into the division to eat, you must enjoy your food there and leave your worries of the other division. When you go to the bedroom, leave the worries of kitchen or the office for that department. Man suffers because he does not have such organization and does not compartmentalize his daily life.
Nothing in this world is worth worrying about even for a second. Now you should face those entanglements and bring a solution to them. Nature tells us to make a tremendous effort to accomplish a difficult task, but do not worry about it.
The world is not meant for worrying. Only human beings worry, no other creature worries. Billions of other life forms do not worry. Worry is pure egoism, nothing else. The use of egoism is permitted, but not that of above normal egoism.
Do you worry whether the digestive enzymes are released or not? Do you worry whether the blood will be formed or the biological waste eliminated? There is so much going on inside you that requires care and yet you worry about what is happening on the outside. All the great work is going on inside and all the outside work is minor in comparison with this. You claim that you are doing all the work.
One doesn’t even have control over one’s own bowel movements and yet believes that ‘I am the doer of everything.’ This perpetual sense of doer-ship results in worries. People are simply unaware of their real Self, and then they have egoism of ‘I am the doer’.
Who is the doer in reality? The circumstances are the ‘doer. All these scientific circumstantial evidences come together and an event takes place. So the control is not in our hands. We must simply observe the circumstances and see what they are. Once the circumstances come together, the work gets accomplished.
Therefore the part with egoism has to be separated; after that, it is okay to go on thinking about the essential and non-essential things.
Once in a while, you get the opportunity of becoming an individual with good value systems, and if at that time you are consumed by worries, a great opportunity is wasted. If you want peace, the Gnani can stop your worries forever.
The permanent solution to stop worries is to become ego-less. This happens when you meet a Gnani Purush. He is the only One who can abolish your ego completely through Gnan vidhi, a ceremony of Self realization. Until then the fire of worries continues to burn.
Self realization liberates one from doer ship and therefore worries. The path of liberation starts the moment you stop worrying. To be free from worries one has to go to a ‘Gnani Purush’ and receive his grace. Then your worries will end and your daily worldly activities will carry on in harmony.
Worries cannot occur after this Gnan (Self knowledge). This is a path of the Absolute Enlightened Ones, the Vitaraags. The Vitaraag path is worry-free!
Dadashri: Suppose you are walking along and you encounter a fixed steel pole on your path, do you walk around it or do you collide with it?
Questioner: If I walk into it, I might end up with a head injury.
Dadashri: If a bull is coming towards you, would you move out of its way or would you purposely walk into it?
Questioner: If I were to walk into it, I’d get hurt, so instinctively I would walk around it.
Dadashri: And what if you came across a snake or a huge rock on the way?
Questioner: I would have to walk around them too.
Dadashri: Why?
Questioner: For my well being. If I clash, I will get hurt!
Dadashri: There are some people in this world who are like the rock, some are like the bull, some are like the snake and some are like the pole, and some are human too. Do not get into conflicts with any one of them. Find a way out.
Dadashri: When you cross a busy road, you are very cautious in order to prevent an accident. Exercise similar caution in your daily life interactions with others. Your resolve should not be to hurt anyone regardless of how hateful or wicked the person may be. Despite your caution the other person may still clash with you and you will be hurt. In all clashes both parties suffer. If you hurt any one you will inevitably suffer pain at that moment. If you cause an accident, you might end up being killed. So do not clash with anyone. In the same way, do not create conflict in any worldly life interactions, because there are always risks involved. Besides, conflict only occurs occasionally, it is not as if it happens two hundred times a month? How often does it happen in a month for you?
Questioner: Perhaps two to four times.
Dadashri: These need to be resolved. Why do we want to spoil events by clashes? This simply does not suit us. People abide traffic laws, which are strict regulations; they don’t drive according to their own interpretations do they? They are therefore saved from accidents.
Likewise, in daily life you must follow the laws that prevent clashes. Clashes occur because you follow your own limited interpretations of the laws of life. There is never any difficulty with the way the traffic runs because all obey the laws. If you apply the same rule with understanding, you will never run into difficulties again. There is a fundamental error in understanding the laws of life. The one who explains these laws must be one who has a thorough experience of these laws.
Look at how well you observe traffic rules. It is because you have made a firm decision to abide by them. Why is your ego not telling you to disregard these laws? It is because you understand with your intellect that you might injure yourself or even be killed. This is what you can experience with your senses. The intellect however, fails to make you realize the possibility of a fatal outcome from engaging in conflict with someone, because it is beyond your sense perception in this life. This is very subtle matter and the damage it causes is also subtle.
Questioner: What causes conflict?
Dadashri: Ignorance. If you have conflict with anyone, it is a sign of your own weakness. Where there is conflict, it is your own fault.
Questioner: You want to avoid clashes, but a pole stands in your way. Suppose you walk around it and it still falls on top of you. What should you do then?
Dadashri: When it falls, you move out of the way.
Questioner: No matter how much we try to avoid it, it still hurts us. Take my wife for example.
Dadashri: At the time of conflict, you should find a solution.
Questioner: I want to avoid conflicts, but what am I to do when someone deliberately comes and quarrels with me?
Dadashri: If you fight with this wall, how long can you keep fighting? If you hurt your head from walking into the wall, do you start yelling and punching at it?
In the same token, consider your antagonist a wall. Is there a need to lay blame on him? We ourselves have to understand that the other person is like a wall. By doing this, you will avoid all problems.
There is no difference between colliding with a wall and getting into an argument over differences of opinion with someone. It is essentially the same thing. Both are blind.
A person bumps into a wall because he cannot see and a person gets into conflict because he cannot see. One cannot see what lies ahead of him, and the other cannot find a solution ahead
of him so he is in disagreement. All these anger, false pride, attachment and greed arise because of inability to see what lies ahead. This is how we should understand this.
It is no fault of the wall, but of the person who is hurt by it. All these are walls only. All situations are like the wall. When you clash with a wall you do not go to find who was at fault. There is no need to prove who is right and who is wrong. You must think of those who are clashing with you, as walls. Look for the door, so even in the darkness, you will be able to find your way out of it. You need to make it a rule not to clash with anyone. You do not want conflict with anyone.
Questioner: Dada, when you say we must avoid conflict, does that mean that we have to practice tolerance?
Dadashri: No, to avoid conflict does not mean to tolerate. Your ability to endure is limited. How much can you tolerate? It would be analogous to compressing a spring. How long can a spring remain compressed? Therefore do not learn how to tolerate. Learn how to reach a solution. Without this knowledge of the laws, one has no choice but to tolerate things. Sooner or later the compressed spring will recoil causing a lot of damage. But alas, such are the rules of nature.
There are no laws in this world dictating that you must endure on account of someone else. Whatever you have to endure by the acts of others, is your own account due to you because of past life karma. You do not know where this account came from, so you assume it is something new being directed to you. No one creates new accounts. It is merely the old ones (previous life karma) coming back to you. In our Gnan (Self-realization knowledge) we do not have to tolerate anything. We just observe through Gnan that the other person is a pure Soul and that he is only an instrument to settle our past account. This awareness solves the puzzle.
Questioner: Does this mean that we have to accept in our mind that all these are pending accounts and that is why they arise?
Dadashri: The person himself is a pure Soul and this is his prakruti (inherent characteristics, traits which is result of past life). It is the prakruti bringing the results through thoughts, speech and acts. You are a pure Soul and so is he. Your two prakrutis are simply settling accounts with one another. The other person seemingly hurts you because his prakruti is unfolding via thoughts, acts and speech. What I am teaching you is to be aware of this process as is. Consider this other person as a pure Soul and his prakruti unfolding to settle the account with you. He is merely an instrument to settle the account of your unfolding karma. With the knowledge of this solution, endurance is not necessary.
If you continue to endure, what will happen? One day that spring will recoil. Have you seen a spring rebound? It is in the state of ignorance that one has to tolerate. But with this Self knowledge (Gnan), we just have to analyze and understand the cause behind all this. The results will be apparent in the way our ‘accounts’ unfold. Nothing exists outside our accounts.
Dadashri: What does it mean to become angry? It is like setting fire to oneself and then setting others on fire. Once this match is struck, he burns in the flames and then destroys the other person. Therefore, if getting angry were under one’s control, one would not get angry. Who likes to burn?
Anger is a weakness and that is why it happens spontaneously. God, the Absolute Enlightened Ones, have called it a weakness. God has said that a real man (Purush, Self-realized) is the one who has no weakness of anger, ego (false pride), attachment, or greed at all. These men that you see around you are weaklings, because they have no control over their anger and they do not know how to deal with it. Anger, false pride, attachment and greed are all obvious weaknesses.
How are you rewarded when you get angry? First the sparks set you on fire and then you burn others. To become even the slightest bit angry is like becoming a beast. One becomes transformed from a human being into a beast. To become angry is a terrible weakness.
Questioner: We all know that anger is bad, but still…
Dadashri: It is like this: The one who is angry, is not aware of the anger. The one who is greedy, is not aware of his greed and the one who is arrogant, is not aware of his pride. The ‘knower’ is completely separate from all these weaknesses. All these people feel that although they are aware of their weakness, then why do the weaknesses still occur?
Now, who is it that says ‘I know’? They do not know the answer to this. Because they still become angry, it means that they do not know. There is ego in their saying that ‘they know’. They do not know who the ‘knower’ is. This is what one needs to discover. If one can find the ‘knower’, then all the weaknesses will go. It can only be called true knowledge, when all the weaknesses are destroyed.
You are not the one making things happen. It is the kashayas, the weaknesses within you of anger, pride, attachment, and greed that run everything. Only the rule of these kashayas prevails.
How long can these kashayas last? The kashayas will remain as long as one believes; ‘I am William’. This belief gives support to the sense that the kashayas are his, ‘I am angry, I am unhappy etc.’ When you acquire the knowledge of your real Self, these kashayas leave.
It is when one attains the awareness, ‘I am pure Soul’ that the sense of ‘I am William’ is broken and the kashayas are destroyed. Without this awareness, all efforts to remove kashayas, in fact perpetuate them. When anger is controlled through ego, the ego increases. When greed is overcome with the ego, the ego increases.
An ascetic told me that he had completely eradicated his anger through his spiritual effort. The anger was in fact suppressed. I told him that he had instead created a monster by the name of pride (maan). This monster thrives because he is the offspring of ignorance of the Self. The sons of ignorance cannot be killed. One can get rid of them if one has a solution. This solution is Self realization.
Dadashri: People say they want to stop their anger. One cannot stop it immediately. Firstly, one must recognize what anger is and the causes behind it. How is it born and who are its parents? All this has to be determined before anger is understood.
Someone asked me why for countless lives man has tried to get rid of anger and has not succeeded. I told him that perhaps he did not have the right solution. He told me that the solutions given in the scriptures, which he himself was following, did not eradicate his anger. I told him that the solution has to be exact and correct. Trying to find a solution to stop the anger is foolishness because anger is a result. It is just like the results of an examination. The result cannot be changed. It is the cause which one needs to change.
The external activities of the world: the thoughts, speech and acts of human beings do not change. However if one changes one’s bhaav (deep inner intention) then it is enough
But what must you do from now on? You should not allow yourself to become prejudiced towards the person with whom you get angry. You should change your opinion of him. It is because of the account of your past karma that this person is behaving in this manner with you. Whatever that person does, it is because of the result of your own karma. This is how you should change your opinion about him. If you change your opinion about him, you will no longer get angry with him. The effect from the past will remain for some time. That effect will come, give its results and then it will stop altogether.
This is a very subtle point, which people have failed to discover. There is a solution for everything. The world can never be without solution. People are trying to destroy only the results. The solution against anger, pride, attachment, and greed is that one should destroy their causes and leave the results alone. If one does not have the awareness in the first place, then how will he find the solution? The solution for awareness is Self-realization
Dadashri: At one time people were taught to have compassion, practice fairness and forgiveness, but nowadays how can they have these qualities when they keep getting angry?
When one gets angry, he feels remorse but of what use is it if he does not know how to do pratikraman? One is freed when he knows how to do pratikraman.
I would tell these people that whenever they get angry, they should repent from within. They should know the weakness within them which prompts their anger. They should accept their mistake and feel remorse. If they have a guru, they should seek help from him. They should make a firm resolve to never let their weakness overcome them again. They should not defend their anger and they should do pratikraman for it. They should make a note of when, where and with whom they became angry during the day and they should do pratikraman for it.
What should one do in pratikraman? If one’s anger hurts another person, he must recall the pure Soul within that person and ask to be forgiven. He should ask for forgiveness for his actions and vow never to do it again.
Dadashri: Anger, pride, attachment, and greed always harm the owner. People do not understand this. If you were to starve them for three years, they would run away. What is the nourishment for these weaknesses? How can you starve them if you do not know what they thrive on? It is your lack of understanding that provides sustenance for them. How do they survive and carry on life after life? Stop feeding them. People do not think along these lines and instead forcefully try to subdue them. These four weaknesses will not go away easily.
Questioner: Is there any prerequisite qualification needed to conquer these four kashayas?
Dadashri: When these four kashayas of anger, pride, attachment and greed leave, one becomes a God, an Absolute Enlightened being
One will be rid of these kashayas, if one listens to the Enlightened One. The Enlightened One is the Gnani Purush, who has the knowledge of the Soul and can give you this knowledge.
The only way out from these kashayas is to attain Self realization (Science of Separation, separate relative self from true Self, Pure Soul). Then all these kashayas will leave. This is the wonder of this time cycle. This is called Akram Vignan!
Questioner: I want peace in my life.
Dadashri: Will you accept just one phrase in your life? Take note of it properly and exactly?
Questioner: Yes.
Dadashri: Incorporate this phrase ‘Adjust Everywhere’ in your life and peace will take hold. Initially, for the first six months or so you will experience difficulties. This is because
of reactions from the past life. Then peace will be yours. Therefore, adjust everywhere.
Dadashri: When a sewer is giving off a stench, do we complain? In the same token all these people who are disagreeable and negative are like the sewers. Whatever smells unpleasant, we call a sewer and whatever smells pleasant we call a flower. Adjust to both. They are both saying, “become vitraag (beyond attachment and abhorrence or detached) with us.”
You suffer because of your opinions of good and bad. You must keep them in check. When we say something is good, other things by comparison become bad and begin to bother us. If we rise above opinions, good or bad, there is no suffering. ‘adjust everywhere’ is my discovery.
Questioner: One-sided adjustments are not possible in this world. Is that right?
Dadashri: The very definition of ideal worldly life is adjustment. Even the neighbors will notice and say, “There is conflict in every household except this one!” Your energies have to be cultivated especially with those who you do not get along with. These energies are already present with people you get along with. Inability to adjust is a weakness. Why is it possible for me to get along with everyone? The more you adjust, the more your energies will increase and your weaknesses will diminish.
Everyone gets along with easy-going and good-natured people but when you learn to get along with difficult, stubborn and harsh personalities, you have truly accomplished something. No matter how brazen and shameful a person is, if you know how to adjust without losing your mind, it is well worth it. Losing your temper is useless. Nothing in this world will ‘fit’ you (adapt to you) However, if you ‘fit’ into it, the world will be good. If you attempt to make it ‘fit’ you, it will be ‘crooked.’ Adjust everywhere. As long as you ‘fit’ into it, there will be no problems.
Dadashri: The Gnani will adjust even with the person who refuses to adjust. If you observe the Gnani Purush, you can learn to make all kinds of adjustments. The science behind the Gnan (Knowledge) helps you become vitraag, which means freedom from attachment and abhorrence. Your suffering is because of this attachment or abhorrence that still exists within you. You will be labeled a misfit if you become indifferent and apathetic in your worldly dealings. We must be able to convince even the most obstinate and the disagreeable people. If we need a porter at a railway station, and he haggles with the charges, we have to settle the deal with a few extra rupees. If we don’t, we will have to carry the luggage ourselves.
Dadashri: At home, one must know how to adjust. If we come home late from satsang (spiritual discourse), what will the wife say? “You should keep an eye on the time. What is wrong with coming home a little early?”
Have you ever seen how a bullock is handled on the farm? When the bullock does not move, he is prodded with a long stick with a nail at the end, but if he keeps moving, he will not be hurt. What can the bullock do? Whom can it complain to? If people were poked and prodded like this, others will come to their rescue, but whom can the poor animal complain to? Why does a husband suffer in this manner? This is the result of his actions in his previous life. In his previous
life he had accused others a lot. At that time he was in power, just like the man who prods the bull. Now you are powerless, so adjust without any complaints. So in this life, do “plus minus”.
(This is Dadashri’s terminology to settle past accounts).
It is better not to accuse anyone at all. If you become an accuser, you will be accused. We do not want any part of this. If someone insults you, accept it. Credit it to your account. How do you feel about this? Is it good to be an accuser? Why not adjust from the beginning?
Dadashri: The one who has learnt the art of adjustment, has found the path of eternal bliss. Adjustment made is Gnan (Knowledge). This will be one’s triumph. You will have to suffer whatever suffering comes your way, but the person who has learnt to adjust will not have any problems. He will settle his previous accounts.
Questioner: What causes conflicts? Is it incompatibility?
Dadashri: Conflicts arise because of ignorance; ignorance of the nature of the real Self and of the world. In this world the natural characteristics of every individual are different. Once you attain this knowledge of the Self, there is only one-way: Adjust everywhere.
Some people are in the habit of sleeping late, and some go to bed early. How can they get along? What would happen if they all live together under one roof as a family? Someone in the home may say, “You are an idiot.” At this time you should learn that this person uses such language only. This is how you adjust. If you return his insult, you will exhaust yourself and the conflict will continue. That person has collided with you, but if you collide with him, then it just
goes to prove that you too are blind. I am asking you to understand these differences in the nature of human beings.
I am showing you this simple and straightforward way. These conflicts do not occur everyday. They only occur when your past karmas are ready to give their results. Adjust, when this happens. If a fight occurs with your wife, make her happy afterwards by taking her out for a dinner. From now on the strain in your relationship should not linger.
Questioner: What is the intention behind this adjustment and to what extent do we have to adjust?
Dadashri: The intention is peace and the goal is peace. This is the key to avoid unhappiness. It is Dada’s science of adjustment. This adjustment is remarkable. You know what happens whenever you misadjust. This maladjustment is foolish. Adjustment is justice. Any kind of obstinacy (adherence to one’s viewpoint) is not justice. I never force my viewpoint regarding any matter. In life, you must use the approach that will quickly draw matters to a close.
Dadashri: Deeds that inflict pain on others and aggression in one’s thoughts, speech, behavior is called atikraman. The hurt you cause is atikraman and the antidote is pratikraman. If you do pratikraman immediately, the karma bound through atikraman will be erased or become lighter. Whenever you do atikraman, you can erase it with pratikraman.
All our inner enemies of anger, false pride, attachment, abhorrence, and greed are all considered atikraman, so if you do pratikraman immediately after atikraman, your anger, pride, attachment, abhorrence and greed will diminish and disappear.
Questioner: How do we know if we have done atikraman?
Dadashri: You will know and so will the other person. You will perceive it from the expression on his face and you will feel it too. It will affect you both. That is why pratikraman must
be done.
Questioner: What should one do when one does a negative karma?
Dadashri: If that happens, there is a remedy for it. Once a misdeed has been committed, repentance should follow immediately. Repent wholeheartedly and with sincerity.
Even after repentance, should you repeat the mistake, there is no need to worry: just repent again. You are not aware of the science behind all this, so you may feel that despite your repentance, the negative deeds do not stop. Why they do not stop, is also a science in itself. If you hurt someone, then do pratikraman. Pratikraman means regret and repentance
Now, who should be a witness to your repentance? It must be done in the presence of the God you believe in.
Dadashri: What does one have to repent for?
Question: We are not really able to repent. We just keep doing all these rituals.
Dadashri: Pratikraman is to retrace one’s steps by turning back from your mistake.
Questioner: What if the other person continues to be hurt?
Dadashri: Do not be concerned about the other person. Be firm in your conviction that you are an adversary of atikraman. It is not your wish to do atikraman but if it happens, you should feel remorse and your intent should be that you do not want it to happen again.
When you do pratikraman, your intent should be that it does not matter what the other person is like, but your thoughts or behavior should not be negative. Pratikraman is to be done to destroy your opinions and to show that you are not endorsing atikraman. Pratikraman is to be done to show your opposition towards any aggression.
Questioner: What if the other person does not forgive me for my atikraman despite my pratikraman?
Dadashri: Do not be concerned about the other person forgiving you. The atikraman tendencies within you must go. You must become an opponent of atikraman. That is how it should be.
To repent for the anger, or whichever atikraman you have done, is pratikraman. Pratikraman means to destroy inner enemies of anger, false pride, attachment, abhorrence, and greed. If you do not do pratikraman, your innate nature and tendencies of atikraman will never change.
Unless you oppose it, it will never become exposed and that opinion will stay with you. If you become angry, you must do pratikraman because you do not wish to support your anger. If
you fail to do pratikraman, it would mean that you are in favor of your anger. You become free from your faults (inner enemies of anger, pride, attachment, abhorrence, and greed) through pratikraman. This allows you to shed your karmas. There should be a means to express your defiance towards your anger.
Dadashri: If you want to get rid of anger, then do pratikraman for it. Only then, can you maintain that you are opposed to your anger.
You can only call it pratikraman when your faults decrease. How can it be called pratikraman if your faults increase?
By doing pratikraman, you become filled with a sense of freedom and that freedom is freedom from all attachment and abhorrence. All animosity is naturally broken. And it does not matter if the other person is not there for your pratikraman. Your pratikraman does not require his endorsement. When you committed the faults, no witness was present. You commit most of the faults against people in their absence anyway. In essence although their very presence has precipitated these faults, they have not endorsed them. The endorsement came from your internal attachment and abhorrence.
The complete process of pratikraman includes: alochana (confession of mistake), pratikraman (repentance) and pratyakhyan (resolve never to repeat the mistake). All of which is done in the presence of whichever God you believe in.
Dadashri: Whenever you hurt someone even slightly, you must accept the fault as your own. So if someone is hurt by your actions, you must immediately do pratikraman and erase that fault.
Questioner: How does one do pratikraman?
Dadashri: If you have attained Self realization, you will become aware of the Self within the other person. It is precisely the Self within that person that you must address. Otherwise, you
can do pratikraman in the presence of whichever God you believe in by saying, “O Lord! I repent for my mistake. I ask for your forgiveness and resolve never to repeat it. Please give me the strength not to repeat the mistake again” That is all.
Questioner: And how should one repent? Should it be done outwardly so that it is visible to others or from within, in one’s mind?
Dadashri: In your mind! You should remember God, apologize for your mistake, and make a resolve never to do it again. In so doing, the pain will be erased and the mistake destroyed. If you fail to do this, your mistakes will accumulate. Akram Vignan allows you to see your own faults and shoot them as they appear, destroying them completely.
Dadashri: Liberation (from all suffering) is possible only when true pratikramans and true pratyakhyans are done. Pratikraman should be shoot-on-sight pratikraman. If I utter a word to cause you even the slightest hurt, I should do pratikraman instantly, without hesitating even for a second. You cannot afford to let things sit and stagnate.
Questioner: After hurting someone, how are we to wash away our paap (demerit, sin) karmas bound?
Dadashri: As many stains (hurt given to others) that appear from your paap karma, you must do that many pratikraman. If a stain is stubborn, then it will need to be washed over and over
again.
Questioner: How can you tell whether that stain is gone or not?
Dadashri: You will know when your mind becomes clean. Your face will glow. Natural smile will take hold. Will you not know then that the stain is gone? And even if the stain has not gone, there is no problem. All you have to do is continue with your pratikraman. Keep scrubbing away with the soap of pratikraman. Do you understand what paap (sin, demerit karma) is?
Questioner: Is it paap when one does not comply with Dada’s agnas (the 5 guiding principles given after Gnan vidhi) ?
Dadashri: No it is not that. That is not paap. Paap is when you hurt others, whether it is a tree, a human, an animal, or any living being. To pick leaves from a tree unnecessarily, is a sin because the tree also perceives pain. By not following my agnas, you will be the one to suffer, whereas paap karma hurts others. It is a sin when you hurt others, therefore you should not inflict even the slightest pain on others.
When you do pratikraman, your clothes (a metaphor for your relative self, William) will become cleaner. Why leave dirt on your clothes when Dada has given you such a simple solution? Why not use it and get your clothes radiantly clean?
As you start doing instant ‘shoot-on-site’ pratikramans, you are purifying everything at the same time. When you do instant pratikraman against any atikraman, your mind and speech begin to purify. Pratikraman is like planting a roasted seed. Roasted seeds do not grow, and new causes (karma) are not created. Doing alochana-pratikraman-pratyakhyan is to review the entire day. The more of your faults you are able to see, the more aware you will be. That is why pratikraman must be done.
Dadashri: Alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan have to be done instantaneously. You should not keep anything pending. If you hurt someone, keep a mental note of it and then do your alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan. This instant, ‘shoot-on-sight’ pratikraman is only possible when one is Self-realized, and is therefore able to see his own faults.
However, if a person who has not attained the Self were to apply the principle of alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan in his daily life, it would still be beneficial for him, even though he does not understand it. Self realization will eventually come to him. One is bound to attain Self realization if one’s alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan are done with sincerity.
Questioner: How can one do true pratikraman? When is the pratikraman considered pure?
Dadashri: True pratikraman begins after Self-Realization. Once you attain the enlightened vision and replace your illusion with the right vision, only then will you be able to do real
pratikraman.
Until then, one can still decrease one’s faults with pratikraman and repentance. If one does not attain this enlightened vision, but still does pratikraman after having done something wrong, one binds less karma. Karma is shed with pratikraman and repentance. By doing this, they will decrease many faults, but as long as they remain ignorant of their real Self, they will not attain liberation, and their faults will continue to occur. The faults one does pratikraman for will be erased.
Knowledge of the Self (Self realization) is the path of liberation. Pratikramans after Self realization puts you on the path to liberation.
Every religion says that you are the ‘doer’ of penance and renunciations. They tell you to renounce. If you do not, they say that you are not doing it. To say that ‘you are not doing it’ is the same as saying that you are the ‘doer’. By saying this, they accept ‘doer-ship’. Even when someone says that he is not able to renounce anything, it is tantamount to claiming ‘doer ship’. Any path that accepts or believes in ‘doer ship’ is the path of worldly wanderings. In Akram, we do not accept ‘doer ship’. None of the literature of Akram prescribes ‘doer ship’ of any sort.
There is always a veil of ignorance in any act of doer ship. One’s faults become concealed once the veil appears. The fault is only visible when the veil of ignorance of doer ship is destroyed.
Only a Gnani Purush can clear this sense of doer ship, you cannot do it on your own. The Gnani Purush will fracture and cast off all sense of doer ship in Gnan vidhi, a ceremony of Self-realization.
Pratikraman for those who are Self realized, completely erases all karma because of the absence of ‘doer ship’. When the sense of doer ship is absent, only the effects of past karma are felt. People, who have not received the knowledge of the Self, suffer the effect because of the presence of the doer (ego). Their karmas may weaken a little by doing pratikraman, but they are not erased completely and they will have to suffer the consequences of the causal karmas, whereas for the Self-realized one, the karmas are destroyed altogether.
Dadashri: You will only be able to do pratikraman when, after Gnan, you will realize from within that a fault has occurred. Until then, you will not. After taking this Gnan, you will be more aware of your atikraman and you will immediately do pratikraman and automatically wash away your faults. This process will continue to take place systematically. Once these faults are cleared, the other person will not feel any negativity towards you. Otherwise when you meet the other person again, there will be a sense of separation from him and awareness of the presence of an internal rift.
You may cause pain to others although you may not wish to. This can be attributed to the faults of prakruti (inborn nature), and the fault in your prakruti stems from your previous life, not from this life. Today you want to improve, but because of your previous causes, these faults continue to occur and they will not leave without harassing you. For this, you must do alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan.
Questioner: So if someone has a negative feeling (bhaav) towards me, will it become less by seeing the Self (pure Soul) in him?
Dadashri: No, that will not happen. It will only lessen if you do pratikraman. That does not happen simply by seeing the Soul in him, but it does through your pratikraman.
Questioner: Does the pratikraman have any effect on him?
Dadashri: Yes, it does have an effect. In the process of pratikraman when you see the pure Soul in the other person, you are free from all opinions, good or bad. Although the benefits may not be so apparent in the beginning, they will gradually increase. This is because you have never seen the other person as the pure Soul before. You have only seen him as either a good person or a bad person, but never as the pure Soul.
Questioner: The results we get from doing pratikraman are based on the principle that by seeing the pure Self in the other person, we decrease our negative feelings (abhorrence) or attachment towards him. Is that correct?
Dadashri: Your negative bhaavs will be destroyed. All this is for your own benefit only. It has nothing to do with the other person. The only reason to see the pure Self in others is that you
remain in your pure state and awareness.
Questioner: Pratikraman would be to repent. Is pratyakhyan to resolve never to repeat the mistake?
Dadashri: Yes. Sincere repentance is called pratikraman. Once pratikraman is done, the atikraman will not occur again. To vow, ‘I will never do that again. I promise that I shall not repeat the mistake again’, is called pratyakhyan. When you do pratyakhyan in this way, in your mind, one layer of karma will be shed. And if the same atikraman should occur again, it is because of another layer of karma, so you should not panic but continue with your pratikramans.
Questioner: On one hand you commit aggression and on the other you repent. It is a never-ending thing.
Dadashri: It is not like that. If a person commits a bad deed and he repents, he can never feign repentance. When he repents, that repentance is sincere and with that, a layer of karma is removed. The onion still appears whole although one layer is gone. Another layer will be removed the next time. Repentance never goes to waste.
Questioner: Even after doing pratikraman, if the same faults come to mind, does it mean that we are not free of those faults?
Dadashri: The faults are layered like an onion. As you peel the outer layer of an onion, there is yet another layer beneath. These faults have a lot of layers. So with each pratikraman you do, you shed one layer. In this way when you do a hundred or more pratikramans, the fault will eventually go. Some faults will go away after five pratikramans and some may require more. A
fault requires as many pratikraman as the number of layers it has. The longer it takes for pratikraman, the bigger and heavier the fault.
Dadashri: What does The Science of Akram say? If a person has a habit of stealing and I were to ask him in a kind and gentle manner, whether he steals, he would confess everything to me. I would tell him that I do not have an objection with his stealing, but that he must regret his acts and do pratikraman for it.
I would teach him to do pratikraman in Dada’s name and repent by saying, ‘It is wrong to steal and I will never steal again.’ By doing pratikraman his opinion about stealing will change. His opinion will not support the act of stealing. He should continue this pratikraman even if he continues to steal. Only I understand what happens when one utters such pratikraman. Akram Vignan teaches us that whatever has occurred cannot be undone, but there is a way to make things better for the life to come.
People may question what good does it do when he continues to steal, even though he asks for the strength not to. Let him steal as long as he asks for the strength to not steal. Only I know the effect this remedy has on him. What do you know about how this medicine works?
Questioner: It is true that people have no idea about how this medicine works, and that is why they do not understand whether there are any benefits in asking for the strength.
Dadashri: What is the significance of asking for strength? Firstly, he asks for the strength to stop stealing which means his opinion about ‘There is nothing wrong in stealing’ has changed to that of, ‘Stealing is wrong and not to steal is right’. By asking for strength he comes to have the opinion that stealing is wrong. This change of opinion is the greatest achievement.
Once his opinion changes, he ceases to be nature’s offender.
Secondly, in asking for strength from the Lord within, he achieves the ultimate state of humility. When he earnestly and sincerely asks, “O’ Lord, grant me the strength…”, God gives him the strength no matter what. He will grant it to everyone, but first one must ask and one must also know what to ask for. Keep asking. You never ask for a thing.
Nature’s law governs this world at all times. Those who deserve merit are given merit and those who deserve punishment are punished. Nothing operates outside the law of nature. The law of nature is completely just, but because one does not understand it, he does not accept it. When
one’s understanding becomes pure, he will be able to accept this nature’s justice. As long as one has a selfish outlook, justice cannot be seen.
You become frustrated because you feel that you have to endure so much. If you understand and accept that it is the result of your own past mistake, would you worry or suffer? You create suffering and worries by seeing faults in others.
The burden of this worldly life will be lifted significantly upon understanding that the ‘fault is of the sufferer’.
People receive that which is due to them according to their karmic account. Even an eye contact, cannot take place without past accounts, so how can other events take place without past accounts? Whatever you have given to others, you will receive in return. If you accept it gladly, you will be settling your account. If you do not accept it, you will have to suffer. The accounts can be settled through the applied knowledge that the ‘fault is of the sufferer.’
Why are some people happy while others are suffering? It is because they have brought such accounts with them. No one can hurt anyone without a past account. This is how independent every living being is. No one else is to blame.
From the worldly perspective, the nimit (the one who inflicts pain) is at fault, but law of Reality says that the ‘fault is of the sufferer’.
Questioner: But will not the one who inflicts pain also have to suffer one day?
Dadashri: He will be considered at fault the day he suffers, but today your fault has caught up with you and that is why you are suffering. Really he is not at fault now, but he has created a new fault. This will result in him suffering when he is punished. He has liberated you from your fault and in the process has bound himself.
Your fault is from your past account, which is being settled today. One only suffers because of one’s past accounts. Whatever accounts one has already created will bind him. Whatever entangled accounts you have created will not release you until they bring you their entangled results. You will have to settle the old accounts that you have created, but from now on make sure you do not create any new ones. You are whole and sole responsible for yourself.
Questioner: What remedy is there to prevent suffering?
Dadashri: The only remedy is liberation from the cycle of birth and death. If you do not inflict even the slightest suffering to others and if you accept the suffering others impose upon you, and whatever comes your way whether it is good or bad, then your past accounts will be settled and you will attain liberation.
In reality, You are free, but you suffer bondage because of your mistakes. It is because of our past mistakes that we suffer. We are bound by our own mistakes. Once these mistakes are destroyed and nothing is left pending, we attain liberation from all suffering,
So why not destroy that mistake? Whose mistake is it? It is the sufferer’s. What is the mistake? The mistake is his belief that ‘I am William’. That is the mistake. Self realization of your true eternal Self breaks this mistake.
Do not see anyone else’s faults, otherwise you will create new accounts for your next life. If you continue to blame others, you will create new accounts and you will have to suffer them again.
You see faults in others do to your inner enemies of anger, false pride (of ‘I am William’), attachment, abhorrence, and greed which are all weaknesses. The vision of the true, eternal Self, does not see any faults in others. The One (the absolute Enlightened Ones) who has no inner enemies, has no one to show Him faults in others and in fact He sees no fault in others. In reality, no one is at fault. It is because of the wrong belief of ‘I am William’ that these inner enemies of weaknesses grip you. If this wrong belief breaks, these weaknesses would disappear. Attaining Real, absolute knowledge through Self realization frees you from this wrong belief.
With Real knowledge (Gnan), you can understand that your past karmic accounts are being settled and that you are being freed. There are so many Self realized people in this world who live free and without fear because they understand that nothing is going to happen outside of their accounts. With Real knowledge you remain in bliss of the Self and attain freedom.
Our relentless search for justice has exhausted us. Justice of the world and justice of nature are different. To understand things ‘as they are’, is Gnan (true Knowledge) itself and not to understand things ‘as they are’ is ignorance. If you question nature’s justice, you will invite puzzles and suffering. If you accept nature’s justice and understand that, ‘Whatever has happened is justice’ you will attain liberation.
Wars and conflicts in the world are a result of people’s pursuit of justice. Do not look for justice in this world. The world is entirely in the form of justice. It is futile to look for your own justice in it.
Justice and injustice are the effects of the accounts from our previous life, but people attempt to link their idea of justice with the account and in so doing, they end up in the courts and exhaust themselves. If you insult someone and in anger they insult you back several times, you may consider it unjust, but you should regard it as a settlement of your past account.
If you had lent money to a friend’s father, would you not try to recover it from your friend when the opportunity arises? Your friend might think it unfair, but this is how nature’s justice operates. Nature brings all the evidences together in order to settle a past account.
If you score ninety-five percent in mathematics and twenty-five percent in English, would you not be able to deduce from these results where you made mistakes? Likewise, in life we can determine from the outcome of things, what the causes were for our mistakes. The results reflect our past causes. All the events that come together are results.
According to nature’s laws, things will unravel in the same way in which they had been woven. If they are woven with injustice, the weave will unravel with injustice. If the weave had been woven with justice, it will unravel with justice. This is how events unwind but people tend to look for justice in them. Why must you look for the kind of justice that is dispensed in law courts? You are responsible for weaving it with injustice, so how can you find justice when it unravels?
Everything is your own projection. Why do you blame others? No one else has a hand in it, so you should be cautious and understand that the entire responsibility lies on your shoulders. Having understood this responsibility, what kind of conduct should you have?
Questioner: We should act accordingly.
Dadashri: Yes, one should understand one’s responsibility. Some people say that by praying to God, one’s troubles will go away. What fallacy! People use God’s name to escape their responsibility. The responsibility is yours. You are “Whole and sole responsible” for your actions. After all, the projection is only yours. If someone hurts you, you should accept it and credit it to your account. You only need to credit that which you have given out. Nature’s law prevents one person from hurting another without a cause.
God (the Absolute Enlightened Ones) is neither justice nor injustice. His language is that no living being should suffer. Justice and injustice only exist in the human language. A thief believes in stealing as a way of life. A philanthropist believes in giving to charity. All this is the language of man, not God. Nothing like this exists with God.
In God’s world there is only this much: “One should not inflict pain on any living being. This is our only principle!” Nature is the overseer of justice and injustice. The justice and injustice of man is variable and not exact. It may free the guilty and punish the innocent. There is no escape from nature’s justice. Nobody can influence it.
In this world, injustice does not exist even momentarily. Whatever has happened is justice. It is your intellect that traps you and makes you question the justice of nature, which is all encompassing. The justice through intellect is limited.
You should get separated from your intellect because it is the intellect that entangles you. If you do not tell yourself that, ‘Whatever happens is justice’, your intellect will become very restless.
What does the intellect do? It keeps looking for justice, and because of this, your worldly life continues. So do not look for justice. Is justice something one has to look for? Whatever
happens is correct - this should be the spontaneous acceptance because nothing happens outside of nature.
When someone does not pay for the goods you sold him, your intellect will nag you repeatedly. Why does he not pay, when he has already received the goods? This ‘why not?’ is the function of the intellect. When injustice is committed (according to the view of the world), it is in fact justice. You should still attempt to collect what is owed to you. Just calmly tell the person that you need the money. But there is no need to become hostile.
If you say ‘whatever happens is justice’, the intellect will go away. However, in the worldly life, you should still attempt to collect your money. When you go to collect your money, you should play your role to the fullest, as if you are in a play. You should tell your debtor pleasantly that you had come by several times and if he is not able to pay you, then he should arrange to have someone else give you the money. Speak in such an appealing way that you can get your work done. You should not get into a conflict or feel any attachment or aversion in this matter.
Even if you fail to collect your money, after a hundred trips to your debtor, remind yourself that it is of no consequence and that whatever has happened is justice.
You should have a firm conviction that whatever happens is justice. This firm conviction will keep you sane and you will not feel angry and antagonistic towards the other person, nor will you become frustrated.
Ultimately you will have to accept this justice. From now on do not use your intellect. Accept the justice, whatever happens. People will otherwise question even the most trivial things.
Questioner: But Dada, should we accept whatever comes our way in life?
Dadashri: It is better to accept it happily than to accept it after suffering.
When you look for justice, you suffer and pay the price. Even after seeking justice, the results remain the same. Why not accept and understand this from the very beginning?
When we look for justice, the questions keep increasing. If you say that whatever happens is justice, you will remain without any questions. People however, are out to look for justice and desire liberation as well. This is a contradiction. You cannot have both. Where questions end liberation begins. In this science of ours, called Akram Vignan there remain no questions. That is why it is so easy for people to follow.
Applying “whatever happens is justice” ends all questions and makes your life free from all tensions. Whenever the intellect raises questions about justice, just say, “Whatever has happened is justice”. Nature’s justice eliminates all questions. Whatever has happened, and whatever is happening, is justice.
Nature always prevails when it comes to matters of justice. It is constantly being just. However, it can never give any proof of this. Only the Gnani can give you proof of how it is just. The Gnani can convince you and once you are convinced, your work is done. When all your questions are solved, you are free.
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