Aptavani-9 by Dada Bhagwan (i can read with my eyes shut txt) 📕

my-ness and self-respect is pride with a boundary, pride for which one is qualified. Self-respect is engaged in protection of this pride. In the worldly life, self-respect is a virtue but the one who wants liberation will have to let go of this self-respect also. To set up protection against insult is self-respect.

An abhimaani person will exhibit all his possessions but the person with false pride with my-ness (mithyabhimaani) will boast ‘we have this and we have that’; when really he has nothing.

Insult is the ‘thermometer’, i.e. a gauge to measure pride. When insulted, if one gets affected, that verily shows the existence of pride.

A nirmaani person i.e. one who claims or holds the belief within of ‘I am without pride’ will have the ego of, ‘I am without pride.’ This ego is very subtle. Such ego too will have to go if he wants liberation.

The Gnani Purush is with and without inclination (spruha). He is completely disinclined towards the non-self of others (nispruha) and completely inclined (saspruha)towards the Souls of others.

There is no unmattata (reaction of swelling with pride) in the Gnani Purush. People swell with pride when they have money in their pockets and in the Gnani, there is no such reaction even when he is surrounded with luxury.

The Gnani Purush does not have any ‘I-ness’ (potapanu). He is not the owner of the mind, speech or body at all.

The Gnani Purush has no ego of doer-ship (garva). ‘I am doing this’ or ‘I have done that’ is all ego of doer-ship. There is no doer-ship in the state of the real Self. Garva-ras is ‘juice’ of doer-ship; it is very sweet. The instant one feels ‘I did it’, he tastes the sweetness of the ego of doer-ship. It is also, tasting the ego of doer-ship if one maintains from within ‘It happened because I was there’. In this world, there is nothing sweeter than the taste of the ego of doer-ship.

How does the taste of the ego of doer-ship go away? It goes away by knowing the science (Vignan). Which science? To know, ‘Who is doing all this?’ This science will make you know that you are not the doer. After that the taste of the ego of doer-ship of ‘I am doing’ is not there. The Gnani Purush does not have ‘I did’ with any of his actions.

The intoxication of ‘I know’ is a terrible danger! That disease will never go away without the Gnani’s help. It is more dangerous than poison. If you want to have an ego, have the ego of, ‘I don’t know anything.’

When people praise you and you are in an intoxicated state for the whole day; that is called praise intoxication. And garavata is, ‘I did such a great job!’ Doer-ship as in ‘I am the doer’ creates the habit of further tasting the ego of doer-ship.

What should one do to not taste the ego of doer-ship? Nothing is to be done. The awareness of, ‘I am the Self,’ separates one from, ‘I am the doer,’ and the taste of doer-ship. The one who has acquired Self-realization simply needs to know ‘I am not the one tasting the ego of doer-ship’; he simply needs to maintain that awareness.

There is no wallowing in worldly pleasures (garavata) in the Gnani Purush. The garavata of human beings is like a buffalo sitting in the comfort of cool wet mud on a hot summer day. Nothing would make it budge. Similarly, those who are engrossed in worldly pleasures such as success, achievements and prosperity, or for that matter the knowledge of scriptures – they are all in garavata and it will not let them come out of the worldly life. They are stuck there and they make no spiritual progress. Only the compassion of the Gnani Purush can bring them out of it.

With explanation and later through Gnan (Self-Realization) given by the Gnani Purush, one understands that there is no real happiness in the worldly life and gets the conviction (pratiti) that real happiness lies only in the Self. Once there is a firm decision on his part, it will help get rid of garavata. Akram Vignan says that the one who is experiencing garavata, is not the real Self. Garavata gradually dissolves away with this awareness.

The Gnani Purush has no doer-ship (garva), no pleasure indulgence (garavata), no inner or outer inclination (spruha), no swelling with pride (unmattata), no ‘I-ness’ (potapanu). Surrendering to such a One, who is in a magnificent state of Gnan, a seeker’s (spiritual) losses of infinite past lives are recouped in just one lifetime and he attains the guarantee of liberation (moksha).

6. Laghutam : Gurutam

The state of the Gnani Purush is such, that in matters of worldly interactions (vyavahar) he is laghutam i.e. he is the smallest; the lowliest and in matters of the Soul, the real Self (nischaya), he is gurutam, the highest. The Gnani Purush is never the guru of anyone. He is not anyone’s superior and no one is his superior, not even God. Even God is pleased with the one who has no ego and ‘my-ness’.

The one who becomes the most ‘junior’ in the world will be the most ‘senior’ in the whole universe.

In mathematics, the smallest and the final indivisible amount is the lowest common multiple. From this definition, in His childhood, Dadashri discovered God; God is the smallest in all living beings (laghutam) and common in all. Since that time, his inclination towards becoming laghutam in worldly interactions led him in becoming laghutam in the worldly life, while simultaneously there manifested the state of absolute gurutam as the Self.

Being laghutam (lowest; smallest) bestows one with permanent security. The laghutam has no fear of falling.

In the world, everyone likes to be gurutam (biggest, highest) not laghutam (the smallest; lowest). The one who tries to become gurutam will wander around in the world of the four life forms and the one who becomes the smallest will soon go towards final liberation.

What does Akram Vignan say? It says for one to be the smallest in the relative world and biggest in the real and neither big nor small (aguru- laghu) in the Self-form! The one who is the smallest in the relative world, by law, becomes the biggest in the real! In that stage, God will embrace that person.

One should not become the world’s guru but should make the world his guru. A guru without the ‘guru-key’ (gurukilli) becomes very heavy. He will drown himself and will drown those who follow him. The guru-key must be obtained from the Gnani Purush. Guru-key means a constant awareness of ‘I am a disciple of all disciples; I am the smallest.’

Everyone needs a guru that fits his or her level of spiritual development. Kindergarten teachers, first standard or second standard teachers, college teacher and the ultimate teacher is the one who makes the whole world his teacher; the ultimate guru is the one who makes the whole world his guru.

Until one’s intention of becoming the biggest in the world is gone, unless ones inner belief of ‘I am something’ is gone, the intention to be the smallest cannot take hold.

It is very difficult to achieve the status of the smallest. It is achieved by the one who has a constant awareness about the line of demarcation between the real and the relative with the help of Gnani Purush. He who remains within the Agnas (spiritual directives) of the Gnani Purush can attain the status of the smallest; his vision is towards the state of laghutam and the goal is of only that, so he will become that.

What is the characteristic of being the smallest? One should know that he has become the smallest when if he is sitting in the car and is asked to get out of the car, is called back to sit in the car, asked to get out again; if this happens nine times over and each time he is not affected, then that is the sign of becoming laghutam.

‘To remain in the intent of becoming the smallest; to have laghutam bhaav and to keep the vision of oneness (abheda drashti) is the foundation of Akram Vignan.’

~Dadashri

The worldly life has been created from the ego of being the biggest, and with the ego of becoming the smallest it comes to an end.

The race in the race-course starts when one enters the race to become number one. In the intent to come last, there is no race.

While running the race to become number one, everyone dies panting while the prize is awarded only to one.

Criticism (teeka) and competitiveness (spardha) are some of the manifestation of the ego. Everyone is undergoing the effects of their own karma, how can anyone be criticized? To criticize means to ruin your own self.

The one with the ego of having skills and the know-how will get exhausted in this worldly race. Instead, one can sit on the side, enjoy and take it easy by saying, ‘I have no skills’. The Gnani Purush clearly says ‘I don’t even know how to shave, even at this age!’

The one with the ego of having skills doesn’t know that his mistakes are buried under the nature’s ‘factor of safety’ and he believes, ‘I am so skillful.’

People will keep on doing work as long as there is the ego of being skillful. What is to be done by those without skills? The knowledge of skill has continued on the basis of ego. How can the skill continue where there is no ego or where the ego has ended?

The Gnani Purush repeatedly reiterates that He has no skills but people do not believe it. People say ‘Dada knows everything’. Then, He says, ‘I know about the Self. I know that the ‘Soul’ is the knower-seer. Whatever the ‘Soul’ can ‘see’, ‘I’ can ‘see’. I do not know anything else.’

When the other person insists (khench), the Gnani lets go slowly and leaves and moves ahead. If someone insists, and you insist in return, it will hinder your progress. The other person insists according to what he ‘sees’, therefore, where is he at fault?

The one who wants to attain final liberation, the world will call him crazy; the world will beat him up and throw him out. Yet, he should accept defeat and sit down. The way of the Gnanis is to win the world by letting others win! Therefore, in this world, it is worth learning how to be defeated. Only then, he can be free from this world. Otherwise, he who is trying to win is considered as defeated. This research of the Gnani is worth adopting.

Gnani Purush Himself has become abuddha (intellect-free; without any use of intellect), whereas the world is trying to become intelligent or making attempts to be called intelligent!

One can be an expert in one subject at the most. Instead to be ‘ignorant in everything’ is best. When one becomes ignorant in everything his life will run smoothly. Because you can hire experts in everything; you can hire a lawyer, a doctor, an accountant, a solicitor, even a manager to run the factory is available for hire!

Once you say, ‘I don’t have any skills’; you are freed from the race-course. Instead of others calling us unskilled, why not say it ourselves and become