Aptavani-2
125
Dharmadhyan
Questioner : Are worship (puja) and services (seva)
considered dharmadhyan (pious activities)?
Dadashri : No, that is not dharmadhyan. What is of
importance is where the internal attention (dhyan) lies whilst you
are engaged in your worship and service. God does not look at
your external actions, but He does look at where your dhyan is
during the time of these actions.
One sheth used to spend four hours a day in worship,
reading scriptures, and doing samayik (introspection). One day
a man knocked at his door and his wife answered the door. The
man asked where the sheth was, and she immediately replied,
“Sheth has gone to dung-heap (A garbage dump but here, it
means in sexual thoughts).” The sheth overheard this and
immediately realized that indeed his mind was involved in sexual
thoughts even though he was doing a samayik. He realized that
his wife had more understanding and insight then his.
If you are doing a samayik or turning the beads of a
rosary and your dhyan is somewhere else, then your external
action are of no significance. What is important is where your
dhyan is when performing your actions and rituals.
Dhyan itself is purusharth
People in this world are under an illusion. They look at the
action and not the dhyan (deep inner state). Dhyan is the
purusharth (cause) for the next life and your action of today is
the effect of your purusharth of the past life. Dhyan is the cause,
the effect of which will manifest in the next life. During dhyan,