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Aptavani-5
measure it? I ask them why they stretch the cloth while also
having a reverence for God? They tell me, ‘We do it because
everyone else does it.’ I ask them, ‘Would you jump into a well
if others do? Why do you stretch the cloth?’ Then they tell me,
‘If I stretch a forty yards cloth when I measure it, I can save one
fourth of a yard.’ Hey you! Why are you doing a stretching
exercise? You are committing adverse internal meditation
(raudradhyan) every time you do this. What will happen to
you? I have seen you sitting in the crowd listening to Lord
Mahavir. The very people who were sitting amongst the crowd
listening to Lord Mahavir’s sermons that enlightened, are still
here stretching their cloth and they have still not attained
moksha. They got left behind, lost their opportunity of moksha,
for their petty greed, some mere relish that was missing on their
plate; they did not get left behind because they were waiting for
an entire plate.
Questioner: Truth, non-violence, and honesty are all divine
attributes. Is it possible that if a person were to devote himself to
one of these attributes, the rest will automatically follow?
Dadashri: All of them will come if one latches on to just
one of them.
The Light, the Intent, the Doer, the
Circumstances
Questioner: Can a man survive through faith? How is he
to do that?
Dadashri: After you board a ship and you have a
suspicion that it is likely to sink, you will get off that ship, but
what if you have faith (shraddha) in that ship? Would you not
remain on board? What do you think? One will immediately
move away if one does not have faith.
Questioner: Many times I have faith when I am doing
some work and yet I end up with difficulties in doing it.