156
Aptavani-8
No one else will be able to do it! Besides, if you meddle in it
yourself, your efforts of endless lifetimes will be futile; moreover,
you will just die of drinking medicine that was intended for
topical use only. How is it God’s fault if you drink medicine that
was only made for external use (rubbing ointment)?
Jiva and Atma: Neither Separate Nor
Connected
Questioner: What is the difference between the jiva and
the Atma?
Dadashri: As long as it is in a worldly (sansar) state,
it lives and dies, and until then, it is called jiva. A worldly state
means that, ‘I am a sansari (I am living this worldly life)’. And
when one believes the worldly state (sansar dasha) is his own
state; he therefore, lives and dies, and so he is called jiva! And
from the time that the living and dying ends, one is considered
Shiva (God; Atma), and one is called the pure Soul
(Shuddhatma). The jiva is always immersed in the world
(sansari); it has karma, while the Atma does not have
karma.
Questioner: So then, the jiva and the Atma are separate,
are they not?
Dadashri: The jiva and Atma? No. The same Atma,
but if it is with karma, then it is called a jiva, and if it is without
karma, then it is called Atma. When it is with karma, it lives
and dies; that is jiva.
Questioner: And Atma is eternal (amar), is it not?
Dadashri: Yes, it is eternal.
Questioner: And jiva is attached to it?
Dadashri: No, it is not attached to it. It is like this: there
is the embodied soul (jivatma), the Atma, and the Absolute
Soul (Parmatma). Jivatma is the state of the atma with karma