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Aptavani-8
Therefore, the jiva and the Atma, are indeed one thing.
When she is cooking, she is considered a cook, and when she
goes out dancing, she is considered a dancer. But the woman is
one and the same.
‘I’, ‘Bavo’, ‘Mangaldas’
When someone comes to our door, we would ask, ‘Who
is there?’ And he would say, ‘I have come.’ Then you would
ask, ‘I, but who? Speak up!’ He will reply, ‘I am the mendicant
(bavo - beggar monk)’, so you ask, ‘Which mendicant?’ And
he would say, ‘It is I, the beggar monk (bavo) Mangaldas!’
Then, you would recognize him. Otherwise, if he just said I, no
one would recognize him. If he said “I, the beggar monk (bavo)”,
even then you would wonder, ‘Was it this beggar monk (bavo)
or the other one?’ Therefore when he says all three – I, the
beggar monk (bavo), Mangaldas – then you would recognize,
that it is indeed that Mangaldas (bavo). You even visualize him.
So then you open the door. And if there happens to be two or
three Mangaldas (individuals), he has to tell you, ‘I am the bavo
Mangaldas of Mahadevji (Lord Shiva’s follower).’ That is when
you recognize him. Therefore, ‘I’, ‘bavo’, ‘Mangaldas’. Now
tell me, how many people are there? And in all this, who is the
‘I’? Who is the bavo? Who is Mangaldas? Have you not heard
that before? But it was not useful to you. And when I heard it,? it
became instantly useful to me. Each and every sentence I hear is
useful to me. Even if I found it in the streets it would still help me.
So you will have to know who the ‘I’ is, will you not? And
do you not have to become convinced about who the ‘I’ is? In
the same way, the ‘I’ here is the Atma, and if you know (realize)
the ‘I’, you will end up with a solution.
Only That Awareness Is Needed
Questioner: So one only becomes the Absolute Soul
(Parmatma) from the Atma?