Aptavani-8
21
Questioner: So if it is affected by pain and pleasure, then
does it not become worldly (sansari)?
Dadashri: No. The Atma does not become worldly
(sansari). It remains in its original state. It is the atma that you
understand, that has become worldly. What you consider to be
the Atma, is that which has become worldly (sansari), and it is
this atma that is mechanical. So as long as you put petrol (fuel)
in it, it will work; otherwise it stops. Within half an hour to an
hour, if you kept your nose pinched, the machine would stop.
That is why people believe that the mechanical atma is the
Atma. They have never seen the real Atma, nor have they even
heard about the real Atma, so they try to still (sthir) the
mechanical atma. But the mechanical can never be stilled.
So there is no Atma in the hair that we cut, and the extra
nail that we clip. When you cut your nail, in the area that stings,
there is Atma. Moreover, the Atma is present throughout the
entire body.
Questioner: But in yogic scriptures, it says that the Atma
is in the brahmarandhra (the aperture at the crown of head).
Dadashri: All that is fine for yogic scripture. Do you want
to know the truth? Do you want to know about that which is
worldly (laukik) or about that which is not of this world
(alaukik)? There are two kinds of knowledge: one that works
in the world and the other is the knowledge of reality (vaastavik).
Do you wish to know the real or the worldly?
Questioner: I want to know both of them.
Dadashri: If you want to know the worldly (laukik)
knowledge; then the Atma is located in the heart, and if you want
to know the real (alaukik) knowledge, then the Atma is found
throughout the body. If you want to know the worldly (laukik),
then this world has been created by God, and if you want to
know the real (alaukik), then God has not created this world.