296 Aptavani-9
I would recognize a person with‘ hum’. He has a certain sound just as a counterfeit coin has a certain sound. Have you ever seen a counterfeit coin?
Questioner: Certain people with‘ hum-I am something great’ that walk around are recognizable, are they not?
Dadashri: No.‘ I am something’ is a different thing. Those people around you with‘ I am something’ are people living a worldly life. Their‘ hum’ will go away sooner or later. As soon as they experience any suffering, their‘ hum’ goes away. But who will get rid of‘ hum’ in those others( so called ascetics)? That‘ hum’ is then taken into‘ sohum’( I am that)!
Questioner: Does a person have some quality in order for this‘ hum’ to arise? Does he have any substance?
Dadashri: What substance? They have nothing. Hum arises because how is one to live otherwise? What is the basis of his existence? He exists on this‘ hum’. Before his living was based on material things and now he lives on‘ hum’. Even though he is alone, he gets food to eat and water to drink because of his merit karma( punya). He gets to eat and drink and his‘ hum’ will continue to increase. He claims,‘ Just look what I get! I get everything. There is nothing that I cannot get.’ Yes! We agree that you get everything you want, but how can you know where you are getting them from? Then when your‘ hum’ gets bigger and stronger, who will remove it for you?
Questioner: So how can one get rid of the‘ hum’?
Dadashri: Is‘ hum’ ever likely to go away? How can‘ hum’ go away? How can that which one created himself ever go away? The ego will go but not the‘ hum’. The definition of ego( ahamkar) is to claim to be at a place where one is not. Such ego can go away. One does not do anything and yet he claims to be the doer; that is ahamkar. Whereas, he himself has given birth to‘ hum’, so how can it leave? The‘ hum … hum’ continues.