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Aptavani-9
horse race’, you can tell them, ‘No, Dada has been there and
I believe him when he tells us about what he saw there and his
experiences. Thank you very much. I do not want such a
race.’
A relative of mine, while talking about money, tells me,
‘You have done well, you have made good money in the
business.’ I told him, ‘I really do not have any such thing; it is
you who has done very well. You have factories etc. How can
I compare myself to where you are at! I do not have the skills
you have; you have been able to accumulate so much wealth. I
do not know anything about this. I only know about the other
things (Self realization).’ There was nothing left to discuss any
further when I said that. There was nothing to compete, was
there? There was no relation left. Why would I want to enter
into competition (spardha) with them?
People are always competing in this way, but how can I
run with them? Let them win the prize. You just observe them.
What happens when you compete against them? You end up
hurting yourself so that is not for you.
The prize goes to the winner, the rest die
panting
If I am invited to a wedding of an acquaintance and I sit
in the middle, they will ask me to move and make room for
some ‘Jaichandbhai’ or other that comes along and then some
doctor or someone else will come along. I would get tired of
being moved around in this manner and end up sitting in the
back. So I stopped sitting in the front row altogether. I said to
myself, ‘I cannot afford to do this. I do not want to compete (for
a seat) with anyone. Only the winner takes the prize, others do
not.’ So then the host would come to me and tell me, ‘We have
kept a seat for you in the middle because you are the uncle.
Why did you not sit there? Why do you move around and stand
in the back? It does not look good for the order and pomp of