12
Aptavani-9
Questioner: It appears that we will find everything
wherever we go but there is a lack of straightness (asarad)
there.
Dadashri: There is no straightness to be found. The
following qualities are not found anywhere. You do not see
spontaneous forgiveness (sahaj kshama) anywhere. If you say
something to someone, he cannot refrain from making a mental
note (nondha) of it; he will remember it for months on end. Not
keeping a note is called natural forgiveness (sahaj kshama).
Then what is next? Then there is the quality of being harsh
or callous (kathor). There are all kinds of harshness.
Then there is all kind of insistence (aagraha). A person
with these qualities will not have any straightness (saradata) in
him and so no matter how hard one tries to change him, he will
not change. He has no humility (namrata), in addition to lacking
straightness. You will need topmost straightness. Then you need
topmost humility. What is namrata (humility)? It is to bow
completely before the other person begins to bow. It is to bow
to the one who is rigid and inflexible. This is a sign that one will
attain moksha. What is the nature of a human being? If someone
is being rigid and inflexible, he too will become rigid and
inflexible; he will react in the same manner. People become
inflexible with the one who refuses to give in.
Then one should not have any greed (lobh) whatsoever.
Greed holds people back from making any spiritual progress.
That is why the Lord has said for people to go on pilgrimage
and other such activities and spend money. The tuber of greed
will decrease as you spend money. Otherwise, greed will
continue to increase like the ‘push of 99’ (if a person has 99
rupees, he will be pushed by his greed to save one more rupee
so he can have one hundred rupees). Therefore, one’s inner
intent should be to have no need or want for any worldly thing.
When all the ‘ghosts’ of kashayas i.e. the inner enemies of anger,