58 WHO AM I? YOU CAN ONLY SAY SO AFTER REALIZATION
Questioner: If we say,“ I am Pure Soul,” does it not amount to an expression of ego?
Dadashri: No. If other people say it, then it is an egoistic expression. We have all decidedly realized that we are Pure Soul and so it is not egoistic to talk about what you are.
Many people can say,“ I am Pure Soul.” But this is like someone telling you that he will give you $ 500 in his sleep. Would you believe him? It would be different if he were wide awake while making the offer. There is no meaning in saying things without awareness. In the same way, when people say,“ I am Shuddhatma,” without acquiring Self-Realization, it is like they are talking in their sleep. They achieve nothing by talking this way, and in fact, such talk is liable to cause errors in life. One is only entitled to say,“ I am Pure Soul,” after realizing the Self.
Questioner: So the awareness has to occur?
Dadashri: Yes, only after Self-Realization, one can say,“ I am Shuddhatma.” Then it is appropriate, because he is saying so after realizing his true identity, after becoming Shuddhatma. Now if after becoming Shuddhatma, he asks for proof, then we can ask him who he is. He would answer that he is Shuddhatma. Next we ask him if he has lost attachment to‘ Chandulal’, and he would say that he has. This confirms that he has become a Pure Soul.
THE GNANI AWAKENS YOUR AWARENESS
After this Gnan, you recognize that your home is your Real Self and everything external to it is foreign. That means your work is completed. This is like the man who is now alert and wide awake after someone wakes him up from sleep. He responds to his real name.