Who Am I? Who Am I? | Page 69

60 WHO AM I ? pratiti (conviction), laksh (awareness), and anubhuv (experience). Furthermore, the conviction (pratiti) never leaves. EXPERIENCE, AWARENESS AND CONVICTION Questioner : What is conviction (pratiti) of the Soul? Dadashri : It is the conviction, “I am Soul,” that becomes ingrained in one’s being. This conviction has initially taken hold through the medium of words. Eventually he will experience, “I am Soul.. Your former conviction that you are Chandulal is now broken, and the absolute conviction that you are Pure Soul has been established, along with the laksh (awareness) of Pure Soul. Once you become Pure Soul, your liberation is guaranteed. There is absolutely no doubt about this. How much of the Pure Soul state do you experience? It is primarily from the conviction. If you are awakened in the night, immediately you become aware that you are Shuddhatma. This means that there is a one hundred percent conviction and the awareness has also been established. Awareness (laksh) means jagruti (alertness, vigilance, and state of spiritual awakening). This jagruti will keep increasing until it becomes complete. Thirdly, you have the experience (anubhav). It is due to this experience of the Pure Soul, that you are attending Satsang (Sat = absolute truth, Sang= association) daily. You have tasted something and found sweetness in it. From now on, you will have experience, awareness, and conviction of your Real Self. This is a natural occurrence. The duration of time may vary. Experience and awareness fluctuate, whereas conviction of the pure state is constant. When the conviction is constant, such a state is called kshayak samkit. The conviction that fluctuates is called samyak darshan or upsham samkit. Awareness tends to change, depending on what one is doing. If he is talking to someone, his awareness will not be there. As for experience, this occurs when he is alone. So through these three aspects, conviction, experience, and