The Molding of the Ego in the Incomprehensible Planning of Nature

Dadashri has given detailed explanations for this Science in the Gujarati language and He has urged those who want to understand its depth fully, to learn the Gujarati language.

While reading these translations of the Gujarati Dadavani magazine, if you feel there is any sort of contradiction, then it is the mistake of the translators and the understanding of the matter should be clarified with the living Gnani.

In order to enhance the reading experience of the English Dadavani, a glossary with the translations of the Gujarati words used in the matter is available on https://www.dadabhagwan.org/books-media/glossary/ on the internet for readers. Please share your feedback about this change and the overall reading experience of the English Dadavani on engvani@dadabhagwan.org.

Please note that ‘S’ Self denotes the awakened Self, separate from the ‘s’ worldly self or non-Self complex. The Self is the Soul within all living beings. The term pure Soul is used by the Gnani Purush for the awakened Self, after the Gnan Vidhi. The absolute Soul is the fully enlightened Self. The worldly soul is the self. In the same manner, ‘Y’ You refers to the awakened Soul or Self, and the ‘y’ you refers to the worldly self. Also note that round brackets are for translation purposes and square brackets are for clarity that has been added in English which is not originally present in Gujarati.

Without Science, Nature Cannot Be Comprehended

Questioner: What is nature?

Dadashri: Nature is scientific circumstantial evidence.

Questioner: Science is indeed nature, is it not? Are nature and science the same thing?

Dadashri: To know nature is considered science and to not know nature is considered agnan (ignorance). Nature ought to be known.

Questioner: So then how are nature and science associated with one another?

Dadashri: What is nature and how does it work? How is it destroyed? All of that is explained by science.

Questioner: You explained it so naturally and spontaneously, that this [science] describes this [nature], that is it!

Dadashri: That is all, what else is there?

Questioner: Please explain it further.

Dadashri: It’s like this; this [science]

gives the description of this [nature] by stating that H + O will form water. Nature

2 and science are similar to this. That which is never contradictory at all is referred to as nature. When H and O come together

2 along with certain other circumstances, then only water will be formed, oil will not be formed. This is a Science! The entire world functions through science.

Nature is not a specific element ( vastu). Nature refers to the coming together of circumstances. When the efforts of gathering circumstances together commence, that is known as nature, and the actual coming together of those circumstances is known as vyavasthit.

Vyavasthit means scientific circumstantial evidence. Our people refer to that as nature, they refer to it as kudrat. Whichever circumstances come together, they exhibit their own unique natural properties, and when they come together, they exhibit new properties. When H and O come together, water

2 forms! Similarly, these [circumstances] come together and later dissipate. Eating and drinking, followed by excretion, this is all scientific circumstantial evidence!

Questioner: Isn’t there some sort of energy ( shakti) that brings these scientific circumstantial evidence together?

Dadashri: It is not a living energy; it is inanimate energy. It is an energy that is a mixture of jada (the eternal element of inanimate matter) and Chetan ( the eternal element of the Self), in which visheshbhaav (assumed identification with that which is not its own) has happened to jada. In all of this, the Self has remained the same, just as It was, from time immemorial.

Nature and Vyavasthit Are Understood as One and the Same

Questioner: Natural energy ( kudrati shakti) and the energy of scientific circumstantial evidence ( vyavasthit shakti); are the two the same or are they different?

Dadashri: You understand natural energy according to your own interpretation, don’t you? What do I refer to as natural energy? Scientific circumstantial evidence. You will not understand that in Gujarati, that is why I have given it to you as vyavasthit shakti. This is a very subtle concept.

Questioner: Is there actually any distinction between vyavasthit and kudrat (nature)?

Dadashri: If I were to refer to kudrat as nature, then people would not understand it. And what exactly is kudrat? It is scientific circumstantial evidence. If we were to translate the word kudrat into English, people would translate it as nature. That is not actually nature, it is scientific circumstantial evidence. Just as when it rains, 2 H and O come together and the rain pours down, and people say that kudrat is making it rain. However, if it is called kudrat, then people will misuse it and turn it into nature. People do not understand. That is why I made this distinction.

Everything changes due to all these circumstances. Everything keeps on changing due to these scientific circumstances. When these changes are taking place, it is considered natural energy ( kudarati shakti) at that time. The water vapor indeed keeps arising due to the presence of the sun and the summer heat and the ocean positioned below [the sun].

Questioner: Is all of that kudrat?

Dadashri: It is naturally happening ( kudarati). All these circumstances arise. No one is doing anything. Only the presence of the summer heat gives rise to water vapor, which then forms clouds. Moreover, clouds form through other circumstances and through the circumstances, when the time is right, they arrive here. Moreover, the wind pulls them here and when the 15th of June approaches, the wind blows them westward. They pull the clouds tremendously and keep them hovered over here. And then, someone like this person may have fifty to seventy-five acres of land. He will say, “It will rain any time now.” So even if a black cloud has formed, it will dissipate within an hour! The next day, when there are no clouds in sight, what would someone

like him say? “I bet it will not rain at all today.” He would be willing to place a bet. As a matter of fact, within an hour, it will come from nowhere and pour down heavily! This is all kudrat.

Is Niyati Another Phase of Vyavasthit?

Questioner: I recently read a book in which, what we refer to as vyavasthit, they [in the Kramik path] refer to as niyati (the natural progression of evolution of a soul). They too say that there is no such thing as God up there. But they use the word niyati. So then, niyati and vyavasthit…

Dadashri: There is a lot of difference between the two.

Questioner: People understand vyavasthit to be niyati.

Dadashri: I am saying no to that, this is not niyati. This vyavasthit is not niyati.

Questioner: What is the difference between niyati and vyavasthit?

Dadashri: There is a lot of difference. For niyati, you have to remove the ownership over this body. Then whatever activity the body does, that is all niyati. Without any claim of ownership whatsoever, whether the body eats, drinks, fights, gets into a physical altercation, it is all niyati. As long as there is ownership, it does not do this. That is not niyati, it is vyavasthit.

Questioner: I am getting very confused about the difference between niyati and vyavasthit. I don’t really understand it.

Dadashri: In terms of vyavasthit, it is when all the circumstances come together that it can be referred to as vyavasthit. Niyati is just one cause. When many such causes come together, that is when it is vyavasthit.

Questioner: For niyati, they say that whatever is going to happen will happen, everything is predetermined. Isn’t that right! Vyavasthit says the same thing, that we do not need to worry, nature will do nature’s work.

Dadashri: No, vyavasthit does not say that at all. What does vyavasthit say? Say [that it is] vyavasthit after it has happened.

Questioner: Yes, but for whatever happens, it is predetermined, isn’t it?

Dadashri: Yes. However, in terms of vyavasthit, refer to it as so only after it happens. You can never refer to it as vyavasthit before you get robbed. You can say that it is vyavasthit after you have been robbed. And what niyati says is that the fate of the work is predetermined; however, that is not so. It is when all the other circumstances come together that work gets done. If it were niyati, then it is over, it is finished off, isn’t it! There is a lot to understand about vyavasthit.

Questioner: What is the difference between vyavasthit and niyati? Can you please explain that in more detail?

Dadashri: There is a lot of difference. Vyavasthit can change. Vyavasthit keeps

on changing. Niyati does not change, it is fixed. Niyati means a decided policy, it is the same policy for all three time periods [past, present, and future]. There is no change in the policy.

What a Beautiful Arrangement by Nature!

Questioner: How does niyati arise?

Dadashri: Niyati is indeed there. Niyati is there by nature. Niyati is [like] this stream…these humans are moving within this stream, in the flow ( pravah). They are in the flow of niyati.

Questioner: Now, what effect does niyati have on a living being?

Dadashri: It indeed keeps on doing its work. It is constantly taking one further in the direction of that flow.

Questioner: Niyati means pravah (flow). Now, can you please explain what pravah is?

Dadashri: When a train departs, it reaches each station exactly on time. So when it reaches Mumbai, it is called niyati. When there is interference, niyati is gone. So it is said that this train is within niyati.

What is niyati? It keeps on flowing just as a river flows; it keeps on flowing. Similarly, all living beings continue flowing in this way.

This world is running naturally. Everything is indeed in its inherent nature ( swabhaav) and nothing has ever gone outside of its inherent nature. It is simply that as far as worldly interaction ( vyavahaar) is concerned, it is the entire path of natural and spiritual evolution ( samsaran marg), and all these embodied souls ( jeev) have entered this path of natural and spiritual evolution. So it has been divided into three parts: the first is avyavahaar rashi (a state of uncategorized souls who have not yet entered worldly interactions), the second is vyavahaar rashi (worldly nomenclature; interactive life state), and third is Siddha Kshetra (location at the crest of the universe which is the permanent abode of the absolutely liberated Souls who have attained final liberation)!

There are infinite embodied souls who exist in avyavahaar rashi, and there are infinite embodied souls who have entered vyavahaar rashi too. However, if you want to count the number of human beings who are in these worldly interactions, then it is possible to do so. And the Ones who have been liberated from worldly interactions, the Ones who have gone on to the realm of the absolutely liberated Souls ( Siddha gati), They are also infinite in number!

The embodied souls of avyavahaar rashi come here into worldly interactions. Just think of it this way, when fiftythousand embodied souls go to moksha (ultimate liberation), another fifty-thousand come from avyavahaar rashi and enter vyavahaar rashi, which is why the worldly interactions remain constant.

However many embodied souls go from worldly interactions to moksha, to Siddha Kshetra, the same number of embodied souls go from being not yet classified or identified ( avyavahaar) to the

interactive life state ( vyavahaar). So how would you define vyavahaar? Of all the embodied souls there are in vyavahaar, not a single one ever decreases or increases; that is referred to as vyavahaar! If a single embodied soul were to ever increase or decrease, then the whole arrangement would collapse!

Questioner: What would happen if a single embodied soul were to decrease or increase?

Dadashri: Nature’s entire planning would break down! If the sun does not appear today, then the moon might not appear tomorrow, or so many stars would be missing, or perhaps a certain planet would not be there on a certain day. This is because if it were the case that, “They have gone to moksha,” then it would become pitch black over here! So if there were to be an increase or decrease in a single embodied soul, then the entire planning would become disrupted. However, all of this design in its entirety will remain in exactness.

The sun, moon, and stars will still appear the same even after billions of years. The very same planet of Saturn and the same planet of Venus would be visible, but the soul within [ the planet that is the body of the soul] will keep changing. It is only the external packaging that remains the same, the bodies that cast a reflection are going to remain constant, whereas the embodied soul within falls from that stage and goes to another location. Even the [soul within the] sun will fall from that stage, as well as the other embodied souls. But as soon as it falls from that stage, another soul takes its place and that is called vyavasthit! What a beautiful arrangement it is! If one living being arrives at 3:03, the other one leaves at that precise time. Yes, otherwise we would wonder, ‘Why did it suddenly become dark?’ But nothing like this happens. Therefore, not a single soul becomes misplaced and each and every embodied soul ( jeev) is going to remain in its own service [to serve its existence]!

The Progress of Embodied Souls Through the Path of Evolution

Questioner: Please tell us more about samsaran marg (the path of natural and spiritual evolution)!

Dadashri: Worldly life is samsaran marg. It is a very long path. So in the past life, you kept moving and in this life, you keep moving. Your faith gets established upon whatever knowledge you have seen on this path. That faith then manifests as an effect. In the next life, a different kind of knowledge is acquired and the effect of that is coming from the knowledge of the past life!

One gains understanding through knowledge, and then the situation ( avastha) changes and vyavasthit changes accordingly. It happens according to however much one understands; as the situation changes, so does vyavasthit. Whereas niyati (the natural progression of evolution of a soul) remains the same; it remains constant, it flows the same throughout.

What is samsaran marg? It is

constantly flowing. Flowing means that it is flowing based on niyati. And niyati can’t be changed, but vyavasthit changes.

The embodied souls who have been gradually evolving in the path of evolution and who have been given a name, meaning when they can be identified by a name, that is when it can be said that they have entered into worldly interactions. So that is when it can be said, “This is an onion, this is a rose, this is a grain of rice, this is algae.” All the way up to the attainment of moksha, the situations are constantly changing and the development continues to happen.

Questioner: How does an embodied soul progress when it comes from nigod (a class of infinitesimal, imperceptible beings that exist in a dormant state) to becoming a one-sensed organism ( ekendriya)?

Dadashri: It continues to happen on its own, naturally, through a natural process. Everything continues happening according to the law of vyavasthit. Even after coming to [acquiring the human life- form in] India, vyavasthit would have indeed been referred to as niyati; if vyavasthit were to remain vyavasthit forever, then it would be considered to be niyati. However, vyavasthit does not always remain unchanging. After coming to India, all the thoughts change and then one wanders through the four life-forms. So that is why ‘we’ had to refer to a [specific] vyavasthit. It is when all the causes come together that it is vyavasthit, otherwise it is indeed considered to be niyati.

Niyati means that nature, methodically, on its own, takes one all the way to moksha. It is simply through the natural process [that an embodied soul] becomes a one-sensed organism ( ekendriya), a two- sensed organism ( beindriya), a three- sensed organism. However, for these human beings of India [for those who are laden with intense anger, pride, deceit, and greed], there are these four life-forms ( gati).

Questioner: This is because the development is greater here.

Dadashri: It does not take long to bind an undesirable life-form, does it! The inner inclinations are of the undesirable life-forms, aren’t they! What can poor niyati do there?

Questioner: If we were to look at the case of one soul wandering within worldly life, when one soul leaves nigod, what does it bring along with it? When it has left, it must have left taking everything along with it; is everything decided from the beginning, is it predetermined?

Dadashri: No, it is not decided. If it were decided, then it would be referred to as niyati. When an embodied soul leaves nigod, then there is the energy of niyati which takes these embodied souls forward. That is how this flow continues. So once it has been given a name, it has come into vyavahaar rashi. It then progresses gradually in worldly interactions. It is niyati that makes that happen. It is niyati that is at work. However, it is only upon coming into the human life-form that the ego ( ahamkaar) arises.

Questioner: So what does it have

when it leaves nigod? Does it not have anything?

Dadashri: Nothing at all. There is no ego or anything else. There are all these roses and potatoes, then there are the twosensed organisms, then the three-sensed organisms; in this way, all the embodied souls develop.

Questioner: Are they all pure Souls ( Shuddhatma)?

Dadashri: They are indeed pure Souls. Pure ( shuddha), but the rose itself is not aware of that. However, the rose itself does not have to make any effort ( purusharth). It progresses automatically. It is simply niyati that helps it progress.

Questioner: But why did it feel like leaving nigod?

Dadashri: There was no scope for feeling that way. There was no mind there at all. The mind is formed only when it comes into this human life-form. When it comes into these five-sensed life-forms, in all the life-forms except for the human life-form, the mind is limited. And the mind of humans is unlimited. And when the mind has formed, other karma starts to accumulate. Moreover, it is dependent upon whatever circumstances one comes across; if he comes across negative circumstances, meaning if he falls into bad company, then he goes down the wrong path, so then he obtains a lifeform in hell. When he encounters good company, then he walks on the right path, so then he obtains a life-form as a celestial being. It is after coming to a human life that the ego arises, so he even obtains a life-form in hell. He may even suffer in all of the seven hells, because his independence emerges. Whereas there is no independence in niyati, one does not have the independent right to bind any karma.

Niyati is the natural flow. All of these embodied souls are indeed constantly within the flow. They indeed continue undergoing change. And if there were no interference in the way, then it would take one directly to moksha. However, one has interfered in this moving flow.

Questioner: Whose authority is it to create these interferences?

Dadashri: It is of the ego.

Questioner: But why did it become inclined towards interfering in this niyati?

Dadashri: It was upon seeing all of this. As it saw others interfering, it said, ‘I will do this too.’

The Ego Became Trapped Through Societal Influence

Questioner: Once an embodied soul has come into vyavahaar rashi, is it bound to go to moksha? So will its time also be predetermined, that after a certain number of births, it will go to moksha? Would the cutoff period for going to moksha be already determined?

Dadashri: An embodied soul has become ready to go to moksha from the time it comes into vyavahaar rashi.

Questioner: But that time must be predetermined, isn’t that right?

Dadashri: The time is predetermined,

but after coming into the human life-form, provided one does not have egoism ( ahamkaar), the time is definite. If he does have egoism, then he again falls from there, and then there is no telling what will happen to him. Once he regresses with the ego, there is no certainty; then he will roam around for countless lifetimes! So as long as he does not have egoism, the time is decided. If one lives the way these animals do, if he lives with others the way animals do, meaning without the hassle of pride ( maan) and the ego, without the hassle of greed ( lobh), then he would go directly to moksha. However, these people do not live the way animals do, do they!

Questioner: After coming into the human life-form, how can one live like animals?

Dadashri: What I am saying is that if one were to live the same way these animals do, if he lives life in this way, then he will go off to moksha. However, upon seeing that of others, he too becomes like them. [He thinks,] ‘They did this and I am like this.’ So this is all his ego, that ‘I will do this’ and ‘I will do that!’ So by doing this, everything becomes ruined!

Thus, this world will remain the way it is, it will remain this way for forever. And amidst that, there will be those who go to moksha as a rule!

Nature’s Rules for Development

Questioner: But the ego is necessary for progress, isn’t it?

Dadashri: That ego exists naturally.

One does not need to invite it. It simply arises and enters!

Questioner: The psychology textbooks say that the ego is necessary for development. Is that true?

Dadashri: It definitely exists naturally. It is the law of nature that the ego arises for development and one ( pote; the I) keeps developing. As this process continues, once this development reaches its peak, then one gets born in India. Subsequently, there is not much need for development. One finds the path to moksha.

Questioner: So then is there anything a living being needs to do or not?

Dadashri: There was nothing to be done at all. But as this intellect arose, it gave rise to the ego and because the ego arises, it does this interfering. If the intellect is not used, then he would attain salvation. However, one would not refrain from using the intellect, would he! This is because it is, in fact, the intellect. For someone like me, the one whose intellect is gone, there is no problem. He is indeed within the flow. Flow means subservient ( aadhin) to the unfolding karma ( udaykarma). To remain subservient to only the unfolding karma is considered to be within the flow. Such a person would go straight to moksha. However, one does not remain subservient to the unfolding karma, does he? He interferes. The flow that exists is of niyati, so because the intellect has departed from me, I would have to go to moksha even if I do not want to go.

Questioner: So does niyati only take one higher or does it also take one lower?

Dadashri: No, niyati does not take one lower; that is all interference of the ego. Niyati only takes one forward.

Questioner: But niyati means the discharge of karma, doesn’t it?

Dadashri: No, niyati takes one forward; that is all. It makes one bind karma, and makes one suffer it, it even causes the karma to discharge. However, this is the case if there is no interference of yours. As it is, there is solid interference from you, such as, ‘I made an earning.’ Has anyone in this world actually earned anything? Does anyone in this world have the energy to go to the toilet? That is interference that is done.

Niyati is indeed doing all the work. That which wakes you up in the morning is niyati, what puts you to sleep is niyati. Niyati is doing everything.