CompetitionSpiritual Quotes:

1. No one has been successful in this ‘race course’. One simply dies of exhaustion from running. ‘We’ (the Gnani Purush, the enlightened one) never take part in this race. ‘We’ would simply tell, ‘Dear Man, I am not capable.’

Reference: Aptsutra 1545

2. ‘We’ are telling you from ‘our’ experiences of life after life, that all the running of countless lives has been a failure and completely worthless! I have run so hard, hard enough to be sitting on the top but I have also suffered miserably in the process. Instead why not run away form this racecourse! Let us discover our true domain…it is, oh my…gigantic”!

Reference: Aptvani 9 page 359 para3

3.[2.] Even if you run in ‘this’ racecourse for endless lives, you will get cheated in the end; such is this world! Everything you do will go to waste. And on top of that, there is no end to the beating you will get. Instead, run away from here and find our ‘Real Place’! That, which is our ‘Original Self-form’!

Reference: Aptsutra 1546

4.[3.] This is Akram Vignan [Akram Science - the stepless spiritual science of direct realization of the Self]. Once you pull out from the racecourse [competitive worldly life], your 'personality' will shine then. Those in the racecourse will never have personality; not a single person.

Reference: Aptsutra 1547

5.[4.] No one has been able to win this world. That is why ‘we’ have made a very profound discovery that will help win this world. ‘‘We’ sit here defeated; if you want to win, then come [to me]’.

Reference: Aptsutra 1548

6.[5.] The one who blesses the winner, after having lost himself, will attain liberation (moksha); he will become “complete”.

Reference: Aptsutra 1549

7.[6.] If you try to win, you bind (create) enmity, and if you acknowledge defeat, you will be freed from enmity.

Reference: Aptsutra 1550

8.[7.] If you say that you have accepted defeat, the world will let you go. ‘We’ have discovered this. Because, we had tried to win over the world and in doing so, we had to go through many incarnations. And in the end, I said that I have acknowledged defeat and settled down.

Reference: Aptsutra 1551

9.[8.] If we want to be free [get liberated], don’t compete. As long as there is competition, the other person will hide his faults and we will hide ours.

Reference: Aptsutra 1541

10.[9.] Where there is competition, one cannot attain (true) 'Knowledge'.

Reference: Aptsutra 1542

11.[10.] Competition is a bad company [kusang, the company which will bring our downfall].

Reference: Aptsutra 1543

12. There is worldly life where there is competition and where there is no competition, there is ‘Gnan’, (true) Knowledge.

Reference: Aptsutra 1544

13. Competition is a dangerous disease.

Reference: Book Noble Use of Money Page 53 http://download.dadabhagwan.org/books/English/PDF/noble-use-of%20money.pdf

14. By believing, ‘I am greater than everyone’, one enters into a ‘race course’ (competition) and on to the wrong path through unawareness. With laghuttam ego one gradually becomes smaller and smaller until he becomes completely laghuttam; therefore one becomes Paramatma, the absolute Self.

Reference: Aptavani 9 Page 377 Paragraph 4

Science behind topic:

Science: 1

Competition makes one fall in worldly life

As long as there is ignorance of the Self, the ego is alive and until then it is in some form of doer-ship. ‘I should do something. I should progress somehow. I should

become famous’ and if that is not possible then through association with others, through seeing others the rivalry of, ‘I want to be better than him’ indeed occurs and consequently competition arises. There is no problem in him getting ahead, but because he does not have capacity to do so on his own, he brings others down, or impedes them, and that is how he gets ahead. He does not have the attributes to become superior, so he destroys other’s superiority in order to make them inferior to him. Only then does he become superior in their comparison, right? And from that arises competition, which leads to enmity, causing worldly wandering.

On a highway if someone overtakes you, it will immediately bother you that, ‘He over took me?’ And you will increase your speed and pass him and be satisfied that you got ahead of him. Hey, but hundreds of thousands of cars went ahead of you on that road. Why doesn’t any competition arise there? But when someone comes next to you and your buddhi (intellect) shows something negative, then competitiveness arises. This is how all living beings (jivas) are travelling on the path of liberation (moksha). going through the path of moksha. In it, so many have attained Keval Gnan and the ultimate liberation (moksha). But the competition arises against those who come in close contact with you.

Those who want to go to moksha - even if people call you crazy, beat you up and throw you out, you should declare defeat and sit there. The Gnanis’ method is to win over the world by letting others win!

Those who have the knowhow, exhaust themselves by running around. Instead, there is pleasure in admitting that you don’t know anything, and sit aside. Gnani Purush Dadashri clearly says, ‘I don’t even know how to shave, even after so many years.’

What did he deduce from the racecourse? Even if one comes first today, he will indeed come last some day. One’s personality will begin to shine by moving away from the racecourse. There is no compatibility between one’s personality and racecourse. Reference: Dadavani April 1999 Page 1 (PDF Page 1)

Science: 2

Misery due to competing with others

And it is not worth entering into the “racecourse” (competition). You just have to see which horse comes first. The whole world is involved in the racecourse. I realized this at a young age, so then I have never entered the racecourse, have I? Not a single racecourse (competition). When will this race end? There is no end to it. If someone says that a certain person made so much money in tobacco, then that would become a problem for us. We have the money and yet we become miserable. It is considered a racecourse, isn’t it?

All miseries are due to lack of understanding. The miseries of the world are indeed because of misunderstanding. That is why I am saying, remove the misunderstanding and live life with understanding; then there is no misery at all in this world.

Dadavani November 1998 Page 6 (PDF Page 6)

Dadashri’s Life example:

Exmaple: 1The 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 this wedding.’ I tell them, ‘No it does not look bad. People know me and they understand that I am a man of God and that I am not in tune with worldly things.’ But they would insist and say, ‘No but it makes us look bad.’ So then I made one of them understand, I told him, ‘Normally I would not say anything but since you ask I will tell you the truth. If I were to sit in the middle there, and if the jeweler Laxmichand were to come along, I would have to move. Then I would have to move again when Maganbhai Shankarbhai comes. So I have to keep changing my seat, so instead of suffering insults this way, what is wrong in simply standing here with dignity? I will not enter into competition in such a racecourse. I am better off standing here than sitting in the middle and taking the number nine seat and feeling insulted.’ I did not say this directly to him, but I came to the conclusion that only the horse that comes in first, wins the prize and not others. I do not like such races. The one that comes first gets the

prize and others that run just as hard and come in second and get nothing. So, he said, ‘That is very shrewd of you.’ I told him, ‘Call it what you want but that is my way.’ He said, ‘You have found a very shrewd way of getting out of it.’ This is ‘our’ art of tackling all situations.

Reference: Aptvani 9 English Page 394 Paragraph #4, Page 395 Paragraph #1

Example: 2

Make everybody happyOur business was slow because we had incurred a loss. Whenever we went to Vadodara, people would ask if it had been a big loss and in response I would ask, ‘How big of a loss do you think?’ According to them, it was probably a hundred thousand rupees, when in fact it was actually only fifty thousand. But, because I knew that they were being nosey and had only come to extractinformation out of me, I told them that the loss was three hundred thousand. I knew why theywere inquiring, and if I told them that it was of hundred thousand, they would be disappointed, so I would tell them that it was three hundred thousand to make them happy. Now if a compassionate person asked me the same question, I would tell him that we had lost only fifty thousand and that would make him happy. You will encounter both kinds of people, compassionate and uncompassionate, and you have to send them away feeling happy. I would tell them that the loss was three hundred thousand, so he will feel happy right away. I would tell him again, ‘have a cup of tea and then leave.’ Then he says, ‘I got some work to do,’ because he felt the joy everything is included, he got his tea, the reason is dwesh abhorrence!

This spardha competitive jealousy is such a thing that a person will go to any extent. The spardha that, ‘you have passed ahead of me? Now I am not going to let you overtake me,’ keeps up his attempts to leave you behind. I would tell such people clearly that I have incurred a big loss so that he can enjoy his meal peacefully. And what am I going to lose in this? I have incurred a loss already, I do not have problem with that. The people need this and we need to respond to them, don’t we? If I tell him that I have not suffered any loss then he will try to find out more since I am denying. That is why I have to tell him, ‘I am not denying. Yes, I agree that I have lost three times. Ask the person who told you, he would not have this information. But I have incurred a loss of a big amount.’ Then he will come again after some days and will say, ‘now how is your business? Will you have to close down?’ Then I said, ‘my business was worthseven hundred thousand, from this three hundred thousand have gone.’ So I would tell him something totally different. Hey, how are you going to compete with me? I am a Gnani Purush; I will not hurt you, but do not try to be nosey this way. People just chase you for no reason. I had seen many such people. This is the world; all kinds of people do exist!

Reference: Dadavani march 2008/english/ (Page 6 Columan 1 Paragraph 4 & 5 Columan 2 Page 7 Columan 1 Paragraph 1)

Try it yourself:

There is no winner when there is jealousy

Wherever you look there is a racecourse. All these people have entered the racecourse. At home, there is a racecourse even with the wife! If two bullocks are walking side by side and one tries to get ahead of the other just a little, the other will also exerts more.

Questioner: Why is that?

Dadashri: It is because they have entered the racecourse (into competition). If the two are walking side by side and one of them gets ahead a little, the one left behind will feel jealous (irsha) and wonders how he can make him fall behind. There is no winner in this race of jealousy (irsha). I do not enterinto such a race. It is a race where one will die huffing and puffing without getting anywhere. Even the one who is full of intellect will get exhausted and in his latter years of life will accuse others, ‘He cheated me and the other fellow cheated me’ and on and on. Hey you! You got cheated even at the age of eighty?! You will run in the racecourse for countless lives and you will still be cheated at the end. This is how the world is. Everything will go to waste and on top of that, you will also suffer miserably in the process. Instead discover your rightful place, your home of bliss, the Self and then run to it.

No one has been able to win the world and that is why this discovery of ‘ours’ is very profound, it is one which allows the world to win. Just say, ‘I sit here having lost but if you want to win, then come here.’ This discovery will amaze the world and ‘we’ have won the world through it. Otherwise, no one has won it. Each of ‘our’ discoveries is such that they help the world to win.

This is Akram Vignan! The whole science is Akram. This is not the case in the Kramic path. You can never say that you have no competence and aptitude (barkat) in the Kramic path. This is Akram Vignan. One’s personality is apparent the moment he exits the racecourse. Such a human being radiates peace and harmony. Nobody running in the racecourse has any personality.

Reference: Book Excerpt: Aptavani 9 (Entire Page 396 Page 397 Paragraph 1)

Questions and Answers:

Q1: Is it beneficial to enter into a competition for money? Are money competitions futile?

Meta Desc: No one in this world has come first. People say that Ford was the richest man, but four years later, someone else was. What is the point in all this? Find out why not to run for money here.

Meta Title: Why Run for Money | Money Competitions are Futile | Horse Races for Money | Why Not to Contest for Money

Meta Keywords: win money, money competitions, money competition, competition for money, competitions for money, running for money, run for money, horse races, horse race, racing horses, race for money, contest for money, contest to win money, racing for money, thinking money, thinking about money, fight for money, competitions to win money, about money, running after money, richest person, competitions to win money, competition to win money, greed for money, money and greed, money greed, spardha

Node: Competition for Money

Prize only for the winner, and for the rest…

Who in the city of Mumbai must not be thinking about money day and night? There are a few ascetics in white and ocher cloths who do not take money; they will not touch money.

Questioner: Those who have worldly comforts, they are preoccupied in looking for more and those who do not have it, they are intently occupied in acquiring things; why is there such a preoccupation?

Dadashri: People want to enter into a horse race. Which horse receives theprize in a horse race?

Questioner: The one that comes first.

Dadashri: Now which horse comes first in your town? What is the name ofthe horse that came first in the race? So all these ‘horses’ run until they run outof breath, but none of them are a winner. And no one in this world has comefirst. They are all preoccupied in a futile race and they become breathlessrunning in it. And then there will be only one winner out of them, will therenot? Hence it is not worth entering a race. Continue taking care of your ownwork; meet all your necessary obligations, but it is not worth getting into therace. Do you want to enter the race?

Questioner: Having come into this life, we have no choice but enter therace, right?

Dadashri: Then run, who is telling you ‘no’? Run as much as you can. Butwe are telling you to meet your obligations calmly and adequately. At eleven atnight, check to see whether everyone is asleep or not? If they are, then you toostop running and go to sleep. What is the point of you running around wheneveryone else has gone to sleep? What is that? One is bothered by an attribute called greed.

Reference: Aptvani-7 (Row Book) Page #37 – Paragraph #4 to #8, Page #38 - Paragraph #1

http://download.dadabhagwan.org/dadavani/Guj/1999/html/APR_1999.html

Dadavani April 1999 Page 11 (PDF Page 11)

I have analyzed the nature of money from all aspects. How much money can a person accumulate? I came to the conclusion that no one has ever managed to remain the richest person in the world. People used to say that Ford was the richest man, but four years later, we heard that someone else was. What is the point to all this? The horse that wins the race gets the first prize, the second and third horse will get some recognition, but what about the horse that comes fourth? He just runs the race in vain, foaming at the mouth. I said ‘Why do I enter this racecourse?’ Why should one have to foam at the mouth unnecessarily? People enter this race to come first but instead they all lose the race. Nobody cares for these late arrivals. What do you think?

Questioner: That is correct.

Dadashri: So I had calculated this mathematics. Dada’s mathematics! It is a beautiful mathematics. This mathematics is so beautiful. That professor was saying that it is worth knowing this Dada’s mathematics.

Run, run, run, but for what? If you are going to win then let’s go, whatever may happen to this body, but there is not even a rank nor a reward, nothing at all and endless foaming at the mouth. In this endless process of running, he has hardly done (spent) anything for anyone else. And he has lost interest in all other matters, not even in taking a proper meal. Don’t you feel that this mathematics is worth learning?

Reference: Dadavani March 2008

Q2: How to overcome fear of loss or money worries due to business competition?

Meta Desc: Business competition attracts money worries and consequently fear of loss. So, how to overcome this fear of loss? Find it out about overcoming fear of money loss here!

Meta Title: Business Competition and Money Worries | Overcome Fear of Losing | Fear of Money | Fearless Living

Meta Keywords: business competition, fearless business, be fearless, becoming fearless, fearless living, profit and loss in business, profit loss, profit and loss, financially fearless, fear of loss, fear of losing, afraid of losing, money worries, financial worries, conquering fear of losing, overcome fear of losing, overcoming fear of losing, conquer fear, fear of money, money fear, business worries, spardha

Node: Overcome Fear of Loss in Business / Money Worries

Be Aware of the Dangers but Be Fearless

Every business has gains and losses associated with it. If there are a lot of mosquitoes in your room, they will not let you sleep. But, you would not be able to sleep even if there were only one or two. Therefore, you can say out loud, “Oh world of mosquitoes! Merely two mosquitoes will

not let me sleep, so why don’t the rest of you come also?” These profits and losses are like the mosquitoes.

What is the law? Avoid entering the depths of the ocean of business if possible. If you do, then do not be afraid. God is with you as long as you remain fearless. If you become afraid, God will say, “Go to Ohliya!” (muslim sage) or find a guru. There is no difference between a racecourse and a fabric store, as far as God is concerned. But if you want liberation, then it is better that you come out of this worldly ocean.

Do you know how I run my business? Before I set the ship of my business in the waters, I perform all the necessary religious rituals and then I whisper in the steamer’s ear, “You may sink whenever you want to but that is not my wish.” Then whether the steamer sinks after six months or after two years, I adjust to the situation and tell myself, ‘At least it lasted six months.’ Palaces of desires will not fail to bring disappointment. It is very difficult to remain detached in this worldly life, but you are able to do so because of the knowledge and the intellectual methods that I give to you.

Reference: Book Name: Life Without Conflict: Page 143 Paragraph #2 - #4, Page #144 Paragraph #1

Q3: How to win when someone comes to defeat me? What is the best way to win?

Meta Desc: Just let the other person win and let him go. Otherwise, he will not be able to sleep and you will incur a fault in doing so. Explore about how to win by letting someone go, here.

Meta Title: How to Win | Lose it for Life | How to Lose | How to Win a Fight | Letting Go of Someone | Lose to Win

Meta Keywords: lose it for life, will lose, will to lose, how to win a fight, how to win in a fight, how to defend yourself in a fight, way to win, the best way to win, the only way to win, how to win, how to lose, competition, fight, attachment, abhorrence, spardha, raag, dwesh, salvation, Gnani Purush, objections, obstacles, ways to lose, letting go of someone, letting someone go, people arguing, letting go of people, lose to win, win lose, win by losing, learn to lose, losing to win, lose and win, losing and wining, winning meaning, meaning of winning, definition of winning, define winning, win definition, wining definition, win meaning, define winner, how to be a winner, definition of losing, lose definition, lose meaning, define losing, to lose, definition of lose, meaning of losing, accept defeat

Node: How to Win

Find the ways to lose in life

That is exactly why ‘we’ say to you, ‘all of you are right.’ There is no competition (spardha) in our Akram Vignan. It is unparallel (ajod) and second to none. You can call it heavy if you want or you can call it light if you want to, but it is incomparable (ajod). No one is in competition with it. ‘We’ are not in competition

with anyone. If someone were to ask ‘us’, ‘Sir, what is this group (religious) all about? What is their teaching like?’, ‘we’ will immediately tell him that ‘we’ do not have any attachment (raag) or abhorrence (dwesh) towards them. ‘We’ will tell them as it is. ‘We’ have no competition (spardha) within. ‘We’ are not concerned with it. And ‘we’ do no want to win in this competition. What will ‘we’ do by winning? ‘We’ are only interested in the goal of salvation.

Some people even come to me and talk negatively, I say to them, ‘I had no knowledge about that all; I only came to know about this through you and you know everything.’ I will say this to him and send him back because he will not be able to sleep otherwise, and I will incur a fault if I do not let him win.

‘You win, so go home now and sleep peacefully.’ I tell that to many people. He wants to win so let him win. He will not sleep if he is defeated and I will sleep even if I am defeated. The more I lose, the better I sleep. Find ways to lose. Learn to lose. This is ‘our’ new discovery. The winner will lose one day, but a loser will never lose. The one who sets out to win has failed from the start. These are not battles. Whether one sets out to win in the scriptures or anything else, he has failed the moment he sets out to win.

This Gnan is non-competitive. It is not a competitive Gnan. That is why we say it is very rare…rare…rare. It is very rare to find a Gnani Purush.

Reference: Book Name: Aptvani 9 Page 388 Paragraph #2 to #4, Page #389 Paragraph #1

Let others win

You have done nothing but the same thing over and over again in countless past lives. Now it will change because of the presence of Gnan, but not otherwise. This Gnan can show You (the enlightened Self) your mistakes! And You will believe and accept that the fault lies with you, whereas there (in the Kramic path) you have to ask someone else. Besides, what competence and aptitude does he have himself that he can show you? You yourself must ‘feel’ that the fault is indeed yours. So there is no need to win. ‘We’ have always maintained this. ‘We’ have never kept the principle of winning. I would let others win and then leave. And then I will forget about it. He too will get preoccupied with something else. Now if I were to send him away defeated, he will harbor the link (tanto) of kashaya and not let go. So just let the other person win and let him go.

Questioner: Yes, ‘I lose and you win, my brother.’

Dadashri: You should not say this openly to him, otherwise he will think, ‘Oh ho ho! He has calmed down. This is great. This is how it should be.’

Questioner: What happens if you say this to him openly?

Dadashri: If you tell him this openly, he will start a dispute (tante chaddhe), ‘I don’t want to win this way.’ One man did tell me this once. I said to him, ‘Sir, I sit here defeated. You have won so go home and sleep peacefully.’ He told me, ‘I do not want it this way.’ I said to him, ‘Do not try to extract any sweetness out of this situation.’ This is how he enters into a dispute (tant). If you say this, he will move that way, and if you say that, he will move this way. The world is full of objections and obstacles. Other

people want to create objections and obstacles whereas we remove whatever objections and obstacles there may be.

Reference: Book Excerpt: Aptvani 9 Page #397 Paragraph #2 to #6, Page #398 Paragraph #1

Q4 : What to do when people bring me down when I am succeeding in life? How to deal with jealous people?

Meta Desc: What would one’s ego not do? It will bring everyone down. Such is the nature of jealous ego. Find out more how to deal with jealous people here.

Meta Title: How to Defend Yourself | When Someone is Bringing You Down | How to Deal with Jealous People | How to Handle Difficult People

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Node: How to Deal with Jealous People

Successful people are crushed down

In competition, the process is such that in my communities if one’s son is making progress, they support him and also protect him. Whereas in some communities, if three sons are progressing equally and if one son falls behind, his brother, his parents will lift him up and bring him forward, but if he progress one step further [than the rest], the father will crush him and bring him down. Why? Because the father cannot bear that his son is more successful than him but he can’t bear his son falling behind either. I have especially seen this in certain communities. No father will let his son surpass his own success. One way or the other he will pull the poor boy down. Then I discovered (found out) something so I told everyone in the family ‘all of you prosper well and beat me down. Come learn the skills from me and succeed and then come to beat me down. Become like that but do not fall behind’. Others do not let anyone to beat their own success. I have seen especially this. Even people in your community do not allow others to succeed. There are some that let others succeed in a nice way and some will beat others so that they fall behind. Hey you, you surpassed your father’s success?

So it’s very difficult these days, in this worldly life. What would one’s ego not do? It will bring everyone down. Would they bring everyone down? If they can’t bring one down, they will destroy him. And if your own brother is being very egotistic with all of you, then you will all get together and beat him up to a pulp. Yes, they will make him suffer, without which he won’t straighten up. To straighten him up they will make him suffer. Why is that? Because, when he becomes too egotistic that even his father cannot tolerate it. The attribute of the ego is so futile, that even the father would not tolerate it. Even his brother would not be able to tolerate it. Even the brother will give his blessings that let everything becomes well for him as soon as possible. This ego is a very big thing. If one wants to surpass his brother’s success, he must maintain humility, only then will they let him progress, otherwise they will beat him to a pulp. This is the worldly life! On the one side one’s ego has arisen, ego means through vikalp (the wrong belief of I am Chandubhai). The self’s vikalp means egoism (ahamkar). ‘I’ and ‘I did it’ – so everything carries on from there. Thereafter he takes a beating but the ego will not set him free. Because after a while he will feel, ‘these are my four bullocks, these are my cows. I am greater that all these people, am I not? I am greater; this awareness prevails, so these people indeed have no dukh (pain-suffering) at all! Even if an emperor were to give it to you, it is not worth taking. Once you enter it, there is boundless unhappiness. Instead, why not go to our own town (Self), there is no happiness like that anywhere. There is no happiness anywhere else like that of the happiness of your own domain.

Reference: Book Page: પૈસાનો વ્યવહાર ગ્રંથ (Entire Page 162, Page 163 - Paragraph #1)

Q5: What are the ill effects of competition? Are you buying things out of competition? Is social competition good?

Meta Desc: There is no problem in buying things but why do it out of competition? People have lost their humanity with such competitiveness. Find out more about effects of competition here.

Meta Title: Effects of Competition | Is Competition Good | Competitive Players | Loss of Humanity | Social Competition | Comparing Things and Competing with Others

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Node: Effects of Competition/Comparing Things

What is dharmadhyan? It is to have no negative bhaav (feeling) towards anyone who causes you harm and to take the support of Gnan that tells you, “I encountered this person as a result of my karma.” Dharmadhyan is to bless the one who insults you in front of a large crowd and to forget the incident. The Lord has said it is dharmadhyan if you feel indifference towards insults and not remember them. But alas there are people who will not forget an insult till they die.

A person with dharmadhyan is considered to be shresthi (a man of highest quality). All day long, he obliges others from the moment he wakes up. He has an obliging nature; he makes others happy even when he is suffering himself. He suffers pain without any artadhyan or raudradhyan. You will never see a frown on his face; on the contrary, his face will always be glowing. He will help solve everyone’s problems. He is never biased towards anyone. What are the qualities of a true Jain? A true Jain is considered to be one with the highest human qualities. His aura radiates for fifty miles around him!

Today, these men have become sheth - masters and bosses (the noun has changed from shresthi to sheth). If you ask their drivers and their workers what they think about their boss, they will say, “Don’t even talk about him!”

Today these shresthis have turned into competitive players in the worldly life. If their neighbor buys a new couch, they too will go out and buy one even if their couch is only two years old. They are stuck in competing with people. One can make do with a cushion to sit upon and pillows but instead they compete with their neighbors. How can these people be worthy of the title of sheth? The Indian concept of cushions and pillows on the floor is a great concept but people do not realize this and instead run after couches and sofas. When they see other people’s couches, they feel they too should have one, and then the squabbling starts in their home. The chauffer has a sofa in his home and so does the sheth. All this is very unnatural.

People even imitate clothes. If they see someone making rotli (Indian flat bread, chapatti) on a gas stove, they too will run out and buy a gas stove. Do they not realize the difference in the taste between rotli cooked on charcoal and rotli cooked on the gas? There is no problem in buying things but why do it out of competition? People have lost their humanity with such competitiveness. People are regressing. Animal-like behavior will merit a birth in the animal kingdom. Otherwise, a shresthi is a very happy and content person and is constantly thinking about how he can make others happy. Only he who is happy can make others happy. How is a person to make others happy when he himself is miserable? Unhappy people do bhakti and are preoccupied in working to become happy.

Setting aside all talks of moksha, should you at least not have control over artadhyan and raudradhyan? How can anyone be allowed to continue in them? But what are you free to do? You are free to do dharmadhyan and yet people are freely preoccupied in doing durdhyan (negative meditation). Should you not at least have awareness of what is appropriate and what is not?

Questioner: What is updhyan?

Dadashri: Updhyan has come about only in this time cycle. It is a dhyan, which does not fit within any of the four dhyans. During the time of Lord Mahavir, there were four types of dhyans. There was no such thing as updhyan in those days. Updhyan has arisen in this time cycle. ‘We’ will explain updhyan. While doing samayik, if you keep looking at the clock, ‘How long do I have to go? When is the samayik going to be over?’ etc., then your dhyan is not in the samayik but on the clock and that is considered updhyan. We can make do with durdhyan, which is a contradictory dhyan. Satdhyan will take you to moksha. However, to keep looking at the clock is updhyan. It is neither a positive dhyan nor a negative one; it is a third kind of dhyan; it is completely different. What is the intention behind looking at the clock? A man becomes very angry and in order to feed his ego he burns down the whole village, this too is a type of dhyan. But the person doing updhyan is not even concerned about his ego, he does dhyan that is completely in vain. It is absolutely meaningless; it is neither for himself nor for his pride, it is meaningless. Any activity carried out without a purpose or meaning is updhyan.

Reference: Book Excerpt: Aptavani 2 (Page 142 - Paragraph #7 & #8, Entire page #143 & #144)

Q6: Is it worth entering a competition? Why you should be with ‘no competition’?

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Meta Keywords: no competition, not to compete, non compete, why not to enter competition, no compete, not compete, why not to enter a racecourse, why not to enter into competition, entering competition, entering a competition, enter competition, enter competitions, to compete, is competition good, competitive people, competitive nature, not competitive, there is no competition, spardha

Node: No Competition Please!

There is no racecourse in laghuttam

Up until now, all efforts have been towards becoming guruttam, have they not? ‘I want to be greater than him; I want to be greater than him.’ See, the competition has begun, has it not? Who wins the prize? The prize goes only to the horse that comes first. What about the rest? There is no prize for them even after running so hard.

Questioner: Dada is there a racecourse in a laghuttam state?

Dadashri: No there cannot be any racecourse in the state of laghuttam. The racecourse is in the guruttam state. So I have no intellect (abuddha) and I am in a laghuttam state and therefore I do not have a relationship of exchange of kashaya with anyone. There is not an iota of intellect in me.

The racecourses of the worldly life and competitiveness (spardha)

Questioner: Everyone has a desire to be something, and here around you, we have the desire of not wanting to be anything, we want to be free from any semblance of superiority (visheshata). In the worldly interactions, one feels, ‘I am something. And I want to be something.’

Dadashri: That is because they enter a racecourse there, do they not? He wants to run because so many other horses are running. Hey you! You are sick so why don’t you relax and take it easy? All the others are strong horses, besides only the one who comes first will get the prize and the rest will die huffing and puffing.

So, not even a fool would take part in a competition (racecourse). Yes if they were going to award five hundred prizes or so, then one can believe that he may get lucky and win a prize. But you are not going to come first, so why are you in the competition? Go home and go to sleep. Who would enter the competition? How can you enter their racecourse? Some horses may be so strong from a diet of chick peas (garbanzo beans) while others may be eating grass. Therefore, I did not enter the racecourse of the worldly life. That is how I found this Lord within.

And the prize goes only to the one who comes first, does it not? The rest are left wandering around life after life. They die huffing and puffing and gain nothing. How can one enter a racecourse of the world with that kind of justice? What do you think?

Questioner: That is correct.

Dadashri: And the human nature is to be competitive. Are people not competitive?

Questioner: Yes they are. That becomes cheap.

Dadashri: There is competition everywhere. Even at home, if an argumentative person comes along, he will start a competition between the husband and wife. If the wife says something, the husband will tell her, ‘You be quiet, you did it this way and I am going to do it this way…’ Hey! Both the horses have started running? Who is going to give you the prize? That is why ‘we’ say, ‘We’ do not know how to do things the way Hiraba knows.’ So ‘we’ let her run. Run. Run as much as you want to! Even Hiraba says, ‘You are naïve (bhoda).’ I tell her, ‘Yes that is fine.’

People suffer because they compete. They enter competitions. Just watch the competition; you have to simply ‘see’ which horse comes first. When one continues to simply ‘see’, then the ‘seer’ (jonaar) has no pain or suffering. Those who enter a ‘racecourse’ have to suffer the pain. So it is not worth entering a ‘racecourse.’

Reference: Book Excerpt: Aptavani 9 (Page 377 Paragraph #5 & #6 , Entire page #378, Page #379 Paragraph #1 to #5)

Q7: What are the effects of competition in religion? Is religious competition or religious sectarianism worthwhile?

Meta Desc: People have reduced religion to a racecourse by competing for disciples. How can you call that a path to liberation? Find out more about religious sectarianism and its impact here.

Meta Title: Competition in Religion | Religious Sectarianism | Religious Competition | Science of Religion | Fasting Competition | Conflicts in Religions

Meta Keywords: religious competition, science of religion, sectarianism, religious sectarianism, religion competition, fasting competition, competition in fasting, religious cults, religious sects, sectarian conflict, conflicts in religions, religious conflicts, difference of opinions, liberation, anger, pride, greed, attachment, abhorrence, true religion, one religion, liberation, partiality, effects of competition, competing for disciples, competition and religion, competition in religion, effects of competition in religion, competitiveness in religion, competitiveness in celestial world, competition in celestial world, competition in devlok, spardha, Gnani Purush, vitraag, raag, dwesh, kashaya

Node: Competition versus True Religion

People want liberation and yet they engage in conflicts and difference of opinions, and take sides. By claiming you are right, you automatically say that the other person is wrong. You will never achieve liberation by saying anyone is wrong. You will only attain the abode of the supreme Self, which is void of any partiality, when you get rid of your differences of opinions, discord, and sectarianism and come to the center. By taking sides, you strengthen the foundation of partiality and in doing so you bind yourself to infinite worldly lives.

Look here! Do you want liberation or do you want to remain in sects? How many factions and warring camps have been created from just one religion? There is no liberation wherever there is any kashaya (anger, pride, attachment and greed), and there is no kashaya in religion. People resort to kashaya to strengthen their sects and have reduced religion to a racecourse. They compete for disciples. A man renounces his wife and children but takes on disciples in their place. Then he spends the entire day in discord and restlessness with his disciples. How can you call that a path to liberation?

Reference: Book Name: Aptavani-1 (Page 43 Paragraph 2)Fasting with pure applied awareness

Questioner: Should one decide the limit of fasting through his own experience or according to someone else’s instructions?

Dadashri: One should decide through one’s own (self) experience, but people do not fast through self-experience. One does fasts out of rivalry. They fast because of competition. This person did four so I will do eight. Fasting is not a matter of a racecourse. A fast is not a racecourse thing. One should fast according to one’s own energy but there should not be a racecourse.

Reference: Dadavani Magazine March 2009 (Page 8 – Paragraph #7 & #8)

Do Celestial beings have to suffer too?

The celestial beings do not have a childhood. They do not have to take birth through a mother’s womb. They do not have to suffer the pain of infancy and childhood. They do not even have to go to the bathroom or the toilet. There is nothing in their life that will cause them to feel a sense of detachment and dispassion (vairagya). They are born as young adults and they die as young adults. So what causes them unhappiness and suffering? There is a lot of competitiveness and jealousy in the celestial world; this person is bigger than me. They do have attachment (raag) and abhorrence (dwesh) as a result of this. They suffer intensely because of this attachment and abhorrence and that is why they too have an intense desire to meet a Gnani Purush. But they are not likely to die prematurely. They have

tremendous worldly pleasures and happiness but even then, they feel as if they are in a prison. They too have to suffer inner and outer turmoil.

Reference: Book Name: Aptavani-2 (Page 35 Paragraph 2)

There Is No Competition Here

There is no need to compete either. There is no competition here as to who makes the highest pledge. There is no such competition where the enlightened Lords, the vitaragas are concerned. It is only because of the current time cycle that people have brought the competition in charity. Competition is a dangerous disease. People engage in keen rivalry. We do not have such characteristics here. Money is not solicited here.

Reference: Noble-use-of-money.pdf page 53 last para

Q8: Why not to put yourself in competition?

The racecourse of life

When our construction contract business was recognized as being number one in the area, a kind of power entered the mind that my mind was working like a genius. However that too was not akkal (wisdom, right intellect); on the contrary it was foolishness. It was nothing but a museum of inviting troubles (upaadhi). Right intellect, wisdom is that which reduces external problems (upaadhi); it is where potential problems coming your way gets diverted and end up going to someone else. They go to someone else.

People’s methods are all wrong. The practices they use or resort to for progress in life are also wrong. We ran around according to other people’s methods and practices. We come first and win but then we even come last too. I understood that all this is nothing but betrayal indeed. I too had joined others in the competition by entering the racecourse; I ran very hard and after coming first, I then came in last. That is when I felt, ‘What kind of madness is this? It is all a trap!’ You never know when some unscrupulous person will destroy you. Do people not do such things? One day you may be number one and the next day such a person will come and make you puff and pant in the race to no end. ‘We’ realized that a person can lose everything from being number one and that one should not enter into such horse races (competition).

‘We’ used to live very peacefully and in ease. Before the roads used to be crooked; full of winding curves so inner calculations would arise, as to which one road was the shortest. ‘We’ never followed the paths everyone else followed. ‘We’ would try to look for short cuts. ‘Our’ method and practice was different. ‘We’ never did anything just because other people did it or because it was the traditional thing to do so. ‘Our’ method and practice was completely different. I never painted the wall in my house, if the wall were to get the paint on its own, then so be it.

‘We’ say just one thing and that is, ‘there is no competency (barkat) left in ‘us’’. ‘We’ have seen the face of competence! ‘We’ ran a lot! ‘We’ ran to no end! ‘We’ are telling you from ‘our’ experiences of life after life, that all the running of countless lives has been a failure and completely worthless! I have run so hard, hard enough to be sitting on the top but I have also suffered miserably in the process. Instead why not runaway form this racecourse! Let us discover our true domain…it is, oh my…gigantic”!

So even if the devas (celestial beings) were to come down and tell you, ‘We are giving you the first place in this 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 isnot for you.

Reference: Book Excerpt: Aptavani 9 (Page 392 Last two paragraph, Entire page Page 393, Page 394 Paragraph 1 to 3 )

Q9: What is the way to get out of gurutam?

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With the yoga of gurutam one becomes heavy; he becomes gurutam. Guru means heavy and when something is heavy; it will sink. As he sinks, he also takes down everyone around with him. When does a guru not sink? He will not sink when he has the gurukilli – the key that helps him float. Laghu means light and guru means heavy. Those who want to be big and famous have grabbed on to the gurutam yoga. Everyone wants to be big and they have all taken a beating in the process, they have died in such beatings, life after life. No one succeeds because how many can take the first prize in a horse race? How many horses win the trophy? If five million ‘horses’ run a race, how many come first? The first prize goes only to the winning horse, does it not? The rest die huffing and puffing. Therefore, practice laghutam yoga.

Questioner: Yes, but what is the vidhi - special process - for it?

Dadashri: The vidhi is to become a disciple of everyone in this world. If someone calls you unworthy then become his disciple by saying, ‘You are my guru because you made me aware that I am unworthy.’

Reference: Book Excerpt: Aptavani 9 Page 361 Paragraph #2 to #4

And we are not anyone’s superior; are we? On the contrary we are below him and that is why he behaves well; he remains straightforward otherwise he would not. He will oppose you if you try to be his superior. If you say, ‘I am your disciple’, he will be straight with you.’ Everyone enjoys being a guru and thus showing superiority in the relative world. There is also competition with one another. One guru will claim ‘I have one hundred sixty disciples’ and other will say, ‘I have one hundred twenty disciples.’ All this is superiority (guruta). One needs to be laghutam in the relative. Then he will not fall; there is no suffering or misery in laghutam.

Otherwise, one will have to become a cow or a buffalo from here. When a person dies, he will take anger-pride-deceit-greed along with him. Separation due to differences of opinions (matbhed) is not going to go away easily in this life! They will go automatically when one’s life form changes but not otherwise. There are no such straight men around, are there? On the contrary, one claims, ‘I am something.’ You fool! What do you think you are?’

Now, who would want to be laghutam in the relative? Does anyone seek this state? If you were to look for such a person, are you likely to find one in this car, train or anywhere else; can you find such a person? Will you find one amongst the ascetics? Every ascetic keeps saying, ‘hum, hum, hum, I know this many scriptures…I know this…I know that etc.’

Reference: Book Excerpt: Aptvani 9 Page 358 Paragraph #4, Page 359 Paragraph #1 to #3

Liberation with the laghuttam ego

Questioner: How do you define laghuttam? Is bringing our ego to a zero level considered being laghuttam?

Dadashri: No. The ego remains the same but it is also an ego to say ‘I am smaller than everyone.’ Laghu means ‘I am small’, laghuttar means ‘I am even smaller than small’ and laghuttam means ‘everyone is bigger than me.’ That too is a kind of an ego (ahamkar).

Now the world is based on the ego of guruttam, which is the intent to be bigger than everyone; it is the belief of ‘I am greater than everyone’; this verily is the cause of the worldly life (sansaar), whereas with a laghuttam ego, one goes towards attaining liberation (moksha). Laghuttam ego means to conduct interactions of worldly life with the intent, ‘I am smaller than everyone.’ That will take him towards liberation. By believing, ‘I am greater than everyone’, one enters into a ‘race course’ (competition) and on to the wrong path through unawareness. With laghuttam ego one gradually becomes smaller and smaller until he becomes completely laghuttam; therefore one becomes Paramatma, the absolute Self.

Reference: Dadavani April 1999 Page 18 (PDF Page 18)

Q10: In worldly life there is always competitiveness. There is liberation when competitiveness leaves!

Criticism ruins everything for the one who criticizesSecondly, you should not criticize (do tika of) anyone; the one who criticizes, hurts himself. Whatever anyone does, the person who criticizes him will ‘stain his own clothes’, and then he will ruin his body as he goes deeper into the criticism. If he goes even deeper, he will ruin his heart. So criticism is a tool that ruins people. You should not get involved in it. Know things for the sake of knowing them but do not get involved in anything. You have not attained this human life to criticize anyone. What is more, it is not worth making an intense mental note (nondha) of anyone that criticizes you.

Questioner: A person must have some interest in our work that he criticizes (do tika), is that not so?

Dadashri: To criticize is the main attribute of the ego. It is an attribute of competitiveness (spardha) and that is why criticism remains. Besides, competitiveness is always there in this worldly life. There is liberation when competitiveness leaves. When people go on fasts, it all occurs due to the effect of the attribute of competitiveness; ‘that other person did fifteen fasts, so I will do thirty!’ Still, it is not worth criticizing anyone.When you criticize other people, you ruin your ‘clothes’ first, then your body and then your heart. That is it. So do not get involved with anyone because is everyone not an owner of his world, his space, inner and outer? The ownership titles are his own. How can you criticize or violate that? You are trespassing when you do so.

The escape from the racecourse

Now all this (competitiveness) is going to carry on for sure. One is not at all the doer of anything; he has simply developed a habit of tasting the fruit of doership (garvaras). When a person learns that someoneearns eight hundred rupees, he thinks, ‘I earn eighteen hundred so I do not have a problem. He gets only eight hundred.’ This is how it all starts. As if no one earns more than eighteen hundred rupees. There is alwayscompetition where there is someone higher. What possible reason do we have for staying in this race course? Are we here to take part in a ‘racecourse’? Are we horses of the racecourse? Instead, why not simply admit that you have no sense? I say, ‘I do not have sense. I lack worldly understanding.’ I am being very candid, am I not?

I do not even know how to shave and that is why I cut myself shaving. I have yet to meet a man who knows how to shave. What ego people walk around with! Only someone like me would make such a statement, would he not? There is a whole world out there, and here I am all alone with this vision (of laghutam). There is no one to give my vision the vote. I am the only one with this vote, against the race course and that is why I am not raising my voice. I would remain quiet because I am the only one voting (on the side of laghutam). Otherwise who would caution you this way? Why would I sit here to caution you? So, what a world one is trapped in?

Do you like to listen to all this talk? You are not bored are you? Do not try to analyze this. Just accept it as it is, otherwise the liability will fall upon you. This is a pure thing; this knowledge is pure, why do you have to analyze it with your intellect? That is why I say it very clearly; ‘We’ do not understand anything

in worldly matters’. Only then will everyone leave ‘us’ alone! Only then can I be free of all worldly possessions!

Reference: Book Excerpt: Aptavani 9 (Page 379 Paragraph 6, Page 380 Paragraph 1 to 5, Page 381 Paragraph 1 & 2)

Q11: There is no competition here in Akram Vignan!

Find ways to lose in life

That is exactly why ‘we’ say to you, ‘all of you are right.’ There is no competition (spardha) in our Akram Vignan. It is unparallel (ajod) and second to none. You can call it heavy if you want or you can call it light if you want to, but it is incomparable (ajod). No one is in competition with it.

‘We’ are not in competition with anyone. If someone were to ask ‘us’, ‘Sir, what is this group (religious) all about? What is their teaching like?’, ‘we’ will immediately tell him that ‘we’ do not have any attachment (raag) or abhorrence (dwesh) towards them. ‘We’ will tell them as it is. ‘We’ have no competition (spardha) within. ‘We’ are not concerned with it. And ‘we’ do no want to win in this competition. What will ‘we’ do by winning? ‘We’ are only interested in the goal of salvation.

Some people even come to me and talk negatively, I say to them, ‘I had no knowledge about that all; I only came to know about this through you and you know everything.’ I will say this to him and send him back because he will not be able to sleep otherwise, and I will incur a fault if I do not let him win. ‘You win, so go home now and sleep peacefully’. I tell that to many people. He wants to win so let him win. He will not sleep if he is defeated and I will sleep even if I am defeated. The more I lose, the better I sleep.

Find ways to lose. Learn to lose. This is ‘our’ new discovery. The winner will lose one day, but a loser will never lose. The one who sets out to win has failed from the start. These are not battles. Whether one sets out to win in the scriptures or anything else, he has failed the moment he sets out to win.

This Gnan is non-competitive. It is not a competitive Gnan. That is why we say it is very rare…rare…rare. It is very rare to find a Gnani Purush.

Reference: Book Excerpt: Aptavani 9 (Page 388 Paragraphs 2 to 5, Page 389 Paragraphs 1)