Reading sample

English Translation of the Gujarati Book ‘Vyasan Muktino Marg’

As Expounded by Dada Bhagwan

The Path to Breaking Free From Addiction

Originally Compiled in Gujarati By: Deepakbhai Desai

Trimantra

The Three Mantras That Destroy All Obstacles in Life

Namo Vitaraagaya

I bow to the Ones who are absolutely free from all attachment and abhorrence

Namo Arihantanam

I bow to the living Ones who have annihilated all internal enemies of anger, pride, deceit and greed

Namo Siddhanam

I bow to the Ones who have attained the state of total and final liberation

Namo Aayariyanam

I bow to the Self-realized masters who impart the Knowledge of the Self to others

Namo Uvazzayanam

I bow to the Ones who have received the Knowledge of the Self and are helping others attain the same

Namo Loye Savva Sahunam

I bow to the Ones, wherever they may be, who have received the Knowledge of the Self

Eso Pancha Namukkaro

These five salutations

Savva Pavappanasano

Destroy all demerit karma

Mangalanam Cha Savvesim

Of all that is auspicious

Padhamam Havai Mangalam ||1||

This is the highest

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya ||2||

I bow to the Ones who have attained the absolute Self in human form

Om Namah Shivaya ||3||

I bow to all human beings who have become instruments for the salvation of the world

Jai Sat Chit Anand

Awareness of the Eternal is Bliss

Who Is Dada Bhagwan?

In June 1958, around 6 o’clock one evening, amidst the hustle and bustle of the Surat railway station while seated on a bench, ‘Dada Bhagwan’ manifested completely within the sacred bodily form of Ambalal Muljibhai Patel. Nature revealed a remarkable phenomenon of spirituality! In the span of an hour, the vision of the universe was unveiled to him! Complete clarity for all spiritual questions such as, ‘Who are we? Who is God? Who runs the world? What is karma? What is liberation?’ etc. was attained.

What He attained that evening, He imparted to others through his original Scientific experiment (Gnan Vidhi) in just two hours! This has been referred to as the Akram path. Kram means to climb up sequentially, step-by-step while Akram means step-less, a shortcut, the elevator path!

He, himself, would explain to others who Dada Bhagwan is by saying, “The one visible before you is not Dada Bhagwan. I am the Gnani Purush and the One who has manifested within is Dada Bhagwan who is the Lord of the fourteen worlds. He is also within you, and within everyone else too. He resides unmanifest within you, whereas here [within A. M. Patel], He has manifested completely! I, myself, am not God (Bhagwan); I also bow down to the Dada Bhagwan who has manifest within me.”

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The Current Link to Attain Self-Realization

After attaining the Knowledge of the Self in 1958, absolutely revered Dada Bhagwan (Dadashri) traveled nationally and internationally to impart spiritual discourse and Self-realization to spiritual seekers.

During his lifetime itself, Dadashri had given the spiritual power to Pujya Dr. Niruben Amin (Niruma) to bestow Self-realization to others. In the same way, after Dadashri left his mortal body, Pujya Niruma conducted spiritual discourses (satsang) and imparted Self-realization to spiritual seekers, as an instrumental doer. Dadashri had also given Pujya Deepakbhai Desai the spiritual power to conduct satsang. At present, with the blessings of Pujya Niruma, Pujya Deepakbhai travels nationally and internationally to impart Self-realization as an instrumental doer.

After Self-realization, thousands of spiritual seekers prevail in a state free from bondage and dwell in the experience of the Self, whilst carrying out all their worldly responsibilities.

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Note About This Translation

The Gnani Purush, Ambalal M. Patel, also commonly known as ‘Dadashri’ or ‘Dada’, gave spiritual discourses that were in the form of answers to questions asked by spiritual aspirants. These discourses were recorded and compiled into books by Pujya Dr. Niruben Amin in the Gujarati language.

Dadashri had said that it would be impossible to translate His satsangs and the Knowledge about the Science of Self- realization word for word into other languages, because some of the meaning would be lost in the process. Therefore, in order to understand precisely the Akram Science of Self-realization, He stressed the importance of learning Gujarati.

However, Dadashri did grant His blessings to translate His words into other languages so that spiritual seekers could benefit to a certain degree and later progress through their own efforts. This book is not a literal translation, but great care has been taken to preserve the essence of His original message.

Spiritual discourses have been and continue to be translated from Gujarati. For certain Gujarati words, several translated words or even sentences are needed to convey the meaning, hence many Gujarati words have been retained within the translated text for better understanding. Where the Gujarati word is used for the first time, it is italicized, followed by a translation explaining its meaning in parenthesis. Subsequently, only the Gujarati word is used in the text that follows. This serves a two-fold benefit; firstly, ease of translation and reading, and secondly, make the reader more familiar with the Gujarati words, which is critical for a deeper understanding of this spiritual Science. The content in square brackets provides further clarity regarding the matter, which is not present in the original Gujarati content.

This is a humble attempt to present to the world, the essence of His Knowledge. While reading this translation, if there is any contradiction or discrepancy, then it is the mistake of the translators and the understanding of the matter should be clarified with the living Gnani to avoid misinterpretation.

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Special Note to the Reader

The Self is the Soul (Atma) within all living beings.

The term pure Soul is used by the Gnani Purush for the awakened Self, after the Gnan Vidhi. The word Self, with an uppercase ‘S’, refers to the awakened Self which is separate from the worldly-interacting self, which is written with a lowercase ‘s’.

Wherever Dadashri uses the term ‘we’, ‘us’, or ‘our’, He is referring to Himself, the Gnani Purush.

Similarly, the use of You or Your in the middle of a sentence, with an uppercase first letter, or ‘You’, ‘Your’ in single quotes at the beginning of the sentence, refers to the state of the awakened Self or Pragnya. This is an important distinction for the correct understanding of the difference between the awakened Self and the worldly-interacting self.

Wherever the name ‘Chandubhai’ is used, the reader should substitute his or her name and read the matter accordingly.

The masculine third person pronoun ‘he’ and likewise the object pronoun ‘him’ have been used for the most part throughout the translation. Needless to say, ‘he’ includes ‘she’ and ‘him’ includes ‘her’.

For reference, a glossary of all the Gujarati words is either provided at the back of this book or available on our website at:

http://www.dadabhagwan.org/books-media/glossary/

Editorial

‘To break free from addiction (vyasan) is an extremely difficult task!’ All those trapped in addiction must undoubtedly have this belief! Then, whether it is an addiction to very detrimental substances such as drugs and alcohol, or an addiction to other substances like cigarettes, paan[1], and tea. This belief only keeps deepening for those who want to break free from addiction but have been unsuccessful, despite making multiple attempts to break free from it. And many unresolved questions remain for them, such as, ‘I do want to break free from it, but why can’t I? And I am able to break free from it for some time, but why does it take a hold over me once again?’

[1] betel leaf stuffed with betel nut and other ingredients commonly consumed in India as a palate cleanser, but has stimulating and addictive effects

For this purpose, in this book, absolutely revered Dada Bhagwan imparts a detailed understanding of, ‘What is addiction in the real sense? How does it enter? What supports it? How can that support be removed?’ and so on. Dadashri says that if a person truly realizes what poison is, he would never touch it! Thus, Dadashri ensures that a detailed understanding of, ‘In what ways addiction is harmful,’ becomes set within, such that, that right understanding itself will make a person change his opinion about addiction and one day, he will certainly break free from it.

On the other hand, there are those people who feel that the addictive substance definitely gives them happiness. They too have some questions, such as, ‘I certainly feel that I derive happiness from this, so what about that? I am not able to firmly conclude that the addiction is wrong, so what should I do?’ In response, Dadashri explains, ‘This happiness is not really coming from the addictive substance itself. Rather, you yourself are drawing this happiness today from your own quota of happiness and using it up, so you will be short of happiness later in life. In fact, not only are you not deriving any happiness from it, but in reality, you are actually losing happiness.’

Regarding intoxicating drinks like alcohol, Dadashri raises a red flag, ‘This particular addiction actually makes humans lose their awareness [as the Self]; moreover, it takes them from a birth as a human being to a birth in the animal life-form [in the next life]. What is more, tremendous violence is being carried out against other living organisms [in the production of these drinks]. For those who are [spiritually] developed, these substances should never ever be consumed.’ While explaining the harm that other addictions cause, Dadashri says that bidi[2], cigarettes, and tobacco harm the body, they give rise to diseases such as cancer. They also make people emotional [restless; on edge]. Even the addiction to tea makes the mind restless. Nevertheless, if you are not able to break free from the addiction to alcohol, it is worth switching over to less addictive substances like paan, betel nut or cigarettes, and to stop the consumption of alcohol immediately. Subsequently, you should even break free from these other addictions gradually, a step at a time.

[2] an inexpensive cigarette locally produced usually from cut tobacco rolled in leaf, chiefly found in India

All that an addiction does is it robs a person of his independence and makes him dependent on it. ‘To be controlled by such addictions and to remain dependent on them!’ How can one even afford to do that? For all those who are trapped in the treacherous web of addiction, this Knowledge-laden speech of Dadashri will become a guiding light of right Knowledge that imparts entirely original solutions.

In this book, Dadashri has disclosed various ways of breaking free from addiction. One of these solutions is the unique four-step method which comprises of:

1) Maintaining a firm resolve that addiction is wrong,

2) Gathering all the details of how addiction is wrong and keeping those details in awareness,

3) Doing pratikraman (asking the Lord within for forgiveness) and pratyakhyan (making the resolve to not repeat the transgression) for every time the addictive substance is consumed, especially after having decided not to consume it,

4) Not defending the addiction, even if someone points out your shortcomings regarding this or insults you.

And for those who have not yet formed an addiction, Dadashri also cautions them by saying that a major evidence that causes one to slip into addiction is the company of addicts! There is no telling

when such company will make you come into the clutches of addiction. Thus, it is worth remaining cautious of this kind of harmful company.

A person who is himself addicted will certainly get very many keys in this book; but additionally, for those who have a loved one or a family member who is an addict, the understanding that Dadashri has given will provide them with a completely new perspective on: with what understanding they should interact with the addict, such that not only does attachment or abhorrence no longer remain for them towards the addict, but the addict also gets positive reinforcement to be able to come out of the addiction.

Based on the questions that have perplexed various people with different addictions, Dadashri’s Knowledge-laden speech has come forth with the intent of giving them a satisfactory solution. An attempt has been made to compile that speech in a way that there is continuity and so that the reader can derive systematic solutions to break free from the addiction. Any mistakes that appear in this regard are certainly not due to Dadashri’s Knowledge-laden speech, but rather, errors in the compilation, for which we earnestly ask for forgiveness.

- Deepakbhai Desai

(Pg.1)

The Path to Breaking Free From Addiction

[1] What Is Addiction? What Can Be Considered an Addiction?

Any Intake That Is Not Necessary for the Body Is an Addiction

Questioner: Dada, what does vyasan (addiction) mean?

Dadashri: What does vyasan mean? What is the origin of the word ‘vyasan’? The word ‘vyasan’ originates from the word ‘asan’. That which is necessary for the body is called ‘asan’, and that which is not necessary for the body is called ‘vyasan’. ‘Asan’ means intake of food and ‘vyasan’means extra intake; extra asan. It is extra; it is

Impressum

Texte: Dada Bhagwan Aradhana Trust
Bildmaterialien: Dada Bhagwan Aradhana Trust
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 11.10.2024

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