Question: Sir, you said that we already have that essence, that richness and it is covered with dirt.
How do we remove that dirt?
Speaker: The first step is to know that the dirt is ‘dirt’. Let us go closer and examine the dirt. What is the dirt? The dirt that you are talking of is the concepts, the belief systems, and the thoughts that have been given to you by others. Who are these others? Examine your life, all of you, and tell me that who are these others who have given thoughts, beliefs and concepts to you.
Listener 1: Parents.
Speaker: Society, friends.
Listener 2: Media.
Speaker: Media and …?
Listener 3: Relatives.
Speaker: Relatives, religion, philosophy, media, books- these are the sources from where the dirt has come to you. What is the definition of dirt?
Anything that is external is dirt, because the internal richness is already with you.
What others have given to you is also the concept. The concept that what parents say is sacred, what education gives to you is final, what religion says is the word of God. The dirt is carries beautiful and sacred names. That is the reason why you are always afraid to remove the dirt.
The dirt is carries very deceptive labels, and that is why you cannot see the dirt as dirt. You think that this dirt is something wonderful. You are not seeing that it is just dirt. You say, “This has been told to me by parents, this is sacred. How can I reject it?” Now when it is sacred, obviously you cannot reject it. The dirt will stay.
Everybody is doing this, everybody is saying this, everybody thinks this way. So, this must be right. And if it is already right then why you will examine it? The dirt will remain.
“My religious scriptures say so and so, they speak this way, this is what is written in Gita , this is what is written in Quran , this must be correct.” If it is already assumed to be correct, how will you examine it? The problem is that the dirt comes in beautiful packages. You are unable to see that it is dirt. It carries nice labels.
“Everybody goes after a career, the society tells me that earning such and such amount is important. So, I must also earn.” If the society says something and you have already believed it, then there is no question of an independent mind. Are you getting what I am trying to say?
You have closed your eyes and assumed that the dirt itself is precious. Now if the dirt is precious, why will you remove the dirt? All you need to do is open your eyes and recognize that it is worthless dirt, and then you will easily get rid of it. You will blow it away. It is not difficult.
You have become attached to the dirt; the dirt has stayed with you for a very long time. You have started thinking that it is precious. You don’t want to get rid of it.
Look at it closely. Ask yourself, “Do I really understand it or do I just believe?” If you just believe, then you are mistaken. Ask yourself, “Do I really understand? Am I acting out of my own understanding or am I borrowing others’ thoughts?” That is the way, that’s the way to get rid of dirt.
Excerpted from a ‘Shabd-Yog’ session. Edited for clarity.