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[5] The Way of Akram Vignan
100
Pratikraman
discovery. And truly people consider discharge (effect) as 'charge' (cause). That 'we' got rid of by telling people it is meaningless to believe an effect to be the cause.
Conduct has nothing to do with religion. If you believe, 'I am the doer of conduct,' then you give rise to new conduct all over again. Therefore, it will give rise to religion, but you will not attain purity (the Self). There will not be any purity (shuddhata) in 'discharge,' the effect, the conduct. The good (shubha) and the bad (ashubha) will continue but the pure (shuddha) will never be attained.
Therefore, give people knowledge (gnan) that is compatible with the times. If you make a statement on the loud speakers that there is plenty of grain supply in our country, and that in the past one could buy grains at 12 cents per pound and that one can buy grain again at 12 cents per pound, people will tell you not to say such things. They will tell you to speak according to the times. All these religious scriptures are not in tune with the times and are thus incompatible with the current era. Ask for the Energy and the Strength to do
Pratikraman What does our Science of Akram say? If I were to ask a person, "Have you been stealing for long?' he would reply, 'Yes.' If we ask with love and kindness, he will admit everything. Then if asked, 'How much and for how many years have you been stealing?' He would reply, 'I have been doing it for a couple of years. Then 'we' tell him, "There is no problem if you steal.' I place my hand on his head and with love I tell him, "But continue doing pratikraman.' What do we teach him?
Questioner: Do this much pratikraman.
Dadashri: He may ask, "How?' and I would show him the way to do it. So he gets some consolation and he will feel, "Oh, ho ho! People are generally contemptuous towards me but
this man is giving me love!'
Whatever pratikraman he does, it wipes off the entire karmic consequences (creating 'cause karma') of stealing! His opinion has changed. Today, his opinion is not accepting what he is doing; his opinion (bhaav) is not supporting it. 'Not his opinion! You, Sir, do you understand this?
So what am I saying? I do not have any problem with your stealing. If there is a young man fifteen, or so, years of age, and he has stolen a few times, and if you were to tell him, "There is no problem with what you have done, but now you should do this one thing so that you will not incur any karmic liability,' he will ask you, "What should I do?' Then you should teach him to recall Dada Bhagwan, or whichever God he believes in, and with Him as the witness, repent for his actions. Teach him to do pratikraman in his God's name by saying, 'It is wrong to steal and I will never steal again.'
Having taught him this, what will his parents say? They will say, 'He stole again!' Hey, you! Even if he steals again, tell him to do pratikraman again, teach him again what to say. I know what occurs when one speaks in this manner. He should continue this pratikraman even if he continues to steal. Only I understand what occurs when one says and does such pratikraman. There is no other way.
So the science of Akram Vignan teaches us that whatever has been ruined will not improve (effect cannot be changed or improved), but you can improve things in this manner through change in cause.
(92) Now in the Kramic path there is no such way to improve a person. There one will say, 'Do whatever it takes to improve him. Hey, you! He will not improve. It is prakruti (the formed non-Self complex). If there is too much salt in the soup, you can remove it by one process or another. There are all kinds of solutions for improving the soup. But this (pratikraman and
