“This great tradition, that is the reason I am saying.”

This great tradition, that is the reason I am saying. This is the tradition which retains its purity. One more thing, if your core message is love, meditation and Enlightenment based, maybe outside your temples you can have few statues also. Nothing wrong, like a visiting card, like a visiting card. Please if you are greed based, fear based, ignorance based also you can come. You are welcome. We don’t say you can’t come but please come beyond that. There is something beyond. If you keep this as a main idol means the love, compassion, love, meditation and celebration base as the main moola vigraha or the main base, you can have few of the other things also in the outside, nothing wrong but there are some traditions which kept, which started keeping the fear based, greed based, ignorance based things as in the main altar. That is where corruption starts. That is where dilution starts. That is what I call dangerous distraction.

As long as our focus is towards these main truths, corruption or dilution is impossible. Somehow, Mahavira the great Master managed to create a tradition without dilution, without corruption. Still the main truth even after 2500 years is same. Still the core is same. Still the religion is love based, meditation based and Enlightenment, celebration based. Maybe in course of time outside there is little bit of fear base or greed base but that is not the core. That is not the truth. The dilution also is not able to affect the truth or the core. Here he starts namo arihantanam. I bow in reverence to Arihants who achieved the highest truth. Not only who achieved, who are radiating the truth so much that others who go near him, they are also inspired to achieve.

Understand an important truth. Arihant does not mean person who teaches. No, person who inspires. You can’t reproduce Enlightenment by teaching. No. If you can, long before we would have started selling. We would have created stores. [wwwenlightenment.com](http://www.enlightenment.com). Please visit our website to get enlightened and we would have created Enlightenment guaranteed shop. No, fortunately or unfortunately you can’t create Enlightenment in some being by teaching. No. Only by inspiring, you can create Enlightenment. You can reproduce Enlightenment only by inspiring. Arihanta is the person who is radiating the truth so powerfully, so strong. His presence is so intense. Anybody who comes near Him, even if they spend few minutes around Him, they are inspired. The fire is ignited. The transmission of lamp happens. They feel this is the best state to live in. This is the best space to exist. This is the best thing which can happen to me in my life.

Understand, if you go near an Enlightened being, even if you have spent two-three minutes, suddenly you will feel, ‘This is the best thing which can happen to me.’ If you had that thought in you, only then he is Enlightened. Otherwise be very clear, something is seriously wrong with his Enlightenment. If he cannot radiate, if he cannot create that inspiration in you, forget about him. There is something seriously wrong in his Enlightenment. Arihanta is a person not only who became Enlightened, who radiates it. Just His very presence you will feel, ‘GOD’. He will become fantasy in you. He will inspire you so much, He will occupy your inner space so much, either you start working towards achieving that state or you feel, ‘I am not able to.’ Even if you feel, ‘I am not able to,’ that’s okay. At least you have put the first step. You have started.

Understand, respect towards an Enlightened being is the first step towards Enlightenment means you wanted that state. You will not respect anything unless you agree with that ideology. Unless you have a little bit of attachment, feeling towards that ideology, a subtle feeling that you should also have that same. Unless you get that, you will not have respect for that. If you are respecting somebody, beautiful, handsome. Be very clear, you have a subtle desire to be in that state, to have that quality. Same way, if you respect rich guy, there is a subtle desire to have wealth. Anything you respect automatically enters in your inner space. When you say I bow in reverence to Enlightened being, you give respect to Enlightenment. Here you are not bowing down to somebody who will help you when you are in fear. No. You are not bowing down to a thing. No. You are not bowing down to a rich guy who will give you money, No. You are not bowing down to a person who will give you logic or philosophy, words. No, no. You are bowing down to a person who inspires, push the seed of Enlightenment in you.

There is a beautiful commentary means the explanation which says when you sit in front of a Arihanta, the ultimate Conscious Being, without your knowledge, without even your Conscious understanding, your whole being is integrated towards that one goal - Enlightenment. Understand, as on now, you are not one being as you think. Your head is calling you, pulling you in one direction, your eyes are pulling you in the other direction, your ears are pulling you in different direction. People ask Me. Just the other day, I was facing a question, “Swamiji, in all organisation there is so much of politics and why are You creating one more spiritual organisation and You know there is going to be so much of politics!” I tell him, I told him and it is a important thing. I told him, “You don’t need even two persons to create politics. One is more than enough, because morning you will be doing something else and the evening your mind will be telling something else means politics inside you! You don’t need two persons for politics, one is more than enough!

Morning your mind will be telling something and you will work towards that. By evening, your mind will be telling something else and you will try to put your effort towards that. It means what? You are already a politician! You are afraid of politics because too many different opinions and you think you don’t have politics inside? So you don’t need two persons for politics. One person is more than enough to create politics. Single person is more than enough to create politics. You can’t escape from politics by not creating organisation because organisation has got its own benefits, merits also. You can escape from politics only by creating a strong group Consciousness means a strong inspiration and the commentary says the Arihanta is a person who creates a group Consciousness among, among parts of your being.

As on now, there are so many parts in your being. You have so much of politics amongst the parts. Your head is doing politics against your leg and your eyes are doing politics against your ears, because ears want something else, your eyes want something else and your tongue wants something else and your touch wants something else. Each guy is having his own agenda and they are having big problem amongst themselves. Finally you are suffering. I should tell you a beautiful story how by the politics of the trustees, Gods suffer. Politics between the trustees, how the God is put to suffering. In a South Bharatn temple, very famous temple. Fight between the trustees and the pujaris who worship the, who do the rituals and who pay for the rituals. Fight started between these two. A simple reason. The thing is that whether you should put U shape mark or the straight, the verticular, the vertical mark.

Among that Vaishnava mark, there are two-three varieties. They call it Vadakalai and Thenkalai means just a straight line or U shape. Curve or straight line. That is the problem and not even on God, on the elephant, temple elephant. No, understand, it really happened. I wanted all of you to know. It may look funny but it happens in every temple. You may not publicise all these things. It happens in every temple. The fight is whether to put the U shape mark or the straight line mark on the temple elephant. The pujaris are saying it should be only U shape and the person who paid for the elephant, he says, “No. It should to be only straight line because I paid for elephant.” And pujari says, “You may pay for elephant but we are only going to the mark.”

So fight went to the local court. Local court gave the judgement ‘the god which is going to sit on the elephant, he is wearing only the U shape. So only the U shape should be put on the elephant’ but the trustees they have enough money. So they went to the higher court, High court and High court said ‘the person who paid for the elephant, only he should decide’ and the pujaris, they are very strong with their ideology, went to Supreme court. Really! Understand, I am not telling the story. I am telling the history. Went to Supreme Court. Finally Supreme court gave the judgement: ‘whenever god is travelling on the elephant, he should have the mark of that god which is U shape and whenever the elephant is free without the procession or anything, for public programs, he can have straight line.’

And one important thing. Two days after the judgement, elephant died because the process took fifteen years. Elephant died and don’t think story ended. Story is not ending here. Somebody donated one more elephant. Now the pujaris came and they want to put the mark according to the judgement, Supreme Court judgement. Trustees said no. That judgement is for that elephant, not for this elephant. Let us go to the court again and still now, at least twenty five years, God is going in procession by walk, not on elephant. Last twenty five years, He stopped riding on elephant. The fight between the trustees and pujaris. Who is suffering? God. Same thing happens to us. When your indriyas suffer, when your indriyas fight among themselves, your Consciousness will be suffering. Understand, when your senses and mind, fighting amongst themselves, your Consciousness, your inner space will be suffering.

Arihanta is a person in whose presence all your senses, indriyas and the mind is integrated by itself. Understand, in front of a warrior, automatically you will feel that you are supposed to behave with respect. Just by his presence, you will not talk anything. It is called Sthana Bala. In Sanskrit, we use the word Sthana bala. Anybody who holds that seat, that very Sthana, you just go in front of him and sit silently and come out. You know if you talk what will happen, the results. Just the very sthana bala, you will be frightened. Same way, in the presence of Arihanta, just the very presence, just the sthana bala, your senses will be integrated.

Your inner personality, your mind, indriya, buddhi, chitta, everything will be integrated because all your senses, they know he has killed all his enemies. Any moment he may kill me also. Let me be silent. For example, if you are going and sitting in front of a person who has done hundred murders, will you talk? Will you oppose him? Unless you are mad. You know he has killed all his enemies. So if I show, if I give an idea that I am also his enemy, simply I will be killed! You will keep quiet. Same way, all your senses, your mind, they know he has killed his enemies. Arihanta, who has conquered all his enemies. So naturally he will kill me also. Better let me keep quiet. Your personality will be integrated just by his presence.

Understand, this bowing down, remembrance will invoke their presence. You need to understand an important thing. Remembrance is not just thinking. In ordinary things like a flower or a sweet, in ordinary things, remembrance is just thinking but when it comes to Enlightened Beings, remembrance is invoking their presence. It is called Avahana. When you remember Enlightened Beings, they are there in front of you. You invoke their presence because constantly they are waiting. They are available. They are waiting just to help you.