So, first we must recognize 'maan' (ego/pride). What is the nature of 'maan'? Huh? What is the nature of 'maan' called? Thinking of oneself as worthy of worship. Thinking of oneself as worthy of worship is called the nature of 'maan'. What is the nature of 'nirmaan' (humility), brother? This person is very humble. And even if we say, "Stop, stop," he does two more prostrations. So, what is the nature of 'nirmaan', brother? Servitude. No, shouldn't it be the opposite? Shouldn't it cross? Respecting others. Servitude is the means to become humble. It is the means to bring humility. If I want to become humble, how do I do it? So, become a servant. So humility starts to come gradually as one becomes a servant, as it settles, so it happens. But what is called the nature of 'nirmaan'? Whom to call humble? To consider the devotee of God one step ahead of oneself. It is a simple thing that if thinking of oneself as worthy of worship is 'maan', then thinking of the devotee of God as worthy of worship is called 'nirmaan'. Not everywhere. There is no need to bow down everywhere if you want to be humble. Gunatitanand Swami said to the one who was prostrating, "Do one prostration again and your work will be done." That madman used to praise everyone, so when he saw Swami, he started praising him too. Swami said, "This devotee is good." "Swami, he doesn't understand anything, he is mad mad Arrogance. Tap to open in glossary → So Swami said, "He is mad mad Arrogance. Tap to open in glossary → He may not know, but today his work is done. So there is no need to rub your head everywhere to become humble. Thinking of oneself as worthy of worship is 'maan'. And thinking of God and the devotee of God as worthy of worship is 'nirmaan'. The intellect to give respect to them. Who is worthy of respect? If we are told to select, like in those tests where there is selection, right? Like selecting from ABCD. If someone has told us in our mind, and we are not looking at the score. If someone looks at the score, that is also not good. If they are not looking at the score and say, "Select who is respectable," then what do we do? This one is very small. Who is respectable? And who is worthy of worship? Rather than giving those two names, it is said, "Who is worthy of asking?" If I want to enter this field, this door, and ask, whom should I ask? So, this one. So that is called the nature of 'maan'. Everyone sits with such expectations. That they are worthy of being asked, worthy of respect, worthy of honor, and worthy of worship. So such an expectation that remains in our mind, is called 'maan'. And if our first thought is that God and the devotee of God are worthy of respect, worship, or belief, then we are considered that much humble. Then it is called 'nirmaan'. Then now, the feeling of servitude. If one has the feeling of servitude, whom to serve? If we serve God and the devotee of God, then that feeling develops. Through service, that feeling develops, the feeling of humility develops. As we keep serving, so through that, the feeling develops and one becomes humble. If we have such a desire that the service we do, those great saints... ...then they should give me some respect. I am a bit advanced, so you complete speaking. That if we are doing some service and those great saints see us, if such a desire remains, "It would be good if they see us, they will be pleased with us." That is our expectation to please them, to make them happy. The expectation of 'maan' is that someone worships me, asks me, respects me, such an expectation remains in the mind. What you said, means that it is the expectation of pleasing them, that some great person sees us and becomes pleased, that is the expectation of their pleasure. That is not called 'maan'. One should keep such an expectation. That those great ones become pleased and at least see and it comes to their notice. 'See' means not that we keep looking face to face, but they know and it comes to their notice that we are doing it. Because sometimes the great ones may not know, God knows, there is no need to draw God's attention. His attention is already drawn. But sometimes one feels, "It would be good if the great ones see." And in that 'good', what is his expectation? What is the expectation in the heart? Does the expectation remain that he honors me, or does the expectation remain that he becomes pleased with me? It is decided based on that. We mostly do not let others see our actions. Secret actions. Why is that? Otherwise, someone might criticize it. That happens. So do not go and report. Something happened like this, like that. So the question is, how to remove 'maan', right? 'Maan'. But if one recognizes 'maan', then it can be removed, otherwise how can it be removed? First of all, who even recognizes 'maan'? 'Maan' is said to be very big. First Maharaj told all those vows, and then at last he mentioned 'maan'. What does that mean? It comes after all those are removed. Yes, after that, yes. If all those are removed, then this comes after that. So it comes at the end. Even if we are humble, pride of that also comes in the mind. That, "We are humble, there is no one like me." So, in "there is no one like me," what is implied? That, "There is no one respectable like me." Because no one can become humble, and I became. So if one wants to honor, whose honor should be done? Whose should be done? If they select you, you say, select, if one wants to honor, whose should be done? Mantra Mantra 1) A repeated word or phrase. 2) A sacred verbal phrase repeated in prayer, or meditation, such as ‘Swãminãrãyan’. Wicked people use mantras to cast evil curses. Tap to open in glossary → You say. Otherwise, Yogeshwar Swami says. Whatever remains, Atma Swami says. So how is 'maan' realized? And it is enjoyed through the mind. Then its memory and memory, memory and memory, so he gets its taste, it lingers. "Oh, the honor that was received today, never before, never again." "Never before, never again." This is called a very powerful honor, good. They are called wise. Huh? And they do recognize the right person. Such contemplation happens later. That is called enjoying it. He values people. Not completely like that, he is not in total darkness. That the value of people, whatever is appropriate, happens appropriately, such is his contemplation. But whose? Our own. That, "This is correct." That is called enjoying 'maan'. 'Maanbhog'. 'Maanbhog' is a sweet that used to come in the old days. Gopichand and... Gopichand was going to become a sadhu, so his mother told him. "Mother, now that I am going, if you want to give me some advice, give it." So his mother said, "Son, you should sleep on a mattress of one cubit height." Meaning, make such a big bed and sleep daily. And eat 'maanbhog' daily. In the old days, what was 'maanbhog'? One who is most revered gets 'maanbhog', so one gets the food offering and also gets respect, both are in it. He gets food to eat and also gets respect. Giving that food is itself called respect. In the old days, they used to give 'churma', so 'churma' must have come in the second stage. In the first stage, it was 'maanbhog'. So, eat that 'maanbhog'. So she told him, "You have to eat that 'maanbhog' daily." "Oh mother, where there is no certainty of even getting food, who will offer me 'maanbhog'?" "You did not understand," she said. "What? Eat only when hunger of two days accumulates, then it will taste like 'maanbhog' to you, even if it is dry khakhra." That is the taste. Taste is mostly due to hunger. Taste is not in the food itself. So that is called 'maanbhog'. How to enjoy that 'maan'? If anyone does not know, we are giving guidelines. Guidelines must be given to everyone, "Brother, how to enjoy 'maan'?" What is it? Swami, the mind, it depends on, is reliant on the other five senses. It has a double role. So it is not independent. The mind, it is not independent of the five senses. Now, even if all five senses become free of desires, free of sensory objects, still in the mind, of 'maan'... ...comes. Because relative to senses... 'maan' does not have relativity to the senses. By closing the senses, by closing the eyes, only one window of the mind closes. And by closing the ears, the second window closes. But even if all windows are closed, the window of 'maan' does not close, because 'maan' is directly connected. It is directly connected to 'maan'. That is why Maharaj kept 'maan' at the end. Perhaps pride comes from that too. That, "I conquered the eyes, I conquered the ears, I conquered that," so he gets pride. When does pride come? If someone says so. "Oh, your control over the eyes is great." "Or control over the ears is great." And this opened up. In that also, what do they say, to observe a dietary rule and not observe, what is it called? 'Pathya' (wholesome) and 'kupathya' (unwholesome). 'Kupathya'. What is the 'kupathya' of 'maan'? 'Maan'... just like if we have a slight cold and we eat buttermilk, then the cold worsens. Similarly, what makes 'maan' worsen? By what, say? When everyone says. By hearing praise. Praise is the 'kupathya' of 'maan'. Praise is the 'kupathya' of 'maan'. Even if very little praise is given, his heels lift up immediately. Then they do not touch the ground again. So that is the 'kupathya' of 'maan'. Whether they are true or false. Sometimes if we do good work, they praise truly. So if they praise truly, should it be called 'kupathya' or not? One who has body heat, should he drink buttermilk or not? So keep a limit. Then do not overdo it. So praise is 'kupathya', of 'maan'. Through that, 'maan' worsens. Otherwise, it would not worsen. If it is normal, it would not worsen. But through that, 'maan' worsens. And how is 'maan' removed? That is the answer to the question. The way to remove 'maan' is to keep a vision of flaws in all things. And in all actions... Especially, keep a vision of flaws in honor. What is the vision of flaws in honor? If someone praises us or honors us, praise is honor itself, right? It is honor without any expense. In that, some expense occurs if one wants to give respect, brother, one has to make a good dinner for someone, or wrap a shawl around them, so the shawl costs 200-500. But if it is completely without expense, then what? Praise. They praise. So one who sees flaws in praise, if it is so, then 'maan' is removed. That, "Brother, because that praise is happening, somewhere my loss is going to occur." Shastriji Maharaj used to say that. That, "I am ruined, I am ruined," cry out like that. When someone praises. "I gained, I gained," cry out like that. We cry out only that, "I gained, I gained." But that, "I am ruined, I am ruined," when someone honors and praises, even if that is remembered in the mind, it is a lot. That in this. It was in this, right, in Nyaysiddhantjan. You sent something recently, it was in that too. What? That praise is happening or honor is happening, it weakens the strength of our jiva. The strength to walk on the path of God. But we sit keeping expectations. That, "May I be praised." And if we are insulted, then our strength... ...increases. Increases, increases. AI translation of the Gujarati transcript above, produced in the same pass that transcribed the audio, one English segment per Gujarati segment. Devotional and technical terms with no precise English equivalent (kirtan, satsang, vasana, samskara, and similar) are kept as their plain transliteration rather than force-translated. Not human-proofread., AI-translated, unverified · Source details