Dada Bhagwan, born as Ambalal Muljibhai Patel in 1908 in India, was a revered spiritual leader and the founder of the Akram Vignan movement, a spiritual science focused on self-realization through grace rather than traditional practices. A humble and devout man, he experienced a profound spiritual awakening in 1958, which led him to share his insight into the nature of the Self and the path to liberation. Emphasizing non-violence, equanimity, and inner purity, his teachings have inspired thousands. He passed away in 1988, leaving behind a legacy of peace and practical spirituality.
"Where there is even a trace of etiquette, there is no religion of moksha [ultimate liberation] there, nor any other religion. Religion is to be found in naturalness (saahajeekta)."
"If one departs from the bliss of the Eternal, he will come across the happiness that is obtained from the temporary."
"We' (the Gnani Purush, the enlightened one) do not have the time to prove that 'ours' is correct; nor do 'we' have the time to make you correct as well."
"One who speaks 'completely' negative creates karmic obstructions (antray) and 'positive' does not create any obstruction (antray)."
"When one gathers all the books of all worldly religions, when one beholds (dharan) them, then the phenomenon of religious upholding (dharma dharan) occurs. When that religious upholding becomes 100% strong, then the essence [marma] begins to manifest. When the essence becomes 100% strong, then the extract of the Knowledge [gnanark] begins to manifest. Here, we make you 'drink' (absorb) directly, the 'Extract of the Knowledge'."
"People on the worldly path, to them 'we' say, 'Practice complete honesty. If you cannot do that, then practice honesty within principle of limits. If you cannot do that and if you practice dishonesty, do it within limits. This principle is indeed what will take you further ahead."
"The person who wants to progress on the path of Vitrag (the enlightened ones), should keep the focus of the awareness to progress from the non-auspicious (bad) to the auspicious (good). And if one wants to go to final Liberation [moksha], he should keep 'pure focus as the Self (Soul)' (shuddha upayog). The person, who wants to go to Moksha, should not concern himself with the auspicious (good) or the inauspicious (bad). He should keep them both as the things to be cleared out."
"Like-dislike, good-bad, profit-loss; who gave rise to all these dualities? The society did. As far as God is concerned, there is no duality. If there are grains of food on one side and excrement on the other, in God's eyes, they are both "material (matter). What does God say about this? "All are materials!"
"One gets recurrent thoughts about things he had insisted upon and about matters he formed opinions!"
"To believe the control is in your hands when it is in the hands of some other power, is indeed a wrong belief (bhranti, illusion). If one were to understand even this much, he will find a solution. When people begin to understand that the power is in the hands of something else, then the wrong belief [illusion] will go away to a little extent."
"There are two ways by which one will realize the life's goal. If we have not met a Gnani Purush, then we should live life in such a way, that we hurt no one. Our highest goal should be to not hurt any living being in the slightest. The other way is if you encounter the Gnani Purush, then you should remain in the Gnani's satsang. In doing so, all your work will be accomplished. All the 'puzzles' will be solved."
"The one who has confidence (trust) in his own self, he can get everything in this world. But one does not have that confidence (trust), does he? Once the confidence is lost, it is all over. There is infinite power and energy in trust (confidence of one's own self), even if the trust is in the ignorant state [ignorance of one's own true self]."
"All the pains in this world are assumed pains. It is 'wrong belief'! People have the illusion of pain. This illusion is being experienced. What was seen with the eyes is not being experienced. To have illusory experience means to spend the entire night 'dying' in the fear of ghosts. That is what it is."
"No one should feel hurt by you, you should make everyone happy and leave."
"Even if just once, the inner intent spoils towards someone, as in 'I will put him in his place', it is a statement made with God as your witness, so how can it go to waste? There is no problem if the inner intent does not spoil. Everything will become silent. Everything will stop."
"People in the world ask for forgiveness, but [true] 'pratikraman' does not happen by doing that. That is like when people casually say 'sorry' or 'thank you'. There is no significance in that; the significance is of 'alochana-pratikraman-pratyakhyan' (acknowledgement of the mistake, repentance and asking for forgiveness for the mistake, remorse and avowal not to repeat the mistake, respectively)."
"One achieves the Self-state (swa-artha) while searching for the highest truth (param-artha). The search for the highest truth is solely for the purpose of attaining the Self, and once the Self is attained there is no need to search for the highest truth."
"Everything that is experienced through the five senses is all 'discharge'. It is due to one's merit karmas that everything works according to one's wishes, but he claims, 'I did it' and when one faces losses, he will say, 'God did it' or 'my horoscope is unfavorable'."
"The one who protects the body-complex (pudgal) is not the 'enlightened one' (Gnani). A Gnani is the protector of only the Soul and it's natural attributes."
"No one has been able to win this world. That is why 'we' have made a very profound discovery that will help win this world. ''We' sit here defeated; if you want to win, then come [to me]'."
"To have seen something means it has come into one's understanding. To have known something means it has come into one's knowledge. There is a vast difference between 'seeing' and 'knowing'."
"Soul (Atma) remains very far from where kashays (anger-pride-deceit-greed) are created, the Soul is quite far from there. Where there is absence of kashays, there lies the 'religion of Vitrags (the enlightened ones)', and where kashays are present, lies the 'relative religion'!"
"Fruit of discharge karma with shukladhyan (contemplation as the Self, Pure Soul) is moksha, and fruit of discharge karma with dharmadhyan (auspicious contemplation; to not hurt anyone, to give happiness to others) is tremendous punya. It binds punyanubandhi punya (merit karma which binds more merit karma)."
"Where there is contempt/scornful rejection and slander, there wealth will not remain."
"In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of 'I am Chandubhai'), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one's self. Everything in the worldly life is nothing but intoxication. The food is intoxicating, the senses are intoxicating. [Therefore] Go to the one, who is without mada (pride), the one who has destroyed all intoxication. There in his proximity, you will realize that, 'wow! The intoxication of the ego is something that can go down!' Then 'our' awareness will manifest. You, the Self are indeed the absolute supreme soul (Parmatma)!"
"When attachment increases too much, dislike will arise."
"People take worship (bhakti) into the relative plane. They consider singing religious songs as worship. Worship [bhakti] can never be without knowledge (gnan). Worship will make one become the one who he worships."
"Equanimity means that one does not do abhorrence at the time of abhorrence (generating incidents) and one does not do attachment at the time of attachment (generating incidents)."
"Who is the 'mother' of 'Knowledge (Gnan)'? It is 'Understanding' (samaj). Where can 'understanding' be acquired from? It is acquired from Gnani Purush (The Enlightened one)."
"The path people know, is not the path of liberation. It is the path of the worldly life. The path of liberation is not one of imagination. It is a pure path. Where there are no worries, no externally created problems. There is bliss of the Self (samadhi) amidst all external problems."
"Only this much needs to be known: If you separate 'I' and 'my', you will have known all the scriptures! Then the whole universe will be known to you!"
"As long as the egoism is there, how can one attain the true religion?"
"Every person has to prepare himself to the point where no place would be burdensome for him. The place may get bored with him, but he will not get bored; he has to get prepared to that extent. Because otherwise these are infinite places; there is no end to the places. Infinite places are there."
"When someone picks the Gnani Purush's [the enlightened one's] 'pocket', how does the Gnani Purush'' look at it? "Very well! This amount is now credited to my account! Money spent for the home is money down the drain. How can anyone 'see' this [fact] with the narrow inner intent of 'mine and yours'? With an all encompassing [broader] intent, one will see 'as it is', that is called 'Gnan' [Knowledge]."
"People do not know what good deeds are. It is udaya karma,unfolding effects of past karma; that makes them do the deeds. The prakruti, the relative self, forces them to do them. What is your own thing [effort] in that? Doing good deeds; that too is mandatory (farajiyat)!"
"Vitarag's [the enlightened one's] 'water' (knowledge) will remove any kind of (karmic) 'stains'."