Naso parigraha uddho naaya buddena thayina mucha pariggo, buddhi eiyebuddham, mahessina loyissesa anukkosi manney annaramavi jesiyo sannihkamey gihi bavvaeeay nazsey🔗

Let me give you the translation. Parigraha does not mean to have clothes and other items of basic need, but to have attachments towards these is parigraha.

First thing he is telling, parigraha or possessiveness means, don't think having clothes and other items of basic need; that is not possessiveness. But having attachment towards it is possessiveness.

This is the one sutra which created so much wealth around the followers of Mahāvīra. They were successful socially just because of this one sutra, this one teaching. This is the ultimate technique to create and enjoy wealth.

Understand, when you become non-possessive, the capacity, the capability to enjoy increases. The power to enjoy, the intensity to enjoy becomes more. You can see in your life, whenever you are enjoying something of which you are really possessive, you will be so suffocated. The fear that it may leave you will never allow you to enjoy it. Only when you are with the non-serious attitude, playfulness, the intensity with which you are enjoying will be so beautiful, amazing. You will create more wealth, and live it and experience it.

Non-Possessiveness Leads to Insight into the Purpose of Life

Parigraha does not mean to have clothes and other items of basic need but to have attachment towards these is parigraha. Again Patanjali says beautifully, 'When you achieve the non-possessiveness, you get the insight, you experience the Truth of why you took birth and the knowledge about your past lives.'

See, as of now, you are not able to have the knowledge of your past life, because you are too much caught by the things you are having, you are too much filled by the possessions which you are having, your inner space has forgotten to move beyond the things which you have in your life. Understand, the few things which you have now like the few cars and your home and few relationships, occupy your inner space so much, you do not have enough space to look further, to look beyond.

One more important thing, whenever you are possessive of something, be very clear, you are binding yourself, you are putting a boundary for yourself, you are not allowing further expansion. You are stopping, you are curtailing the possibility for growth.

Possessiveness Leads to Violence

Ahimsa and possessiveness, these two are very closely connected. When you really become nonviolent, you will not possess people. If you possess somebody you will be violent towards that person. Be very clear, any possessiveness is violence, because the moment you possess, you reduce that person from energy to matter.

Only matter can be possessed. You can possess this chair, you can possess this table, you can keep it wherever you want, and it will be there as it is, but you can't possess a living being. If you do, you are reducing that living being from energy to matter. Possessiveness is violence. Parigraha is himsa (violence), that is why Mahāvīra touches ahimsa first before talking about aparigraha.

Create Enough Inner Space to Accommodate Your Desires

See, two things, not having desires or suppressing your desires means suicide. It is just suicide, because desire is the energy which moves your body. Desire is prana, fuel for your system. Having desire is the only way to move your system, so not having desires or killing the desires is not the goal. Create enough of inner space to accommodate all your desires, so that the desire does not torture you or suffocate you, so that you don't feel disturbed by the desires.

Understand, not having desire is not the goal, because without desires we can live like a buffalo, without being disturbed.

People ask me, 'An enlightened person should not have a desire, so don't you really have a desire?' I tell them, be very clear, the word 'enlightenment' should be very clearly understood; only then you will understand the enlightened person also. See, as of now, if a normal human mind has 10 acres, in all 10 acres they are growing something, some rice or wheat or sugarcane or something - it is filled, occupied. In the case of an enlightened being, he has 1 million acres, only 10 acres is used for agriculture - will he even know that agriculture is going on in some place? No.

I have a million acres, so even if agriculture is going on in 10 acres, I will not even know. The enlightened being has so much of inner space that 10 acres is negligible, the inner chattering which is happening is negligible. All you need to do is expand the inner space.

I am not telling you to kill or destroy all the agriculture which is happening in the 10 acres. No, that will lead you to tamas means depression and inertia. That will lead you to tamas and depression. I am not telling you to destroy the agriculture which is happening in 10 acres.

No, I am telling you to expand the inner space so that the sound in the 10 acres will not disturb you, the noise which is being created in that 10 acres of agriculture will not disturb you.