The Purushartha of Invisible Penance (Gujarati Dadavani March-2015)

Through Akram Vignan, Knowledge of the Self (Atmagnan) has been acquired. However, to bring the conviction of ‘I am pure Soul’ into experience, penance is necessary. The Lord has spoken about two types of penance:external penance (bahya tapa) which is the cause for the auspicious (shubha) and internal penance (antar tapa) which is the cause for the pure (shuddha).Penance is to maintain equanimity (samata) when either bitter or sweet effects unfold due to karma bound in the past life. To not become involved in the unfolding, and to see it without attachment or abhorrence, is internal penance. The reason for doing penance is that one’s own awareness as the Self (Atmajagruti) increases, the world is seen as flawless, and only one’s own faults are seen. As penance is completed, the main element (the Self) manifests. When complete Conduct as the Self manifests, it is completion (purnahuti), and that is indeed our goal.