When You Become Affected… is it Knowledge or Intellect?

Questioner: When we read in the newspapers, ‘This  happened in Aurangabad, that happened in Morbi.’ We get affected by it. However, after having read that, if we do not get affected at all, is that considered cold-heartedness? 

 Dadashri: Not being affected is itself referred to as the ‘Knowledge of the Self.’ 

Questioner: And what is being affected referred to as? 

Dadashri: That is referred to as the intellect. It is referred to as the worldly life. It is due to the intellect that one becomes emotional but nothing gets accomplished. Over here they had come from Pakistan to detonate bombs. When our people read in the newspapers that a bomb had been detonated in a certain place, they became afraid [sitting] right here. All these effects are caused by their intellect, and it is this intellect indeed that creates the worldly life. ‘The Knowledge of the Self’ keeps one unaffected. One reads the newspapers, yet remains unaffected. Unaffected means it does not touch you. All You are to do is Know and See, that is all. What do you want to do with the newspapers? Just know and see, that’s all! To know what is written in detail, that is considered as knowing. And if there are no details, then that is considered as seeing. It is no one’s fault in that. 

Questioner: The fault is of the time, isn’t it? 

Dadashri: Why would it be the fault of time? The fault is of the sufferer. Certainly, time will continue to change, wouldn’t it? Were we not present during better times? Were we not present when the twenty-four Tirthankar Lords (the absolutely enlightened Lords who can liberate others) were present? 

Questioner: We were.

 Dadashri: But at that time we were preoccupied with ‘eating chutney’ [enjoying worldly life]. What can poor ‘time’ do about that? Time will automatically keep on coming, won’t it? If you do not get your work done during the day, then night will come, won’t it? 

 Questioner: It will. 

Dadashri: At two in the night, if you send someone out to buy chickpeas, even if you are ready to pay double the price, would anyone sell them to you?