Chapter (অধ্যায়): EPISTLES PAGE-273Page: 273 of 519
not rest till I root out this distinction of sex. Is there any sex-distinction in the Atman (Self)? Out with the differentiation between man and woman — all is Atman! Give up the identification with the body, and stand up! Say, "Asti, Asti" — "Everything is!" — cherish positive thoughts. By dwelling too much upon "Nâsti, Nâsti" — "It is not! It is not!" (negativism), the whole country is going to ruin! "So'ham, So'ham, Shivo'ham" — "I am He! I am He! I am Shiva!" What a botheration! In every soul is infinite strength; and should you turn yourselves into cats and dogs by harbouring negative thoughts? Who dares to preach negativism? Whom do you call weak and powerless? "Shivo'ham, Shivo'ham" — "I am Shiva! I am Shiva!" I feel as if a thunderbolt strikes me on the head when I hear people dwell on negative thoughts. That sort of self-depreciating attitude is another name for disease — do you call that humility? It is vanity in disguise! "न लिङ्गम् धर्मकारणं, समता सर्वभूतेषु एतन्मुक्तस्य लक्षणम् — The external badge does not confer spirituality. It is same-sightedness to all beings which is the test of a liberated soul." "अस्ति अस्ति" (It is, It is), "सोऽहं सोऽहं", "चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहं" — "I am He!", "I am Shiva, of the essence of Knowledge and Bliss!" "निर्गच्छति जगज्जालात् पिञ्जरादिव केशरी — He frees himself from the meshes of this world as a lion from its cage!" "नायमात्मा बलहीनेन लभ्यः — This Atman is not accessible to the weak". . . . Hurl yourselves on the world like an avalanche — let the world crack in twain under your weight! Hara! Hara! Mahâdeva! उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानम् — One must save the self by one's own self" — by personal prowess.
. . . Will such a day come when this life will go for the sake of other's good? The world is not a child's play — and great men are those who build highways for others with their heart's blood. This has been taking place through eternity, that one builds a bridge by laying down his own