The Current Living Tirthankara Shree Simandhar Swami The Current Living Tirthankara Shree Simandhar Swa | Page 36

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Questioner: Is it because pratishtha (ceremony attributing
life-force in an idol, ideally done by a Gnani Purush) has been
done?
Dadashri: The idol has been made alive; life force has
been instilled through a specific ceremony. And there is also the
protection from the celestial deities. So there is a certain
atmosphere and the effect is greater there. There is a difference in
contemplating Dada in your mind as opposed to being here with
me, is there not?
Questioner: But Dada, you are living.
Dadashri: There is equal life in that idol too! Just as this
body of mine is living so is the idol of Lord Simamdhar. Those
who are not awakened and not Self-realized consider only this
body as living. To the Gnani, the other too, the idol is equally
alive. This is because all that is visible and with form, whether it is
in the idol or the physical body, all is form. There is nothing that is
perceived through the five senses that is beyond form. There is
therefore no external difference between the two. It is the senses
that perceive this.
Questioner: But they believe that this living body has the
form as well as the formless and in the idol there is not formless,
right?
Dadashri: There is no presence of the formless in an idol,
but pratishtha of the formless has been done in it. The Gnani brings
the idol to life. It all depends upon the strength of the instillation of
life force.
But for the present manifest form, the living tirthankara Shri
Simandhar Swami, it is a completely different matter altogether!
In the absence of a manifest form, you never know what types of