11. What truth can be learnt from our present tradition?

[Can we learn any truth from the present tradition, which we are following?] Yes. If you observe carefully the present tradition itself, you can get the whole concept without referring to any Holy Scripture. When a householder dies, the rituals are performed and a cow is donated so that the diseased person can cross ‘Vaitarini’ (river of blood and pus) present before hell. This clearly shows that every householder is going to hell. The householder does Gayathri Japa, wears the cross belt, worships the inert statues and photos etc., When a saint dies such rituals are not performed. This clearly proves that a saint goes to Brahma Loka and not to the Hell. The saint leaves Gayathri Japa, throws away the cross belts, does not worship inert statues and photos. A saint always propagates the divine knowledge in the world. The present tradition also shows that all the householders prostrate at the feet of the saint. This shows that the stage of the saint is certainly higher than the stage of the householder. This shows that everybody should pass from high school to the college. All the rituals should be protected like the high school for the future ignorant batches. We never say that since you left the school, the school should be destroyed. We are saying only that you should leave the school and go to the college i.e., you should not die as a householder but you should die as a saint. Leaving the house and wearing the saffron cloth are not necessary for a saint, which are external only. A policeman sometimes does his duty in mufti without the uniform. An actor wearing the police uniform cannot be the real police. Therefore anybody can become a saint by participating in the propagation of divine knowledge and working for the welfare of the entire humanity without the saffron cloth and without leaving the house. A householder burns camphor, fume sticks, oil and ghee in the lamps and in Yajnas causing lot of pollution and these stop the rains. He is harming the humanity by such foolish deeds, which are not mentioned in the Vedas. Some ignorant preachers fooled public by such deeds and he is not benefited at all. A saint never does these things because he cannot be fooled since he attained the Jnana. Therefore confining to the present tradition itself, one can get the true knowledge without going to the scriptures. The ancient Indian sages (rishis) who are the real saints set up this tradition. When you do not understand even the tradition that is before your eyes, how can you understand the Vedas and Shastras?