‘We’ had gone to Ahmedabad where ‘we’ met a Sthanakvasi Acharaya Maharaj. It was during the time of Paryushan, so thousands of people were coming to greet and bow to him. I was introduced to him, by someone who said, “This is a Gnani Purush(self enlightened Being).” He immediately did my darshan and got up from his high seat and then sat down on the floor. ‘We’  told him, “This gesture will take you a long way.” Such wonderful humility can take one a long way, so he said, “I sat down because I felt it from within.” Then ‘we’ asked him, “Do you read scriptures?” He said he has read many scriptures and so ‘we’ asked him, “You have read a lot of scriptures but did you read them as per Lord’s instructions or otherwise?”  The Lord has said, “Do not read the scriptures that increase your intoxication of ‘I know something’ (kef) and if it reduces your intoxication, then read them”. Throw away those books if they increase intoxication. Is it an attribute of the books to increase intoxication? No, intoxication is an attribute of the seed within you. Does a tree with thorns have to design its thorns? No, it is an inherent attribute of the tree that it will have thorns on every branch. Then I asked the Acharaya Maharaj, “How will you reduce that intoxication?” he replied, “We perform our rituals,” I told him, “Any ritual that increases intoxication, is a ritual of ignorance, it is not a ritual prescribed by the Lord. The rituals He prescribed reduce intoxication, not increase it.” One can never accomplish anything by doing all these rituals.  He remains where he is.  He merely reaps what he sows.
The path of the vitarags is simple, easy and natural but  these people have made it difficult through insistence on self punishment (kashta sadhya). In the current paths of the vitrag dharma, if there were any truth in them, the world would have become enamored.  Instead, what we see is if a person is involved in renouncing, he keeps cleaning the corner of renunciation and those that practice penance keep cleaning only the corner of penance and nothing else.  Moksha is only attained when  one cleans all  the  corners.