We, women and men, have gathered here from all over the world, to participate in the XXII World Philosophical Congress to find a way of establishing a peaceful co-existence through intercultural dialogue. The subject for discussion before us is "Rethinking Philosophy Today". Why? What has happened suddenly to the great traditions of philosophies of east and west which have guided the humanity for many centuries? The reason seems to be evident. It is believed that in the field of philosophy the year 2000 is the end of the 400years of the modern era. The 21st century is the start of a post-modern era in which the old coordinates of control need a new paradigm. To me, there seems to be two great challenges before us.
Things to be Done in Paryushan Festival:
1 Daily three Samayik
2 1 Hour self study or spiritual study
3 2 Hour Silence
3 Restraint of underground & green vegetables & fruits
4 Half hour Jap
5 Restraint of dinner after sunset
6 Practice of celibacy
7 Restrain of eating more than 9 items (9 items limit can be observed either for complete day or while taking food as per convenience)
C. Dharma or Principle of motion & Adharma or principle of rest
Here the terms dharma and adharma do not mean the contemporary meaning of religion and non religion. Jain philosophy says that like living beings and non-living beings, there are two more entities known as dharma or principle of motion and adharma or principle of rest. Both are real and existent and hence have all the attributes associated with dravya. Because they are non-concrete, they cannot be cognized directly by sense organs. Even the scientists have proved the existence of these entities.
Looking at the colorful and different forms of existences in the universe, it is natural to be inquisitive about the form and nature of reality i.e. their ultimate source of origin. Is it one entity with its manifold modifications or manifestations or the reality itself is manifold. Therefore all philosophers and philosophies start their enquiry about self and the universe around, with first understanding the reality (sat) and its nature. They soon came up with two related alternatives namely:
Theproblem of change - Is changing real?
Theproblem of one and many - Is reality one or many?
►Vishwa Jain Sangathan Will Participate In Delhi Book Fair - 2008 To Propagate Jainism
VJS will participate in Delhi Book Fair' 2008 (from 30th Aug to 7th Sep' 2008) at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The timings of the fair will be from 10 am to 8 pm. The objective of participation is to promote the Jain literature. researchers, professors, doctors, historians, scholors, students, publishers, writers etc., coming from from India and other countries, who visit this fair in the search of new books, research materials and more information. Hall #12A, Stall #3
Pujā is a part of obligatory duties (āvaśayakas) which adopts perhaps certain characteristics of Hindu pujā. Laity performs both dravya (with the aid of material substances) and bhāva (psychic or mental) pujā while the ascetics and even laity from Sthānkvāsi and Terāpanth Śvetāmbara Jains perform only bhāvā pujā. While origin of pujā is obscure in literature it seems that it is an extension of obligatory duties like meditative contemplation (sāmāyika), inner worship and reverence to the holy teachers. It is an activity to signify devotion, interaction and obeisance towards a divine through his iconic form. It is generally conducted in temples in the morning. Both sects of idol worshippers perform this with some differences.
The Delwārā temple complex at Mount Ābu in the south-west of Rajasthan, close to the border of Gujarat, is one of the most important shrines of the Jainas. The name Ābu is derived from Arbudācala ( Arbudā’s hill) and alludes to the genesis of the mountain. The Jaina temples of Delwārā are located a few kilometers away from the city, in a valley.
I have now been three days in your town of Ladnun where I have been invited by the Jain Swetambar Terapanthi Community. I have enjoyed your great hospitality and I gladly avail myself of this opportunity to offer my cordial thanks to all who have come from near distant places to meet me and who have vied with each other to make my stay in Ladnun a very pleasant and successful one. As I am the first European who came to this town. May my visit which has given so much satisfaction to me, and I hope, same to you, may it be an auspicious omen a Mangala for the friendly relation of the two races, European and Indian.
This article is written by Hon'ble Justice N.K. Jain on Samadhimarana (Santhara/ Sallekhana) after studying and analyzing the views made by the great Jain Saints & Acharyas, expressed in Jain philosophy, literature and scriptures, for the purpose of creating awareness.
This is an eternal fact that a person 'who is born, has to die'. A Man should execute his duty, by keeping himself away from any prejudices. It has also been mentioned in the scriptures, that a person will bear the fruits of his present doings and accordingly he gets his next birth...
On a curve of the boulder-strewn Maghai River in Rajasthan, in a tiny enclave formed by the forested Arāvalli hills, lies the sacred site of Rānakapura. In the 15th century several temples were built there and a bustling township overlooking the valley occupied the western slopes of the hills. Of the glory of those days, little remains today. The town has disappeared without a trace - the memory of its existence being occasionally conjured up by a vessel, or a gold coin discovered by wandering goatherds. One of the surviving fanes, set slightly apart from the rest, is the Sun temple built by illustrious RānaKumbha, the Hindu ruler of powerful Rajput kingdom of Mewar. Three of the other temples belong to the Jainas. Of them all, the most impressive is the ‘Dharaņa Vihāra’ built by Dharaņa Shah and dedicated to Yugādisvara (the first lord of this aeon). It is also known as Trailokyadipaka Prāsāda-the temple of the light of the three worlds.
As Jain philosophy emphasizes purity of thought and soul, so from absolute viewpoint tīrtha is defined as the efficient cause for achieving emancipation i.e. elimination of the birth-deathbirth cycle called sańsāra. Thus activities and characteristics such as ten virtues (dasa lakşaņa), 12 types of austerities, self-restraint, and right-faith-knowledge-conduct are called tīrthas. However from practical viewpoint, places where the five auspicious events (pańca kalyāņakas) of the twenty-four tīrathańkaras or any special event in their life or of the other monks who attained omniscience are called tīrthas. In this paper we shall talk of tīrtha places as tīrthas as this is the common meaning assigned by laity. Going to these places is called pilgrimage and spending time there and is an extremely important activity in a Jain’ s life...
As Jain philosophy emphasizes purity of thought and soul, so from absolute viewpoint tīrtha is defined as the efficient cause for achieving emancipation i.e. elimination of the birth-deathbirth cycle called sańsāra. Thus activities and characteristics such as ten virtues (dasa lakşaņa), 12 types of austerities, self-restraint, and right-faith-knowledge-conduct are called tīrthas. However from practical viewpoint, places where the five auspicious events (pańca kalyāņakas) of the twenty-four tīrathańkaras or any special event in their life or of the other monks who attained omniscience are called tīrthas. In this paper we shall talk of tīrtha places as tīrthas as this is the common meaning assigned by laity. Going to these places is called pilgrimage and spending time there and is an extremely important activity in a Jain’ s life...
Jainism has gone into detailed discussions on Ahiṁsā. Since the eternal time period of Lord Ṛṣabh Deva, all rituals of Jain religion are based on the principle of Ahiṁsā. Not only in religious rituals but in each and every activity of life Ahiṁsāshould be practiced. The foundation of Jainism is in fact Ahiṁsā. After Lord Ṛṣabh Deva, Lord Māhavīra said ‘Like earth is the basis of existence of all living beings, similarly the philosophy of all great people of the past, present and future is Ahiṁsā’. The Ahiṁsak culture has in fact made India a great nation...
Both festivals and pilgrimages are the events / activities which provide us an opportunity to break the monotony of routine daily life and do things differently so that we get refreshed and move forward in life with greater enthusiasm. Jain philosophy being highly spiritual; emphasizes these events to expedite the purification of soul and attain bliss ultimately. Hence its festivals and pilgrimage aim to give its followers a deeper insight into the path of spiritual purification. To encourage the laities in observing these events as per the Jain sacred literature, its ācāryas have enumerated umpteen benefits like social, cultural, religious and philosophical accrued by the practitioner as a result....
The rights of all human and living beings get born with the birth on this earth. That is why every activity of a human being is associated with human rights. Basis of the human civilization and culture is the human values and human rights. In the absence of human rights, an individual cannot live with honour.
Indian philosophies are based on contemplation of liberation of the soul and non violence. All religions, philosophies or communities of the world, whether Vedic / Jewish / Christianity / Islām / Pārsi / Sikhism / Buddhism or Jainism, have some form or the other discussions on non violence and accepted its importance. No religion talks of exploitation of human beings, rather they always talk of human rights along with betterment of human life itself...
Over the centuries the philosophical attitude in the west has never been constant but undulated between Idealism and Realism. The difference between these two appears to be irreconcilable, being more or less bound up with the innate difference of predispositions and tendencies varying from person to person. The result is an uncompromising antagonism. The western scholars, who were brought up in the tradition of Kant and Hegel, and who studied Indian philosophies, were more sympathetic towards the Idealistic systems of India. In the 19th century, there was a predominant wave of monism and scholars like Max Müller were naturally attracted towards the metaphysical views of Sankara etc. and the uncompromising Monism of Vedanta was much admired as the cream of the oriental wisdom.
It is generally recognized that devotion in Jainism is a contradiction in terms, since devotion presupposes the existence of a Being who can actively respond to the aspirations of the devotee, and in Jainism such a conception of Being is inadmissible. It is true to say that Jainism does not uphold the idea of such a Being known as God, but it undoubtedly recognises the Arhat and the Siddha as the divinity-realized souls who may be the objects of devotion...
The pronouncement of the Ācārańga that the ignorant are asleep and the wise are awake inspires us to be aware of the highest in us, which is our Real Nature. In Jaina terminology we may say that this is tantamount to achieving Samyagdarśana (Spiritual Awakening). When we are asleep we are in the state of spiritual perversion known as Mithyādarśana.
Kānji Swāmi was born in a Sthanakavasi family at umrala a small village in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat in A.D. 1889. His mother was Ujambā and father was Moticanda. He was intelligent and firm. He was learning Jainism right from childhood and had yearnings of vairāgya- freedom from worldly things.
It was great blessings of lord that I was born and brought up in a Jain family. Even then I could not learn more about Jain philosophy and shastras, as they were written in Prakrat, Sanskrit, and Apabhransha language in original. I was able to know only of the basic principles that is ‘Ahinsa Parmo Dharma’ (non violence is the supreme spiritual value), ‘live and let live’ (Jiyo or Jine do) and to discharge my own duty with utmost sincerity. These doctrines are more or less present in almost all the religions...
Raichand was born in 1867 A.D. to Ravjibhai and Devabai of Vavania in Morbi. His grandfather was a devout Kŗşņa worshipper and his mother came from a Jaina family. This blend of two religions in his life played an important role. He had four sisters and one bother. His paternal grandfather was a major influence on him. In autobiography ‘Samutchaya Vaya-carya’, which he wrote at the age of twenty-two he says that he was “deeply dyed in the more colorful mode of worship of Kŗşņa cult”1. He listened eagerly to the verses consecrating the image of lord Kŗşņa as also to the lore of various adventures and miracles attributed to him in the different incarnations. This had a profound effect on young Raicand. He even mentions his having been formally initiated while he was yet a boy of less than ten, by a monk named Ramadāsaji. In Samutchaya Vayacarya, however he mentions this only as a phase which he later was to outgrow.
Within next twelve months, the following eight Jain centers of America will celebrate the Pratishthā ceremony (installation of Tirthankar idol) in their new or renovated/expanded Jain temples.
Jain Center of Greater Atlanta
Jain Center of Charlotte (North Carolina)
Jain Center of Tampa (Florida)
Jain Center of Phoenix (Arizona)
Jain Center of Southern California (Los Angeles)
Jain Center of Southern Florida (Miami)
Jain Center of Cleveland (Ohio)
Jain Center of Chicago ...
Kundakunda was a spiritual saint and a great writer among Digambara Jaina thinkers. He is honored, next to Mahāvīra. Kundakundānvaya is evidence that recognizes him as the head of the Moolasangha, which is also considered one of the earliest congregations of Jaina ascetics named after Kundakunda. Kundakunda as a leader of Moolasangha had also launched the Sarasvati movement around 30 B.C. and initiated or made popularized and reading and writing the scriptures in Śauraseni Prākŗta and in the languages of South India. Kundakunda also composed the Kural in Tamil language...
The survival of Jainas, though as a minority community, for the last so many centuries in India- and especially in south India can be safely attributed, among other things, to the glorious and continuous tradition of Jainas saints for more than a thousand years. They never attempted to lead a solitary life in isolation from others. On the contrary, the Jainas always tried to preserve contacts with the general masses so as to encourage them to lead a religious life
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The purpose of dealing with the above topic is to acquaint you with the prominent, Influential Jaina ācāryas who contributed to logic, ethics metaphysic and spiritualism (mysticism) as propounded by Jaina Thinkers. It is not a detailed treatment of the topic but only a simple presentation of some of the great ācāryas of Jaina Philosophy. I have not taken into account the contemporary ācāryas. We propose to classify the ācāryas in the following way.
Vivid information on the religions and sects of ancient India.
The saints of different schools of thought like- Caraka, Pānduranga, Gautama, Aviruddha etc.
Different religious leaders and their ideologies are found even in one text.
Dhurtākhyāna reviewed a few of mythical beliefs of his time [7th C. A.D.]
A meeting of different religious leaders called by the King to test the merits and demerits of their convictions in 8th C. A.D.
Dharma Parikśā was a of Tradition of Comparative Study of Religions
Today a series of works, which are, regarded as authoritative accounts of the doctrine take among Digambaras the position of the lost old canon. These works are distinguished in four groups depending upon the subjects like history, cosmography, philosophy and ethics they deal with. They are as follows:...
Jainas have developed a rich literary activity at all the times. The majority of Jaina writers belong to the spiritual class; they are either monks who take advantage of the four months of monsoon (caturmāsa) during which they are not allowed to wander and must take up on their literary activity, or those who have settled down at a place. The character and the content of Jaina- literature shows the predominance of the clerical element among the authors, and this, incidentally, agrees fully with the Indian literature in general. These works are mainly theological and philosophical treatises, legends of saints, didactic works and laudations of the Tirthańkaras. The basic religious feature also emerges strongly in works having mundane contents, in books of science and poetry and works of narrative literature...
Three Fundamental needs of human life are food, clothing and shelter. In today's session, I am inclined to utilize this opportunity to discuss the last basic requirement of our's i.e. shelter (I prefer to call it residence here). Spiritual texts have mentioned residence as the source of attachment. Attachment provides the impetus for the improvement of energy. According to Jain thinkers, there are two types of conduct:
The study of Jaina art has drawn considerable interest of the scholars both from India and abroad for over a hundred years. It may be noted that Jainism remained a popular religion through - out, having the support of all the ruling dynasties and the masses, and above all from the business class, there are ample inscriptional evidences found at Kankali Tila, Mathura, Osian, Khajuraho, Deogarh, Jalore, Delvada and at several other places which frequently refer to the shrethin, sarthavaha, gandhika, svarnakara, vardhakin, lauhakarmaka, navika, nartaka, vesyas and different gosthis of traders making significant contributions to Jainism, including the erection of temples and carving of images...
Social consciousness will not awaken without being based on the purity of individual consciousness, opines Acharya Mahapragya.
The drop and the ocean have been related since ancient times. Likewise, the body and the universe have been deemed to be related in Philosophy. In simple language we can use the terms man and the world. The latter is a totality comprising not only man but also other beings and material objects. Every man is related to the world. In order to understand a single individual the whole world will have to be understood and vice versa. They are so internally related and interactive that one cannot be interpreted without the other...
A living being is one that lives, that feels livingness and life-determining karma. That is why a creature is known as a living being. (jāhā jīveti jīvattaṁ āyuyaṁ ca kammaṁ upjīvati tamhā ‘jīve’ tti vattatvaṁ siyā.)
In the scripture ‘Bhagawatī Sūtra’ 23 names have been given for a living being: Jīva (living being), Jīvāstikāya (living entity), Prāṇa (vitality), Bhūta (living being), Satva (living being), Vijña (one who knows), Veda, Cetā (one who is conscious), Jetā (victorious), Ātmā (soul), Raṁgaṇa, Hinḍuka, Pudgala (matter), Mānava (human being), Kartā (doer), Vikartā (transformer), Jagat (world), Jantu (living being), Yoni (form of life), Svayaṁbhūta (self-living being), Saśarīrī (having a body), Nāyaka, Antarātmā (conscience).
Even though Jainism has a long history and the antiquity of Jainism was proved by Prof. Hermann Jacobi and a lot of research in Jainism was made by Weber, Alsdorf, Glasenapp, Bruhn, Bollée and others, they were of academic interest only. Only one author, Dr Charlotte Kruse was deeply impressed by the universal principles of Jainism and embraced Jainism whole-heartedly. She went to India and lived there until she left her mortal body. Number of Jains emigrated to Germany in comparison to those to US, UK and Canada is very small. Main reason for this is the language. Without German Language, living in Germany is difficult. The common language English has made emigration to even farthest countries like Australia and New Zealand easier than to Germany. Furthermore, Germany is not a country of Immigration in the sense of the English speaking countries.
Traditionally vegetarianism is practiced by most cultures for reasons of compassion and reverence for life and non-violence, and the Jains are no exception to this. However, the definition and understanding of non-violence by Jains goes much deeper than others that this author has come across. The medical reasons for being a vegetarian are relatively a modern phenomenon mostly during the past half a century or so, during which period developments in the modern medicine have established links between certain ailments and the non-vegetarian diet. The very fundamental question that is often asked of a vegetarians is, "If non-violence is the basis of vegetarianism, why eat plant based foods?
Since the dawn of civilization, men in different times and different climes, have tried to solve the riddle of the universe. They have tried to find out what the universe was, what was its origin and destiny, its size and shape, who created it, why how and when? The result of these deliberations has given rise to number of theories that have taken the form of different philosophical schools. The answer given by the different schools of thought are at considerable variance from each other, sometimes even contradictory, and the mystery has only deepened rather then getting resolved.
Philosophy means thinking about the universe. Our minds are always in search of the ultimate search for the truth. What is the ultimate reality of the word is the root question and all philosophers and philosophies have attempted to give the so called final answer...
In 15th century the intrinsic beauty of the Jain miniatures begins to fade. There is a perceptible decline in execution - the line loses its verve, the rendering becomes markedly angular and the protruding farther eye becomes very pronounced. The miniatures strike as being reduced to formulae, repeated over and over again with little variation. The polychromatic palette is now narrowed down to two basic colours red and gold. For gold the gold-leaf was used instead of gold paint. The painter began to work covering the entire area of miniature with a thin sheet of golden-leaf, then proceeded to outline the human figures and other motifs in black ink. After the completion of drawing the ground area is painted in red and the figures and the motifs were treated as negative spaces in the compositions. The whole painting was enlivened with a few accently in other colours. Occasionally, the folios of the manuscript were adorned with decorative designs such as floral and geometrical motifs in the margins and the panels above and below the text...
Jains contributed very significantly in the field of Indian miniature paintings. The paintings are known by several names such as Jaina Painting, Gujarati Painting, Western Indian Painting and Apabhrańśa Painting. For the early history of Jaina Painting we have to depend on the wall paintings from Ellora where the earliest Jaina paintings may be seen on the walls of the caves. The Rashtrakuta rulers embellished the Jaina cave of Indra Sabhā at Ellora with painted murals. The scenes in the Indra Sabhā illustrate the Jain texts and patterns including floral, animal and bird designs of 9th and 10th century A.D...
Jaina art in general and more specifically, Jaina sculpture comprise the process of iconographic embodiment of a faith rooted in myth and history across two and a half millennia. It is the iconic figure of Mahavira and some of the Tirthankaras preceding him in their states of meditation, along with attendant deities and emblems within a contingent cosmology, that constitute Jaina art in a wide range of forms—miniature paintings, relief and monolithic sculpture, temple architecture in the form of singular edifices or an entire temple-city...
It is incontrovertible that the 6th Century B.C. witnessed the rise of the 24th Tirthańkara, Mahāvīra who played a dominant role in shaping the cultural history of India. He revolted against the socio-religious exploitation and oppression of man and introduced vigorous innovations in the then existing social law and order. In fact, he serves as an illustration both of spiritual realization and social reconstruction....
Mahāvīra fought for individual liberty in the context of social life. He revolted against the economic exploitation and social oppression of man and introduced vigorous innovations in the then existing social law and order. In a way, he was a social anarchist. In this way, Mahavira regarded individual and his social responsibility as the key to the progress of both the individual and society. He seems to be aware of the fact that the emphasis on merely individual progress without taking note of social responsibilities is derogatory both to the individual and society. Mahāvīra was neither merely individualistic nor merely socialistic. In his attitude both individual and society are properly reconciled. If individual liberty is to be sought, social responsibilities cannot be dispensed with...
Mahāvīra ascribed responsibility to an individual for the actions that he does in society. For establishing this he propagated the doctrine of Karma. Individuals differ from one another in respect of cognition, conation and affection etc. What is the cause of this difference? How to account for these perceptible distinctions among individuals? The answer of Mahāvīra is that it is the beginning-less material subtle principle known as Karma that is responsible for the cause of differences in individuals. This Karma has been exercising its limiting and crippling influence on individuals from the beginning-less past. This material subtle principle is known as Dravya-karma, and its psychical counterpart in terms of Rāga (Attachment) and Dveşa (Aversion) is called Bhāva-Karma...
The term hińsā may be defined as the committing of injury to the Dravya- Prāņas and the Bhāva- Prāņas through the operation of intense-passion-infected Yoga (activity of mind, body, and speech).[19] Suicide, homicide and killing of any other life whatsoever aptly sum up the nature of hińsā, inasmuch as these villainous actions are rendered conceivable only when the Dravya- Prāņas and the Bhāva- Prāņas pertaining to oneself and to others are injured. The minimum number of Dravya- Prāņas has been considered to be four and the maximum has been known to be ten; and the Bhāva- Prāņas are the very attributes of Jīvas. The amount of injury will thus be commensurate with the number of Prāņas injured at a particular time and occasion...
Mahāvīra gave complete religious freedom to women. They were allowed to accept the life of asceticism like men. Mahāvīra himself initiated Candanā into the ascetic order. In the Sańgha of Mahāvīra 36000 Sādhvīs were following religious observances. "The followers of Jaina religion have been divided into four categories, viz., Sādhus, Sādhvīs, Śrāvakās and Śrāvikās. Sādhvīs are female ascetics who follow the five great vows in a very strict manner. This shows that complete freedom was given to women to enter the ascetic order. Female sex was no bar to the practice of asceticism. The Jaina ācāryas were extremely sympathetic in their attitude to women and admitted them freely into their order, no matter whether the candidates for admission were royal consorts, members of the aristocracy, and women belonging to the common run of society...
A non-violent society cannot subscribe to class exploitation and social oppression of man. Mahāvīra bestowed social prestige upon the downtrodden individuals. This led to the development of self-respect in them. Thus he showed that no man or woman should be deprived of availing himself of the opportunities of advancement. This Ahińsite spirit of Mahāvīra extended itself even to the lowest scale of life and he promulgated that life as such is basically identical. Hence no living being should be hurt, enslaved and excited...
In the cultural history of mankind, Mahāvīra is one of those few towering personalities who fought for individual liberty and revolted against the economic exploitation and social oppression of man and introduced vigorous innovations in the then existing social law and order. Mahāvīra regarded the individual and his social responsibility as the key to the progress of both individual and society. Mahāvīra did not confine himself to individual uplift, but he dedicated himself to the development of a new creative social order for the healthiest orientation of the individual. Thus in the philosophy of Mahāvīra, both individual and society, ‘I’ and ‘Thou’ are properly reconciled...
For Śrāvakas He asked them to observe 5 mini vows (aņuvratas), six essential duties and avoidance of basic sins from their life. Further he says that we should practice the vows according to our capacity and inclination so that we can practice them comfortably and gradually enhance their severity. Further he talked of practice with confessing one’s nonimplementation of vows and start all over again (chedopasthāniya conduct). The main sermons for common man was to atleast keep his thoughts pure and knowingly not commit any sin.
The prayer, widely known as Meri Bhāvanā (My prayer) by Jugal Kishore Mukhtāra, recited by most of the Jains on regular basis sums up the practice of Māhavīra’s teachings by common men /women...
Māhavīra [599 – 527 BCE] is the last and 24th Tirthankara of Jains. He was born in Distt Vaishali in the present state of Bihar India. His parents were the followers of Pārśva, the 23rd tirthańkara of Jains who attained emancipation some 250 years earlier. The current religion and philosophy of Jains is based on Māhavīra’s sermons, teachings and the way He lived His life. It is important to understand the state of affairs in India and abroad during His lifetime so that we can appreciate His teachings better.
He was born in the ruler caste (kşatŗiya) to the chief of the Distt Vaishali, a district which was run by democratically elected rulers and was a prosperous district. There were more than 350 different philosophical preachers at that time in India alone[1]. Animal sacrifice (bali) and yajňas (long strenuous worship of God, with sacrifices of animals and even human beings) to achieve worldly comforts were the popular rituals...
Jains do have a number of mantras, which both the laity and monks use regularly to meditate or observe as a ritual to take themselves away from daily routine and pay respect to the auspicious beings or to pray for fulfillment of their desires. The most potent mantras of Jains are called Navakāra and Catūħ śaraņa that is common to all sets and shades of Jains. The main difference between Jain mantras and others is that Jains pay obeisance to the virtues and the people who have either become virtuous or are practicing the path of spiritual purification on a full time basis to become virtuous. In this paper we shall understand the two mantras and their significance...
Those who are free from all worldly occupations; are always deeply absorbed in four kinds of contemplations (Ārrādhanās), i.e., faith, knowledge, conduct and penance, types of contemplations, and are absolutely possession-less and delusion less i.e., totally detached from worldly affairs, are called to be the true Jaina monks. The ‘Sādhus’ have 28 basic rites (Mulagūņas), which are enumerated as per below...
Jainas refute the existence of a God as a creator, benefactor or destroyer. The goal of all religious actions is to free the soul from all the impurities (karmas as per Jains) that are attached to it so as to establish itself in its true, pure and blissful condition. All those many precepts, vows, mortifications, observances and rites prescribed by the Tīrthańkaras (perfect beings who guide others through their experience to realize this pure state of their soul) to the believers serve to attain this goal. It is true that they apply only to an individual, are meant for an individual and are to be realized as such by an individual...
It is incontrovertible that the 6th Century B.C. witnessed the rise of the 24th Tīrthańkara, Mahāvīra who played a dominant role in shaping the cultural history of India. Owing to the magnetic personality of Mahāvīra and his metaphysical, ethical and spiritual teachings, number of kings, queens, princes, princesses, ministers and merchants accepted him as their teacher. Thus males and females of all castes and classes became the ardent followers of Mahāvīra, and a fourfold order of Sādhus (male ascetics), Śādhvis (female ascetics), Śrāvakas (male householders) and Srāvikās (female householders) came into existence. He revolted against the socio-religious exploitation and oppression of man and introduced vigorous innovations in the then existing social law and order. In fact, he serves as an illustration both of spiritual realization and social reconstruction...
Along with Bhikşu twelve other monks left the order of Raghunāthji. For five years Bhikşu had to suffer the hard blow of the people of Rajasthan with complete restraint. Yet a small number of the society was convinced by his teachings. The important ācārya in his sect was Jayācārya. He was the third head. He initiated the study of Sanskŗta...
Substance has infinite modes. The figure of known modes is limited. Therefore, the field of philosophy is infinite. Truth is not confined to what is already known. Truth is not all that we know today. Known truth is simply a small island in the vast ocean of unknown ones. Therefore, the voyage of philosophy should continue non-stop.
At present, the ideas and experiences of some philosophers are discussed. If we get confined simply to this there cannot be further progress and also the investigation of new modes will take a hault. Situations change with the passage of time. Changes even take place at mental and psychical level. By exhibiting those changes in a philosophical pattern we can not only widen the boundary of knowledge but can also develop its creative power...
Like the humanbody, the mind and the intellect are also a series of waves. Whatever we knowthrough the medium of waves is composed of waves only…
Let us take a lemon in our palm. We know that it is a lemon by seeing its colour and form. If it is dark, we can cognize it by its smell. We can also cognize it by touching and tasting it. All physical objects are cognized by the sense organs or by means, of touch, taste, colour and smell. But the colour and form of the lemon are not the lemon. These are only the modifications of the lemon. Each sense organ is capable of cognizing only a single modification of an object. The eye catches the colour only and the nose catches only the smell. The skin catches the touch only and the tongue catches only taste. What then is the object whose modifications alone are known by the sense organs? What is the real nature of the objects? ...
Unlike Lonkā, Bhikşu has lot of literary work to his credit. His works are also available to us .He has written a treatise on nine tattvas, a poem on anukampā, on dayā, dāna, ahińsā, on the conduct of the monks etc.
Bhikhanji in his book, “Ācārā-ri-coppāyi” has strongly criticized the food habits of Sthānakavāsi monks. According to him, many of them, especially the senior monks consumed excessive quantities of food ignoring the needs of other monks who were junior to them. The monks, who distributed food, discriminated between the recipients. Bhikhanji’s primary charge against the monks was that they ate excessive food and undertook fasts with the single objective of enjoying delicious food, which they got from laymen...
Jaina Philosophy is the ideology of Lord Mahāvīra. In the centre of this philosophy, there is soul. Detaching the soul from Karma and to attain an absolutely passion free stage is the sole aim of practices for spiritual development. Ācārya Tulasī has said in his book Manonuśāsana "Ātmaśuddhi sādhanam dharmaḥ"[1] The first step to the purification of soul is right faith. Next there are right knowledge and right conduct. The excellent stage of the co-ordination of the three is the attainment of freedom from passion, detachment. It has been said in the scriptures 'Tattvārtha Sūtra' "Samyak darśana jñāna cāritrāṇi mokṣa margaḥ".[2] Right faith, right knowledge and right conduct are the ways to salvation. The scripture Āgamavāṇi says, "Cāritaṁ khalu dhammo"[3] right conduct is religion. Purification of soul is possible through conduct only. Victory over afflictions and calamity help in strengthening and ennobling character and conduct...
Bhikhanji was born in A.D. 1726. His father’s name was Shah Baluji and mother’s name was Dipabai. He became a Sthānakavāsi muni in A.D. 1751 and founded Terāpantha sect in A.D. 1760. He expired in A.D. 1803.
In his early days as a householder, he paid reverence to idol-worshipping sect, but after some time, he left them complaining that they led a degenerated life in contravention to monastic rules. Leaving them, Bhikhana began to pay homage to the Sthānakavāsi ascetics. The Sthānakavāsis of Marwar held Ācārya Raghunāthji who was the head of the Sthānakavāsi Sangha in high esteem...
Lonkā as seen earlier denied all forms of external ways of worship involving in violence, attempted to refine the conduct of the monks. He got some followers who were convinced with his ideas and denounced the idol and its worship completely.
Lonkā had propounded his views in VS 1508 (A.D. 1451). When he started preaching his views, and in V.S. 1533 (A.D. 1476) one person from Sirohi by the name of Bhāna who self – initiated in lonkāmat (sect of lonkā) because of Lakhamshi; who was convinced of Lonkā’s views...
Lonka’s literature made available by Dalsukha Malvania consists of two parts - 58 bolas giving his views on what he considers to be true religion and 54 bolas appended to the main work criticizing the popular trends followed by the community during his time in the name of religion. Lonkā in his bola 17 quotes from Daśavaikālika sutra, Adhyāya first a statement describing the true Jaina religion as enunciated by the tīrthańkaras
“Spirituality is the highest wealth, Non-violence, restraint and penance.
Even the gods revere a mind always set on a spiritual Path....
He is regarded as a crusader against idol-worship. The Sthānakavāsi sect owes its allegiance to Lonkāśāha. It even celebrates a day to commemorate him. There are controversies about his life and matters relating to the date of birth, death, marriage, about his knowledge of scriptures, etc. Regarding the life history of Lonkā, there are controversies. Muni Jňānasundarji in his book has quoted different authors to locate the exact date and the year of birth and death of Lonkā, his family background, his education, his profession, because there are controversies regarding his life, as there is no unanimity between the authors who have located various events about his life. This also tries to prove the importance of Lonkā and the reform he has brought about...
After the 12th century in India, provincial languages started prospering and there were many saints and monks spreading true religious spirit through their poetry to the masses against the empty ritualism of the mediaeval times. Moreover the religious literature up to mediaeval times was in the classical languages - either Sanskrit or Prakriti which no longer remained the languages of the masses. In Hinduism the religion of rituals and sacrifices limited to the higher castes was being replaced by the temple worship and devotion for which all persons including women, untouchables were qualified. In the Jaina religion also a simple householder like Lonkāśāha from Gujarat and a monk like Ācārya Bhiksu from Rajasthan attempted at reformation through their writings in provincial languages - medieval Gujarati and Rajasthani respectively...
The world of today is in desperate need of at least four teachings to which the Jains have unflinchingly witnessed: Co-dependence as part of an organically interrelated universe, positive non-violence in all its aspects, that there are various paths to the truth and the importance of the feminine. No one can teach these better than Jain householders dwelling in the modern cosmopolitan world....
To help to meet the needs of the Jain community as well as of the larger general community in India, Britain and North America a number of organizations have come into being: ➲ First Jain Center in New York ➲ Jain Meditation International Center ➲ Jain Center of Boston ➲ Siddhachalam ➲ Jain Study Circle ➲ Federation of JAINA ➲ Bramhi Society
With a few notable exceptions we have so far told a story of books and scholars. In the 1960's because of certain social and economic factors in India, an opening up of Commonwealth immigration into Britain and the removal of iniquitous and unfair measures against Asia into the immigration legislation of the U.S.A. and Canada, a slow and steady migration of Jains to Britain and North America took place till today and there is a sizable Diaspora. The need to provide pastoral ministry for these folk and teaching especially for their children has been acute. Also the need to teach inquiring Canadians and Americans who are not of Indian descent has been gradually recognized...
This last ten years has also seen the fuller emergence into self-consciousness of the worldwide Jain Diaspora, that is people of Jain descent domiciled overseas.. The jet; de-regulation of air traffic and modern telecommunication have done for us in the world what the old colonial railways and telegraphs did for our great grand-grandfathers inside India. On one side the jet has made it easy for us to go to India and receive the ministrations and benefits of being with monks and nuns. Some significant and successful efforts have been made to bringing those ministrations to us in the west. Of these we shall say something below. But the quintessential' characteristics of the monks and nuns who do not use mechanical transport and indeed of being possession less to the point of having not even a cloth, cannot be abandoned or lost: of their very nature these have significance for the totality of planet...
More difficult, if not impossible, for outsiders mainly resident in the West to follow, but of the greatest importance for revisionists and onward-going thinking during the last decades are the lively discourse and debate on Jain studies going on in India. At the beginning of the period in 1954 Dr. B.J. Sandesara reporting as President of the Prakrit and Jainism section of the All India Oriental Conference seemed at first to be somewhat pessimistic. He described how Sanskrit still has the strongest pull over Prakrit for the best students, as Buddhism and Hinduism have over Jainism.[33] However, he points out that new Institutions are coming up in Bihar and Gujarat. A Cultural Index of the Jain canon is now well under way. He says it is time to take up Dr. Bloomfield's call male years ago for more work in Jain Sanskrit: The provision of Hindu l ex ice for Prakrit words is being well met. In the matter of publishing texts from the Grantha-Bhandaras, the re-discovery of Indological works dealing with all kinds of subjects is still going on...
Mahavira kept the door to his religion's domain open to people of all castes and creeds. He would never have imagined that his religion would get associated with any creed or caste and thus close its doors on some people.
I once read somewhere that Jainism has the potential to be a world religion. In yet another context I read that Jainism was the world religion. I went deeper into these thoughts. I wondered if these thoughts had some truth in them. Does Jainism have the potential to become a world religion? Is it a world religion? I began to measure Jainism with the yardstick of a world religion. The religion, which has a large number of followers, can be a world religion. Jainism has not more than ten million followers. Then how can it be a world religion? The religion that has followers in all parts of the world can be called a world religion. The followers of Jainism are present only in a few countries. Then how can be it called a world religion? ...
Inevitably the age of Germanic leadership which started in the 18Ws was brought to weakening by World War I and then by Hitler's regime of 1933 to 1945. It has partially recovered as has also the strong accompaniment given by the French. Indian work especially by the great Oriental and Jain Institutes on the texts remained impressive though the writers and the books themselves -give hints of the problems of brilliant academic achievement being sore let and hindered_ by lack of resources and a certain creeping lassitude and carelessness among clerical and book production workers which was partially generated by the colonial experience and its aftermath. Although the Jains did a great deal to develop colleges and places of higher learning, they did not endow many chairs of Jainology in them. After Independence a quantity revolution took place in the Indian Universities...
In Dr. Singhvi's previously cited article the work of three American or American-related scholars was described. The following is to add a few details. Maurice Bloomfield who was probably of Jewish background was born in Austria and moved to Milwaukee at the age of four. He studied at Chicago, Furman University (South Carolina) and Yale. He carne as a Fellow to the young John Hopkins University where Lanman, the doyen of Sanskrit studies in the U.S.A., was founding a school of Sanskrit. Bloomfield took his Ph.D. in 1879 and went off to Berlin (not India) and Leipzig for more study. He became Professor of Sanskrit at John Hopkins in 1881. He became one of the leading scholars of Indology and its related philology. Somewhat late in his career he began his work in Jain Maharashtri and Jainology and did not publish in this subject till near his death. However, his Life and stories of the Jaina Savior Parsavanatha is to this day well worth careful study....
The story of the development of international Jain studies especially textually has been told elsewhere or can be assumed from annotated bibliographies, which are readily available. It is rewarding to see how this study developed and how India, Germany, France, Britain communicated with each other and with U.S.A. and Canada. Direct communication between India and North America before the end of World War II seem to have been at times slow after the great schools of Indology were built up at places like Harvard or individuals like Professor Maurice Bloomfield and Professor William Norman Brown did their work...
But the real beginnings come with the Orientalists and "Anglo-Indian" scholars and missionaries of the 1790’s to 1824's working in Calcutta, Bombay as well as up-country in India and back in Britain. Their work soon very quickly became known in France, Germany and in the U.S.A., especially in the Boston area, which, apart even from its Harvard Indological scholars, had close mercantile and missionary connections with India. For example, it is likely that Colebro's very early state, it’s specifically about the jams published in London in 1807 was, we may suppose, available in New England very soon after publication. Early material has often not yet got on to in-line computer-operated catalogues, dates are sometimes hard to discover without retrieving the copy itself. However, as nuggets of this kind of research which has yet to be carried out with care and detail, we may mention two books from the 1840’s, which were in our belief obtainable rapidly in the Boston area for missionary purposes soon after their first publication...
Having said a little about the achievement of Mr. Virchand Raghavaji Gandhi in the west between 1893 and his untimely early death in 1901 we must turn back to consider some of the factors which helped Mr. Gandhi's listeners and readers to understand and respond to the message of Jainis. At any time in the nineteenth century, many westerners well versed in European culture would have read and wondered at the stories brought back from ancient India by the Greeks. According to these there were in that far-offland naked philosophers who gave themselves to the solitary, homeless, possessionless life. They could not be coerced - even by Alexander himself. They observed strict continence, ate little and willingly gave themselves to death...
For fuller details of his work in U.S.A. and England and his speeches we must again refer to Mr. Bhagu F. Karbhari. In a brief sketch of "his short but useful career"(pages IV-XIV) we are informed Mr. Gandhi was born on 25 August 1864 near Bhavnagar. His father was a very orthodox Jain jeweller. His parents took him to Bhavnagar for an English education. The nature of this is not specified but judging from Mr. Gandhi's style and remarks it was presumably presided over by Christian missionaries. He got into Elphinstone College, Bombay University, and obtained his BA in 1884...
Mr. Gandhi was a great success in the Parliament and he stayed on away in the United States. A paper by him dating from this time is to be founded. The Arena of 1895.[4] It is entitled: Christian Missions in India.” He, since the Parliament, has spent on institutions and found “much that is commendable except its religion”. He has failed to find spirituality, brother hood and “love to those creatures dependent upon man.” He notices that remarks on the work of missions aroused hostile comment. Yet if Christianity has done so badly in America, why waste effort and money overseas. Mr. Gandhi especially admires American secular free universal education and opines that if India really had a system where children could get a free education without having to abandon its culture, religion, and caste then results in development, prosperity international trade would be rapid. If he came back today and spoke to a Chicago and grandmother in the central valley of California it would break his heart to learn of the traditional Mexican catholic children bring forced to abandon their faith, “class”, and language to obtain free” Education geared to well-off Anglo secular middle-class...
The reporter of his first words introduces him as “a lawyer of Bombay and one of the chief exponents of Jain religion”. Mr. Gandhi said: “I come from India, the mother of religions. I represent Jainism, a faith older then Buddhism, similar to it in ethics, but different from it in its psychology and professed by 1,500,000 of India’s most peaceful and law-abiding citizens”. He added that at this point he only wanted to offer thanks on behalf of this community and Muni Atma Ram Ji, whom he especially represents. This kind of meeting “has been the dream of Atma Ram Ji’s life”...
In this paper we attempt to sketch what became known (and what) to well-educated, nonspecialist western readers and hearers concerning the Jain religion, ideas and ways of life, from the time when Mr. Virchand Raghavaji Gandhi addressed the Chicago Parliament of the world Religious in 1893 to the present. We also take a look at the century before that event and then we seek to peer into the hundred years ahead of us[1]. Definitions. “Jainism” is a hybrid word, which implies it is something like “Protestantism” or “Marxism”. This can be inaccurate and misleading. It can but does not always, necessarily, include what we mean by the Jain Dharma, the Jain Faith, doctrines and way of life. It can include the life of the Jains as a community or group. It can include their thinking, writings, behaviour, their art, drama, sculpture, spirituality, and much else. Often we use it to mean only one of these things. It is best left in the large and loose sense, demanding that readers be alert and uses their critical powers to work with us towards more accurate meaning and understanding...
“Jainism –India’s, and possibly the world’s oldest religion – is a quiet, overwhelmingly seriousway of life, a cultural insistence on compassion, a sociology of aestheticsthat has dramatically changed the world, and will continue to affect change.” Dr. Michael Tobias
100 years ago at the first Parliament of world’s Religions in Chicago, a Jain leader, a scholar, and the only Jain on North American soils, Mr. V.R. Gandhi said, “I come from India, the mother of religions. I represent Jainism, a faith older than Buddhism, similar to its ethics, but different from it in its philosophy and professed by several millions of India’s most peaceful and law abiding citizens.”...
Mahāvīra was born to Siddhārtha, a district chieftain of Vaishali (in the present state of Bihar), a prosperous democratic state in the year 610BC, and royal lineage as most of his paternal and maternal aunts were the queens of different kings in that area. He became the 24th tīrathańkara of Jains. His family practiced the religion of Pārsva Nātha. Mahāvīra renounced the world at the age of 30 and attained omniscience at the age of 42 and Nirvāņa at the age of 72. He preached his philosophy for 30 years after attaining omniscience. A number of modern historians believe him to be the founder of Jainism but he was the 24th tīrathańkara and a rejuvenator of Jainism (earlier called by different names such as Arhat, Niggantha, Jňātādharma, Vārtya etc.) Jainism was at its pinnacle during his time and adopted as a state religion by almost all kings from Kalinga (Orrisa) to Magadh (Bihar) and Ujjaini (MP). More than 500,000 people joined his creed when Buddha, and more than 5 other Śramaņika sects and 350 other sects were trying hard to establish themselves ...
The area i.e. the upper plains of Ganges and Yamuna extending from Vārānasi to Magadha was lush with vegetation, favourable climate supporting vegetarian diet, non-violent nature and indulgence in intellectual and spiritual pursuits. The people in this area worshipped idols, believed in reincarnation and soul and paid obeisance to great philosophers and learned people. They were called as Mānavas and started calling themselves as Aryans also. Ŗşabha Deva, the first tīrathańkara of Jains was born in this community. This was the end of Stone Age and the beginning of Neo-stone age or work ethic based collective living (town) period.
...
There are many beliefs about the origin of species and the world itself. Some believe in its being created by God, others talk of Big Bang doctrine and still some say that it is an eternal entity with changes taking place in it continuously. Sutrakŗtāńga, the 2nd canonical text of Jains which has sermons of Mahāvīra, in its 1st chapter section three talk of different views / philosophies (seven) about the creation of the universe. It refutes all of them and says that the universe is eternal; it was, is and will be there forever. Only its contents and components keep on changing. This is based on the Jain doctrine of reality, which says that reality is existent and with origin-decay-permanence. Even modern scientists and logicians support this claim and say that the universe is eternal with changes taking place continuously. Some events, when change is drastic, are considered as either creation or catastrophic (pralaya). Another interesting concept of Jains i.e. of time (called Kāla) is extremely important to appreciate the history of mankind and culture...
The Shrutakevali Education Trust (R) and the National Institute of Prakrit Studies and Research, Shravanabelagola (Karnataka), on the advice and guidance of His Holiness Pujya Swasthishri Charukeerthy Bhattaraka Mahaswamiji, has instituted the Prakrit Jñānabhārati International Award since 2004. The prestigious award with citation, memento, and a cash of Rs. 1,00,000 (Rupees one Lakh in Indian Currency), will be awarded to an eminent scholar of International recognition for his/her outstanding and meritorious service to the promotion and resumption of Prakrit and Jaina Studies. Prof. Padmanabh S. Jaini, Dept. of Asian Studies (Buddhism) California University, BERKELEY (USA) was the first recipient of this Award in 2004...
Science in Jainsim: It is amazing to see how Lord Mahāvīra could visualize the structure of the universe from micro to macro levels without the aid of any modern day instruments. Some examples are given below will prove this:
Periodic table in science show the number of basic elements found to date to be 102 (now gone up to 118). The table also shows some blank positions and the possibility of more basic elements existent but not found till now. Jains talk of a possibility of 4 (8/2 touch) * 5 (colors)* 5 (taste)* 2(odors) = 200 possible elements in which parmānūs can combine to give different elements.
Water should be boiled and strained before drinking. Absence of this shows over 4000 persons dying everyday by taking impure water.
Mahāvīra’s principle of şaŧjīvanikāya talks of air bodied, water bodied, fire bodied, earth bodied and plant bodied living beings and the living beings with moving bodies. It is extremely useful to analyze and propagate basis and essentiality of environmental protection practices...
Jaina Studies was the focus of two academic panels at the 2007 American Academy of Religion (AAR) conference held in November in San Diego. The 'Religion in South Asia' section of the AAR had a panel devoted specifically to Jaina Studies. It featured papers from Jim Hastings, Whitney Kelting, Sherry Fohr, Stephen Quinlan and Anne Vallely. The panel, organized by Anne Vallely, and entitled: 'Transcending Dualities and Dialectics: Capturing Jain Identities' challenged the dualistic conceptual framework that has profoundly influenced most scholarly works on Jainism in the modern period....
Who is a Jain? Technically the term Jain is derived from Jina, a perfect human being who has conquered the world and attained liberation. Here the world denotes the cycle of transmigration of soul in birth-death-birth cycle and associated pains. He attains liberation by conquering his sensual pleasures, expectations and invokes the full power of his soul that is infinite knowledge, bliss and energy to enjoy these forever. A Jain is the one who follows the way of life and path of spiritual purification as propagated by him. Thus we see Jain doctrine is based on the concept of realizing the full potential of one‘s soul to achieve lasting peace in this and future lives. Jain doctrine talks of non-violence, self-restraint and austerities / penance to achieve these objectives both in our existence in this world and at spiritual purification levels.....
We see that there has been a great deterioration in human values all over the world. Eternal values like spiritualism, non-violence, harmony, tolerance and truth etc. are getting deteriorated. That is why immorality violence, intolerance, terror, callousness, fear and discontentment are on the spread. Man fears his fellow-beings, there is no trust. The sources of pleasure, peace, happiness and sensitivity have dried up. Man is restless, frightened and scared. That is why the importance of balance between individual liberty and administrative control is being increasingly felt. Administration, discipline and self-restraint all the three are essential to society. Liberty in the absence of self-restraint amounts to madness and crime...
Getting one of various substances by uniting is known as bondage. Accordingly, the synthesis of the living being and the karma is said to be bondage. A living being receives fine particles of matter by its disposition. The combination of the particles of matter received and the space points of the living being is known as bondage. Ācārya Abhayadevasuri says, "The bond of fetters is physical bondage and the bond of karma is physical bondage.". Sṛi Nemicandra Siddhānta Cakravrati writes, "The conscious result by which karma is bonded is psychical bondage and the fusion of karma and the space points of the soul, their getting accommodating one and the same region - is physical bondage."
The question is - how does a living being get bonded to karma? In this connection Gautama Swāmī asked Lord Mahavīra, "O Lord! How does a being get karmic bondage?"...
Definition Of Karma In Jaina Philosophy And In OtherPhilosophies
India is a
country in which religion plays a very dominant role. All the ideologies and religions
having faith in God have acknowledged karma or some such entity as affects,
covers or blunts the various powers of the soul. Different philosophies have
given different names instead of karma to that entity.....
One aspect of celebrating Mahavir Jayanti is to remember one of the greatest souls whose teachings on Non-violence, Non-possession and Anekant (a multidimensional philosophy of Non-absolutism) are unique throughout the world. Lord Mahavira observed, experienced and realized that deliberation on cause of violence is incomplete without deliberation on possession. Thinking on Non-possession is essential for thinking on Non-violence. We want to change action and outcome but with less emphasis on cause of action. Success eludes us in such attempts. Violence is an effect, its cause is possession. Violence is on increase in present day world. It's reason lies in attachment to material objects. Attachment is basic feature of possession. Lord Mahavira said “one can not absolve of attachment without relinquishing the lust for attachment and Non-Violence can not decline without relinquishing attachment.”... Audio Message added
Today the entire world is witnessing a horrifying situation because of territorial conflicts, religious fundamentalism, violation of human rights, global terrorism, environmental and ecological imbalances, global warming, economic disparity etc. We are aware of the fact that, in spite of mind-boggling scientific and technological advancements along with astonishing materialistic developments, the world is passing through a very crucial phase of uncertainty and fear complex arising out of violence, terrorism and variety of conflicts. Well known scientists, thinkers, philosophers, educationists, academicians, spiritual leaders and socially committed people are feeling urgent necessity of establishing culture of peace throughout the Globe. Now the time has come to follow the words of the great noble son of India Swami Vivekananda, "Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is achieved". Our aim is to bring this statement into reality and to rotate the wheels of change to make the movement of establishing "culture of peace" more proactive....
A detailed expatiation regarding the living being is found in Jaina Philosophy and attempt has been made to define its evolution as well.
Biologists have a vast knowledge of the living being yet they find it a bit difficult to present the evolution of the living being as compared to Jaina Philosophy...
What is Yoga?
Yoga is the science of life and the art of living. It is the common sense answer to overall physical and mental fitness. Basically yoga is a system of physical and mental self-improvement and final liberation that people have been using for thousands of years. Yoga arose in the age of the Vedas and Upanishads. It is India's oldest scientific, perfect spiritual discipline. Yoga is a method of training the mind and developing its power of subtle perceptions so that man may discover for himself the spiritual truths on which religion, beliefs and moral values finally rest. It is realization of our hidden powers. Swami Shivananda said, "He who radiates good, divine thoughts does immense good unto himself and to the world also". Yoga is science of life, it offers us simple, easy remedies and techniques and methods of health and hygiene to assure physical and mental fitness with a minimum of time, effort and expense....
Purshottam Jain and Ravindera Jain are co-writers of Punjabi Language. Near about 45 books regarding Jainism in Punjabi language are in their credit. Evaluating their enormous effort in the field of writing Jain World Foundation USA had declared both of the writers as "Jewels of Jain World" for pioneering Jain Literature Work in Punjabi for the first time in History...
Jainism has got full ability to become a new model of Global ethics for moral and spiritual progress. The term 'moral' closely associated with ethics, comes from the Latin word 'mores' which primarily stands for 'custom' and 'habit' and secondarily means character.The person who leads highly moral life is appreciated in his family, society, state and even in his country. He feels himself fully contented and happy. Moral values fulfill motto of individual's life. High moral fellow gets higher position in collective life. Modern scholars have also emphasized the super-moral nature of the ethical teachings of the Upanisads. Dr. Radhakrishnan, while discussing the ethics of Upanisads, remarked, "Duty is a means to the end of the highest perfection. Nothing can be satisfying short of this highest condition. Morality is valuable only as leading to it." Custom and habit of individual can only be changed by purifying internal emotions. Positive emotions give rise to positive thoughts, which reflect good habit and custom of individual. Deussen has also very clearly pointed out this. He observes that when, "the knowledge of Atman has been gained, even action and, therefore, every moral action also has been deprived of meaning." ...
Ethical discipline (acara-dharma) is an important aspect of Jainism. It has a two-fold objective. First it brings about spiritual purification and secondly makes an individual a worthy social being who can live as a responsible and well-behaved neighbour. The ethical discipline is well graded in Jainism to suit the ability and environment of an individual. It is prescribed to him according to his will to carry it out sincerely, without any negligence either in its understanding or in its practice. Jaina ethics is based neither on oneness of life as in Vedanta, nor on momentary nature of soul as in Buddhism. It is based on equality of life. Basically all souls are equal. Therefore, no wonder that such perceptions as non-violence in Jainism take into account not only the human beings or animals or insects but even plant life or one sensed living organism life, like - earth, water, fire and air etc. The social organizations as anticipated by Jaina ethics, do not make any distinction on the basis of caste, creed or colour. At present, however the Jaina society has borrowed caste system from Hinduism and observes it as strictly as the later...
It is cruel irony of fate that we find the present world most complex and dangerous. Undoubtedly the modern science in its long life of one hundred and fifty years has been able to conquer the dreadful forces and many of the hidden secrets of nature. But it has at the same time terribly failed to overcome the passions and prejudices that human flesh is heir to and which work more havoc that the destructive arms ever invented so far. Material machinery has practically overpowered us and we have become aware of the absolute ruin and carnage which atomic carfare can bring in. The wolf in man is becoming evident in every sphere of life ...
One of the goals of this year's JAINA Souvenir was to represent as many voices as possible. This year, as part of our call for articles, we specifically asked children 15 and younger to share their opinions and views on religion and peace.
With the help of the JAINA Education Committee, we sent four questions to Pastshala teachers around the world. The questions were:
1. What does Jainism mean to you?
2. What is 'peace'?
3. What do you say when someone asks you, 'what is Jainism?'
4. What is your favorite Jain festival?
From the deep, warm realms of the womb a child crawled out. She was yet another progeny to whom which her parents could transmit their Indian heritage, culture, and family values to. This child already had several identities, a couple including American, Indian, but most importantly, Jain. She was raised with her mother's affectionate nurturing, the first and single person to instill the significances and morals the Jain religion underlined. From birth itself, this child had matured and prospered in school and faith with the Jain religion abide her, unrelentingly governing and protecting her. Ordinary people would call it this child's luck to be born under the sanction of a Jain family who believed in nothing but the well being and truth. However, I call the so called "luck", my own karma. Yes, it is my own accumulation of positive karma to be blessed with the characteristics that compile my identity as a human, Jain, yet specifically a soul with equivalent energy as each and every soul in Moksha. ....
Jainism started very long ago, but its main aspects have remained the identical. The Jain religion began with numerous tirthankars, in groups of twenty-four during an era, or period of time. Rushabdev, our 1st tirthankar in this era was born very long ago. Mahavir swami was our last tirthankar in this era. He lived twenty-seven lives that we know about until his soul became liberated. During his third life, Mahavir's grandfather was Rushabhdev, who was attaining kevalgnan and omniscience in that life. His other lives lasted long and short, so Rushabhdev became the tirthankar long ago....
Strange is the fact that the only entity that can experience pleasures and bliss stays entangled in the whirlpool of misery. When all crave for happiness and want to keep away from misery, then the problem arises why misery? Answer is that good goal is achieved only through good means. The means and goal should be equally revered. After sowing the seed of misery if one wants to get the fruit of happiness then how is it possible? Impure means never yield a pure end...
Marriage and dialogue are inseparable; but is there peace? Numerous proverbs and jokes are testimony to the turbulent nature of this sacred institution. Has it kept up with the changing roles and values of mankind over the years? Times have changed. But our attitudes and beliefs haven't.
The reality is that almost 45% of the marriages in North America end up in divorce. A large proportion of the rest continue to remain married, but just that. The relationship has already died. Why did this happen?...
Economic development, growth and prosperity are the prime concerns of the present society. But the question arises, how it is possible to be ethical in business and what should be its process and its mechanism.
While pondering over an economic development, the following points should be invariably considered....
Jain Scholars committee has been in dialogue with Jain centers in North America for developing programs to strengthen Unity. Centers in turn are keeping open dialogues with all members to bring together all sects. Working towards Jain Unity is much easier in North America than any other place. The rituals are different but the objective is the same - uplifting spiritually. Young Jains of America and Young Jain Professionals are interested in learning and adopting unified Jain teachings and conducts. Almost all of our centers are conducting programs with similar aim in mind. We have to stress that underneath the waves, deep down in the ocean, our knowledge and Scriptures are the same...
Traditionally, business has created a "world of goods" with a focus on profits. A new trend is emerging today where business is creating a "world of good" and becoming a partner in peace.
Today 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty, despair, and deprivation. Another 3 billion people struggle for mere survival and livelihood. Globalization and technological advances bypassed masses of poor around the world. Until recently, businesses in general focused only on the remaining one-third of the world population. There are other global challenges as well. Our world is divided by religious extremism and inequalities based on race, gender, and wealth. We are losing our sense of community and finding more reasons for further subdivisions of humanity. Our environment is also eroded by our endless desires and lack of individual and collective responsibility....
The 21 st Century is an opportune time in history for the ancient message of Jainism or 'Jina,' a teaching more relevant and more urgently needed than ever before. The Digital Age makes it possible to share our passion about 'Jina Vani' (the essence of Jainism), one of the oldest living religion, with a large number of human beings around the world. Thanks to new technologies in media and the Internet, the principles of Jainism, such as non-violence, tolerance, environmental concern, built-in respect, tenderness, and equality for all living beings, can now be widely explained while securing Jainism a valuable global identity and name recognition....
Today man has created massive means of destruction, which would one day devour the entire human race. The star wars are staring at the world with greed. In the days to come, tanks, rockets and bombs would cease to have any power. Wars would then be fought with poison gas. The nature of weapons has changed, but the craze of man to kill is increasing and multiplying every day. That is why many today want to take shelter in the teachings of Tirthankar Mahavir...
The important piece about gratitude is that when I give verbal or written gratitude to someone providing the other with specific information of what actions of theirs made a difference in our life, it becomes a feedback and may serve as a fuel for contributing to life moment by moment. This feedback gives us specifics for making life wonderful at all given times...
Arrogance is a serious destructive human emotion like anger, deception, jealousy, and greed. It is also a means of communications and dialogue through body language. Encarta dictionary defines it as contemptuous pride- a strong feeling of self-importance that is expressed by treating others with contempt or disregard. Other equivalent words for arrogance are: conceit, egotism, superiority, false pride, overconfidence, superciliousness, self- importance, and condescension. Many world
religions such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Taoism have described arrogance as a sin and condemned it in no uncertain terms....
Non-violence is accepted as the central tenet of Jainism - our ultimate aim is to be kind in thought, speech and action to every living being. This can be seen from the strictness of a pure Jain diet to the way monks and nuns sweep the floor before walking to protect any insects. Whist in our daily lives, intentional physical violence is limited, real effort is required in not saying negative things about others. Even more difficult than suppressing destructive speech is the challenge of not allowing violent thoughts to arise in our minds....
Once upon a time, Health went to man and said, "I went to many people and requested them to make me a friend but nobody did. The man said, "How foolish the people are! Come to me, I will make you my best friend." Health said, "I can be your friend only if you fulfil my three conditions. First, you will practise yoga every day. Second, you practise relaxation. Third, you practise Preksha meditation."...
The law, which regulates the action of karma, is based on the principle of "cause and effect.“ The saying „as you sow so you reap“ presents the whole Doctrine in a nutshell. Every action, whether mental, vocal or physical, is a sowing of the 'seed', or in the technical language of the Jaina Philosophy, the engendering of karma. In the act of sowing the seed or engendering the karma, the soul has the choice of acting or retaining from action, but once the seed is sown or karma engendered, its freedom is replaced by an inevitable liability to bear its consequences. This is what constitutes the bondage of soul. Karma, therefore, is a kind of force, which compels the soul to bear the consequences of its right or wrong actions, and this force originates in the very action itself, which is performed by the soul and at the very moment of its performance.
Bringing up a child is like constructing a multi-storey building. Carelessness while laying the foundation may not show effect immediately. No structure will sustain in the forthcoming years with a weak foundation. Similarly, childhood years are the most formative years. Education plays a great role in shaping the personality of a child. However, cultivating righteousness in children is a burning problem for parents, especially those outside India.....
Most of us know the theory of karma; Action and Reaction. From the perspective of karma philosophy violence plays a significant part. Violence is not only physical but mental and emotional as well. The way we think, speak and respond to any situation creates harmony or discord at personal level and in the community at large. It is also the beginning of the cycle of action and reaction....
...Meditation is to free oneself from bitterness and sadness of past conditionsand judgments. Because of our programmed beliefs, even religion, which means toright, is used to separate one from another. Many people have narrowed theirlife and placed themselves in a fold by thinking, "I am Moslem.""I am Hindu.“ "I am Jain." "I am a Jew." "I am aChristian." "They are not like me; they are all outsiders."By belief, one has blocked and alienated oneself from mankind and living beingwho are helping our existence in many ways, visibly and invisibly. Meditationhelps to break the self imposed limitations on oneself and to live liberated ina "uniting" universe...
On seeing Ravan's dead body in the battlefield, the monkey brigade asked Laxman, "How was Ravan's body pierced in more than a thousand places?" Laxman answered, "Ram's arrows made it possible."
Then, they asked Ram the same question. Ram just smiled and said, "No weapon, however powerful, nor any soldiers, however skilled in the art of warfare, can kill a person. Only when a person's sinful deeds surface, can this happen as in the case of Ravan."...
....If you are conscious in your thoughts, words and deeds in your interaction in the mundane world and still a life is lost due to your action, you do not own that act because, you have been detaching your Self from the fruits of your interaction. That is the art of living. Gita’s karma yoga is based on this principle: indulge in work but renounce the fruit. Always pray that you do not have to go through this dichotomous state. Pray and contemplate to become and be a pure soul devoid of all defects. It is our ignorance to think that we are saving life of others by our practice of non-violence. It is wise to know that non-violence saves you and you only ...
But what is essentially intriguing to me is that a subtle religion that Jainism is, which in unmistakable term seeks to lift the human mind to heights of celestial purity, should remain confined to a comparatively small section of India. Why is Jain religion not expanding and bringing more and more people into, its fold?.....
Entire Sthanakwasi Samaj is in high spirits on getting the news of reconciliation of differences amongst its top seers. The conflicting groups and their followers have accepted to work together. After the meeting with Shri Umesh Muniji Maharaj at Dewas, (M. P.) The Chairman of Shwetambar Sthanakwasi Jain Conference, Shri Kanti Lal Jain and his group announced the success of peace efforts. The announcement of successful resolution of all the differences between Dr. Shiv Muniji, Acharya of the parent body of Shraman Sangh and Acharya Shri Umesh Muniji, nominated by Shri Roop Muniji has been welcomed by the members and the saint community of the sect....
The Maryada Mahotsava holds an important place in the organisation of Terapantha Sangha. It is a unique festival in the religions traditions of the world, and has been celebrated without a break for more than one hundred and forty years. Acharya Bhikshu formulated strict Maryadas (conventions) with the consent of all the ascetics for the proper observance of the monastic conduct, and enacted a complete constitution for the order. The Maryada Mahotsava commemorates this event on the seventh day of the bright half of the lunar month of Magh, according to the Indian calendar (late January - early February).
In business, we see the big picture - we see the entire world as our marketplace. Can we do the same in terms of morality and values? Are we ready to look at Jainism as a 'product' to be promoted and marketed not for the purpose of profit, but for social upliftment? If we create the will, then we can amass the resources and skill to achieve this goal. And who will benefit - our own children; certainly. Society; definitely. The eco-system and the planet; without a doubt....
Religion is derived from Latin word religio meaning reverence or conscientiousness. It also means Res (With regard to) + legere (to gather) and Re (again) + lego (read). Hence, etymologically "religion" is meant to gather a community to read the Holy Book and to have reverence for the Holy God. This unique focus on book and God makes a religion conclusive, exclusionary and Separative. In these three ways the Indic notion of Dharma is very different from the notion of Religion....
As you think, so you feel. And as you feel, so will you be. When you want to be something, think and work on an idea for a long time and you will accomplish it.
In Preksha meditation, Acharya Mahaprajna has given us a program — the practice of Mangal Bhavana. It is an auspicious, positive prayer not only for us but the universe as well. Training oneself to do this in a proper manner, we can generate positive feelings and therefore become more helpful towards ourselves...
Jainism and ecology are both related. Environment conservation and preservation are part of the Jain religion principles. Jains have always supported and preserved the environment with their practices and philosophies. In this article Jain principles and it application in the day-to- day activities to preserve the environment are explored....
In this article, Dr. Pradyumn Kumar Jain presents a highly sophisticated view of the Jain theory of karma, in the context of the twelve contemplations; impermanence (ANITYA), helplessness (ASHARAN), transmigration (SAMSAAR), solitariness (AEKATVA), distinctness (ANYATVA), impurity of body (ASHAUCH), influx of karma (AASHRAV), stoppage of karmic influx (SAMVAR), shedding of karma (NIRJARA), auspiciousness of virtuous conduct (DHARMASVAAKHYAATATVA), nature of the universe (LOK), difficulty in attaining enlightenment (BODHIDURLABH). This article also brings out the subtle but significant differences between ancient (Indian) and modern (western) ideology.
As has been mentioned, Jains declined in numbers after the medieval period. In some ways this strengthened Jainism for it produced tight-knit communities of Jains with common interests and a devotion to the faith reinforced by their closeness within the group. In the early nineteenth century we must speak of communities, rather than of a single Jain community, for within the wider structure of the Jain religion Jainism provided, and indeed still provides, for a number of sometimes overlapping allegiances. Besides the broad division between the Svetambara, strongest in western India, and the Digambara, mainly in the south, there is the Sthanakvasi sect (within the Svetambara division) which rejects the worship of images. The Terapanthi, an offshoot of the Sthanakvasi, dates from 1760 and has become a well- organized and active movement.
Peace is a word with so much depth and endless meaning. To attain peace in this world full of so many joys and sorrows - one might wonder if it is possible for non-violence not to exist.
Picture this scene: one Sunday morning, army troops have been given orders to raid a small village suspected of terrorist activity. Among grenades and shooting bullets, a child is crying uncontrollably having no idea why his surroundings are being destroyed and lives are being taken. If the soldier was to face the weeping child, there is a greater chance of him realising that something terrible has disturbed the child and thereby make him more aware of the consequences of his actions.
The Science of Swar is related to our breathing. Our normal breathing has two phases - inspiration and expiration. This normal bodily function of breathing in and out is called "Swar" where air flows through our nasal passages alternately, not simultaneously....
Deprivation as part of poverty is very painful and therefore it can never be justified. Nor can affluence be acceptable since inherent in it is attachment-yet another painful experience. A third alternative will have to be found and that is what Anekant (non-absolutism) accepts. None will object to call poverty a curse. Likewise everyone seems to agree that affluence is a blessing. Every proposition, statement or principle is relative. This is the high watermark of anekantvad (non-absolutism). From a relative point of view it can be conceded that poverty is a curse. Food, housing, clothing and medicine are essential for life and these essential needs cannot be fulfilled when one is poor. From this point of view poverty can be said to be a curse. Again an affluent person can have all things useful for living and from this point of view it can be said that affluence is a blessing. Every thing has two sides and on the basis of the above factor poverty is a blessing and affluence is a curse. A socialist can never accept the view that poverty is a blessing. Ordinarily it does not behove even me to call poverty a blessing but truth cannot be viewed from a single angle. The seeds of sensitivity and compassion sprout only in the soil of poverty. Affluence, on the other hand, provides a barren soil for them. Profit invariably results in greed and attachment, and greed results in cruelty.
I had received some copies of Sambodbi from Ahmedabad in the year 2000. The books were sent to me by Mr. Bhandari and were meant to be given to a few individuals. Any book written by the highly respected Acharya Mahaprajna attracted me and was a great source of inspiration to me. When I saw the book and flicked through a few pages, I wondered 'How come I have not seen this book before?'. As it was composed in Sanskrit verses, my inquiring mind tried to pursue the source and the name of the original writer of these verses. But to my surprise and delight, I found that all the verses were composed with an extremely scholarly approach by Acharyaji himself....
Jainism is among the most ancient religions of the world. Despite its antiquity, it has been a lesser understood religion in modern times.
There are four folds in Jainism: Sadhu, Sadhvi, Shravak, Shravika. Sadhus and Sadhvis are the prime teachers of Jainism. However due to restrictions incumbent on the religion, such as the avoidance of man made vehicles which may harm the environment, their travel is limited only to areas that can be traversed by foot. Therefore, many regions of India as well as abroad have been deprived of the greater understanding of Jainism....
Non-Violence has many connotations. When we say non-violence, we generally think of not killing or hurting others through word or action. This perhaps is only ten percent of non-violence. Just like a glacier most of its meaning is hidden. Let us ponder on the wider perspective of non-violence - positive and negative. In Prashnavyaakrana sutra, there are many synonyms of non-violence.
Samadhi (a complete state of peace) is another form of non-violence. In five yama or vratas, significant emphasis has been given to non-violence. A non-violent person can never become negative. It is only an unhappy and a depressed person who has not tasted the sweetness of non-violence.
Indian philosophy has discussed truth, which is bound by time, and also the eternal truth, which is not limited by time. The eternal truth is relevant in the dimension of the past, the future and the present moment. Nowadays everybody is short of time. Most people have no time for self-study, meditation and many important things. The paucity of time is observed among one and all - industrialists, managers and laborers, without exception. I have deeply pondered over this aspect and concluded that it is not basically deficiency of time but ignorance of time management. People do not know how to organize their time properly, though they have ample time...
Never before was violent behaviour in all its facets so widely spread as in 21st century. More frequently than not, the top news is on violence. Although the majority of people are frightened to watch or witness it, they nevertheless feel attracted to it. Though we cannot change the world, we can change our own attitude towards it. We can create a balance to the violence surrounding us by living in a way, where violence takes a backseat. How can we translate our decision into action?
Jainism believes that from time immemorial, every soul has assumed a distorted and impure nature. Anger, ego, deceit, and greed arising out of attachment and aversion are the soul's impurities. To remove such impurities, Jainism has prescribed certain practices known as Avashyaka (essential practices) to be performed regularly. These practices free the human mind from negative thoughts of attachment and aversion and enhance the soul's spiritual progress ultimately leading to liberation....
The doctrine of non-violence was founded by oriental teachers several millennia ago. Almost all thinkers and the founders of religious orders universally accept it as a core principle of human conduct. Though truth seekers like Mahavir and Buddha, philosophers like Laotse and Confucius, stalwarts like Pythagoras were separated by geographical boundaries; their work however is eloquent of the fact that truth is eternal. In Jainism in particular, non-violence is considered as a supreme moral virtue (Ahimsa parmo dharmah)....
The three significant teachings of Jain religion are described in the following shloka.
"Vitrag samo Devo, Shatrunjoy samo Giri Namaskar samo mantra, na bhuto na bhavishyati"
There is no God in the universe like Vitrag Dev (Tirthankar). Vitrag is the one who has reached the state of non-attachment towards worldly matters. Secondly there are many holy mountains in the world. Shatrunjay is the holiest because infinite souls were liberated on this mountain and it will stay forever...
In Jain philosophy, nothing matters until one understands the exact meaning of the word 'ahimsa'. Once this is understood, it would be very easy to relate it to the 21st century. There are two most prominent concerns of the 21st century - the environment and terrorism.
The English translation of ahimsa, non-violence, does not do it any justice. It is generally accepted as the negation of physical violence. To understand the subtler meaning of ahimsa as defined in the Jain scriptures, it would be easier if the meaning of the word 'himsa' or violence is understood in context. Any act, which hurts even the feelings of the smallest living creature, is termed himsa in Jainism....
Among the religions of the world Jainism is a very minor religion, because it does not cover even one percent of the total world-population; but its literacy contribution is not much less than other world's major religions. As per available information total volume of known Jain works is more than twenty thousand and number of total Jain manuscripts is more than one million.
The word 'Jain literature' does not mean only the Jain religious and philosophical literature. It also includes the secular literature written by Jain seers and scholars........
Right from the dawn of history, human society has been in search of economics of nonviolence. From Manu to Karl Marx, philosophers have deliberated upon some form of economic system, particularly the non-violent kind. In Arthashastra, Kautilya stresses on non-violent economics through development of cottage industries and being self-sufficient. Gandhiji also emphasized on development of cottage industries in villages so that whole India would be self-sufficient.
Consumerism has touched almost every facet of society. Urbanization, modes of transportation, communication, field of medicine, fashion products and cosmetics are all responsible for increasing the sphere of consumerism........
When the Green Party first broke the political mould in Germany two decades ago, its slogan was 'neither left nor right, but in front'. In other words, the protection of the environment involves radical activism and a change of values. But equally, it requires the revival of an instinct to conserve - be it familiar and cherished landscapes, intricate ecosystems, minority languages or traditional cultures such as those of the Native Americans. The rising ecological consciousness of the modern, so-called developed world is leading more and more of us to question our society's received ideas about 'progress' as the accumulation of material possessions and the 'conquest' of nature. It is therefore at once radical and conservative........
Man is the only creature blessed with a developed consciousness. He is aware of and understands human nature itself. In this age where immorality is predominant, it may be difficult to respect human value, however it is not impossible. One can live amidst immorality and yet not get influenced by it. This reflects the strength of one's beliefs and actions. During those moments of weakness, when a person's consciousness is liable to be destroyed, the one who remains unaffected improves his inner self........
What'sthis world like?
From time immemorial the people have been trying to know the outside world. From the dust particles to the Mountains, from the water-drop to the ocean, from the earth to the solar system, and beyond that the stellar system and beyond that the milky ways and the stars. Man has been curious to know them and have tried to work out a solution. Physics discovered 'atom' after having traversed through this infinite expanse, even reached the 'waves' and the 'event' across the ways. Across the events is the one that never happens. Science calls it 'the field'. This infinite region where the events are happening is bound by the inevitable law of cause and effect. And whatever man knows till now by that, that is the ultimate truth of physics. These events have a sequence. There are few equations in this sequence. These equations can be expressed through mathematical symbols. No difference is perceivable between the events and that which is happening. The one that is beyond happening can be the background of all events. Events are only possible when something is to happen. So, it is not at all possible to draw out a differentiating line between all that is happening and all that does not happen. The expanse from a particle of sand to the stars has now been limited to that 'One' by knowing whom all other things are known. This is the limit of physics. It knows only qualities and considers these essentials for substance. There cannot be substance without qualities and qualities without substance. It has been the assumption till now. These qualities are: weight, color, form, odors etc.......
Man is the only creature blessed with a developed consciousness. He is aware of and understands human nature itself. In this age where immorality is predominant, it may be difficult to respect human value, however it is not impossible. One can live amidst immorality and yet not get influenced by it. This reflects the strength of one's beliefs and actions. During those moments of weakness, when a person's consciousness is liable to be destroyed, the one who remains unaffected improves his inner self........
A Religion based on non-violence, self-control and austerities is the auspicious and best one. Even the Gods bow down to him whose mind is fixed on this religion.- Dasa-Vaikalika- Sootra 1/1)
Our saints, scholars and even lay Jains have stressed upon us that our religion is based on solid principles, age-old values and teaching of Bhagvan Mahavir. Our religion stands on the bedrock of principles, which are timetested and eternal yet, relevant for any time and any place. Those who have studied Jain scripture would happily subscribe to these ideas. Our religion indeed is based on eternal principles like non-violence (Ahimsa), consideration and acceptance of multiplicity in human thinking and approaches (anekantvada) and non-possessiveness (aparigraha). These are enough, if we understand properly and practice them to have a peaceful co-existence and sustenance of environmental harmony.......
"If we let the past control our present, there will not be any future."
Through its foundational teachings of Ahimsa (nonviolence), Aparigraha (nonpossessiveness), Anekantavada (multiplicity of viewpoints) and others, Jainism offers many insights of profound value for leaders. Through such practices, one can endeavor to eradicate the Päpsthänaks - those qualities such as anger, criticism, violence and deception that form impediments preventing a liberated soul.so little? This is because Jains, the followers of Jainism, have historically remained passive and complacent both in the practice as well as in active promotion of their great philosophy. "Understanding Jain Way of Life" a 72 penal JAINA exhibition, is our attempt to address this issue.......
The substances, soul and matter are two components of the world. Matter is as important as the soul in maintaining the world. The Jain scriptures not only insist on non-killing of sentient beings but also prescribe restraints on using matter. In Agams, this is called Ajivikaya-Samjame. Limitless exploitation of natural resources is regarded as a great source of ecological imbalance.
The basis of ecological balance is non-violence and self-restraint. If people mould their lifestyles around non-violence and austerity, pollution can be eradicated to a great extent. Through non-violence, we establish an indirect and intrinsic relation with the world of living beings. Such a relation is beyond explanation. It affects the relations between living beings in a positive way. .......
Despite its formidable history, the Jain faith has less than 10 million members, the vast majority whom reside in India. Only 1 % of the world's population is even aware of Jainism. This poses a challenge for many of us active in the interfaith activities.
Today, an estimated ten thousand Jain families live in North America. Though many go often to the temple, and some regularly attend pathshala (Jain educational classes), few truly understand and apply the principles of Jainism in their day to day lives.
Why, a philosophy that has so much to offer is understood so little? This is because Jains, the followers of Jainism, have historically remained passive and complacent both in the practice as well as in active promotion of their great philosophy. "Understanding Jain Way of Life" a 72 penal JAINA exhibition, is our attempt to address this issue.......
Indian culture is dominated by spirituality and the soul of spirituality is ahimsa (non-violence). It is the quintessence of all religions. The religion that is not connected to ahimsa cannot protect anyone. Bereft of ahimsa, religion is like a body without a soul. Despite its praise and adoration by all, we come across conflicting views as regards the form and nature of ahimsa. The circumference of its definitions is so vast and expansive that sometimes its centre disappears. From one point of view it is an extensive royal road but from another it is compared to a steep and narrow path hemmed in on either side by deep valleys. The path of ahimsa is narrower than the edge of sword. In a situation like this how can anyone dare to tread it?........
Non-violence is the need of the hour, the demand of the present era. It is even better to state that non-violence is human nature. Therefore, whenever man drifts away from his nature, problems emerge. To resolve these problems he needs to go back to his true nature i.e. non-violence. This means that from one's original nature to a distortion and from the distortion back to what is natural to him, man moves in cycles. If man could relate to and take a lesson from nature, he would be able to live within the parameters of non-violence - which is what comes naturally to him and a new culture could evolve......
The United Nations Organization has declared the birthday (2nd October) of Mahatma Gandhi to be celebrated as "International Ahimsa Day" every year. This is indeed a very important event. Through this declaration, the UNO has not only attracted the attention of the whole world to Ahimsa (non-violence) but also has presented a new alternative before the people of the world, who are reeling under the panic of violence and terrorism. This effort of furnishing a new orientation to thinking and vision is really commendable....
The scientists today are carrying out studies and research into innumerable subjects. They are also publishing reports from time to time, which provide us with an opportunity to understand ecology and environment and also bestow on us an in-depth experience of human problems. These studies are, however, lacking in the investigation or survey of human development. In the global society there is a race for economic development, materialistic development and the development of the means of comfort but human development is being lost sight of. This one-sided view as well as endeavours for same are creating a long list of problems. Solutions are also being investigated but they themselves are becoming problems on account of this lopsided approach. The truth is that any development that ignores human development cannot solve the problem. Let us not think of human development only on the basis of materialistic development. Human development is, in reality, the development of consciousness. It is the development of that consciousness on the basis of which one can dream of a truly happy life, free from physical and mental diseases, free from infatuation with material objects, free from tension, full of peace and tranquility.
The Jain tradition challenges many traditional categories and conceptions regarding the nature of the soul. First, it exhibits a radical pluralism. Innumerable souls take seeming countless forms. Second, it suggests a radical egalitarianism. Each soul has endured countless births in a variety of different forms of life. Each human knows innately how it feels to be an animal, how to be a member of the other gender, how to feel empathy even with the earth itself. Third, this tradition evokes a rugged individualism. Each of the Tirthankaras forged a life of privation through which they gained great spiritual strength, serving as a model for later practitioners........
William Isaacs, author of Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together shares - Dialogue is a conversation in which people think together in relationship. Thinking together implies that you no longer take your own position as final. You relax your grip on certainty and listen to the possibilities that result simply from being in a relationship with others - possibilities that might not otherwise have occurred. "Most of us believe at some level that we must fix things or change people in order to make them reachable. Dialogue does not call for such behavior. Rather, it asks us to listen for an already existing wholeness, and to create a new kind of association in which we listen deeply to all the views that people may express. It asks that we create a quality of listening and attention that can include - but is larger than - any single view.".......
Many volumes are written about history's major wars - from Alexander's expansions to Vikings' invasions. During the Ancient period countries, kingdoms, and regions fought to expand their territories, power and seize more wealth. Then came the middle ages and battles were fought in the name of religion. And now, with our technological expertise, we build advanced and lethal weapons to unleash destructive power at the push of a button. Whether it's a world war or gang war, typically at the center of many of these conflicts is a megalomaniac, egotistic, self-centered personality. And when the beliefs are so strong and mistrust clouds the judgment of the whole community, the hatred is passed on from generation to generation, creating a breeding ground for strong personalities to rise to the top, riding the waves of strong ideological emotions. However, the crux of all human wars and annihilations lie in the self-centric, human ego. While peace rests within us, we are also capable of destroying it.
Outside my office window, the sky on September 11, 2001, was clear blue and beautiful. Shortly before 9 AM while checking e-mail I heard that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I almost ran to the other side of our floor. In next two hours, we saw the second tower
hit and collapse. Since then Sept. 11 has become a new word with a new meaning. In the weeks and months that followed, the thirst for knowledge took a different direction. People wanted to know more about Islam and other religions. They want a life where they understand each other and where there is hope for a better future.
The wheel of development has been turning ever since the primitive days, however, in the earlier times its pace was very slow. It has gained unprecedented momentum in the twentieth century. We owe it to science. The storm of development has given rise to the problem of environmental imbalance. If we compare unbalance development to the flow of a river, we may say that we are facing the threat of deluge. Both the embarkments of human values and environment have broken. It is no longer possible to stop the flow of water. Balanced development is possible only when there is simultaneous development of human values and adequate steps are taken to protect environment. If these measures are adopted there will never be any threat to human existence. Economic ambition or what we call economic competition has neglected both human values and the protection of environment as a result of which ecological problem has arisen. Our attitude towards development is not right. It is affected by undue zeal and excitement.
Peace means more than just non-violence. Peace is an active process, a conscious choice one makes. To establish lasting peace, the focus must be on how peace is created and maintained, not just curing any given current conflict in any geographical area. These conflicts are the symptoms of a deeper psychological lack of peace. Peace must be established as a meaningful value, a principle one cannot live without.
From the very beginning, Jain studies and Prâkrit were a special domain of German Indology starting in 1847 with Bohtlingk's and Rieu's edition and translation of Hemachandra's (12th century) Abhidhâna-cintâmani, a synonymic dictionary of Prâkrit, the language of the older Jain scriptures. His contemporary, Albrecht Hofer in Greifswald, was also linguistically inclined, for example in his study of the Setubandha, an epic poem. After him, much was done by Albrecht Weber (1825-1901), professor in Berlin, who was the first scholar to edit extracts from the Viyahapannatti, a canonical text of the Shvetambara Jains, one of the two Jain confessions....
"Don'tmiss or misinterpret but verify trueness of what I tell" - Acharya Kundakunda, Samayasar, verse 5.
The word 'dialogue' means - talk, discussion, discourse, communication, exchange of ideas, information flow etc. Dialogue is, therefore, the nonviolent way of resolving issues. Exchange of information brings out the different perspectives and facilitates better understanding of other's perspective. Every object is complete in itself and no object is incomplete by itself. However, incomplete knowledge of objects leads to misplaced faith and conduct. For e.g, How far a blind man can walk alone in the land of darkness? He will hit several obstacles. Not to have dialogue is like walking in the land of darkness. Dialogue helps in narrowing down areas of conflicts and promotes peace.
Famous philosopher cum thinker C.D.M. Judd writes, 'Unity in diversity is the unique contribution of Indian culture and I consider it to be the biggest gift to the mankind'.
Max Mueller, the 19th century luminary German philosopher, known for his love and devotion for Indian philosophy one said, 'If I ask myself the question as to which religious literature have given us the Europeans bred on Greek, Roman and Jew thought processes, the formula to make us spiritually enriched and more internationally oriented or briefly more humane, then without any hesitation, my finger will point to Jain literature'.
Living in this fast pace and in this technological space, mankind has become a robot. He/She now has no mind of his own and works like a machine. Society thinks for him and he obeys its orders. This herd mentality blinds vision and goads movement without any direction. Under these circumstances, does one have the same elements which are potentially capable of becoming a Mahavir, a Buddha, a Ram or a Jesus ~ epitomes of love, compassion and simplicity. How can one attain anything, if he does not take charge of his own life and does not discern the difference between right and wrong in the light of the truth? History tells us that no amount of wealth and fame has made mankind happy, for material happiness is fleeting and temporary, and changes with desires and dreams. Happiness does not lie in accumulation of things, but in the art of equal distribution, simplicity and contentment.
There is now increasing interest in the study of the culture and philosophy of South Asia, partly as a result of increasing interest in pluralism and global issues. There has been significant immigration to North America from India. Many faculty members at universities are now Indian, and so are many distinguished professionals in medicine, finance etc. There is now a lot of academic interest in Hinduism and Buddhism and even Sikhism at North American campuses in terms of course offerings and scholarly research. Unfortunately Jainism has only a miniscule presence. Among thousands of South Asian researchers, there are only 17 experts in Jainism. Since there are very few academic programs in Jainism, it is the least known and the most misunderstood religions in USA and Canada.
Peace today is in pieces. The tragedy of our modern times is that we talk of peace but silently prepare for war. Mere can be no way to peace because peace itself is the way. Peace is the quintessence and the goal of life but the world seems to have lost the keys to the kingdom of peace. Religion in Latin means 'to unite', but history reveals that many of the religions have more often been the cause of war and disunity and have disturbed the peace of mankind. Although all religions and philosophies stand by peace and nothing else, all saints and philosophers have lived and died for peace but have never killed in the name of religion. A greater need is felt today to understand the very nature of peace and to understand the role of religion in its light.
"JINA" means victor: the individual who has conquered his passions of anger, pride, greed, hatred, and thoroughly achieved self-realization. The follower of Jina is Jain. Jainism directs each individual, like you and me, how to make upward progress of our spirit, soul, and how to gain eternal happiness in our life.
Repeated efforts to bring peace seem to have failed. The situation relating to existing conflicts are moving to a point of no return. New conflicts are sprouting all over the world. Each of these conflicts is threatening to take the centre stage. No one seems to have a clue as how to reduce tension and manage the conflicts within a local area, to contain it and then to bring peace by due process of dialogue. The missing link has been the non-involvement of the intellectuals to take up the responsibilities to find a solution. It has been often seen that whenever intellectuals have participated in the dialogues, emotions have given way to reasons, and a solution has emerged only after a due process of reconciliation through dialogue.
"An Emissary to North America" - Virchand Raghavji Gandhi, 1864-1901
First Parliament of World Religions, Chicago, USA, 1893'
India is the birthplace of many saints and several religions and its cultural diversity mosaic has established an image in the history as a great nation. These holy sages promoted their respective philosophies and congregations to enrich the heritage of the region. However, few spoke for "India" and very few went abroad to introduce or make others aware about its rich past history. Virchandbhai was a great exponent of Indian culture, a philosopher, a reformer, a Jain scholar and a patriot who made the country proud by revealing the true nature of religion, love, compassion, tolerance and Ahimsa (non-violence). He was the one who promoted Indian philosophies including Jainism in the Western world.
In this era of globalization and growing east-west-north-south contacts in a rapidly shrinking world, time has come to recognize the need for increasingly globalised perception of spirituality, and the valuable role inter-faith constructive engagement can play in this regard. Historically the religions of the world have not necessarily grown in isolation; they have enriched one another in diverse ways at significant points of contact, while maintaining their distinct identity. This has happened in the early centuries between Jainism. Buddhism and Hinduism. Together they have woven the tapestry of the pluralistic heritage of India. Jain religion with its central focus on Ahimsa as a compassionate ethic has made an abiding impact not only on India's cultural moorings, but in recent times inspired Mahatma Gandhi's successful non-violent struggle for independence from British colonial rule. Indeed, India's cultural mindset has been deeply influenced by the Jain perception of non-violence not as a negation of violence only, but as a point of origin of virtues such as forgiveness, mutual supportiveness, tolerance, self-control, fearlessness, synthesis and equanimity.
LONDON, 8 October 2007 At an elaborate function this evening at the House of Commons, the London-based Institute of Jainology (IOJ) gave their first ever Ahimsa Award to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual and temporal leader, and Mr. Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa. Ahimsa is the Indian term for non-violence.
The finely decorated thick glass memento award in recognition of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s “valuable contribution towards non-violence” was presented by the Chief Guest Rt Hon Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to Mr. Tsering Tashi, who received it on behalf of the Tibetan leader. Mr. Tashi is the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for London, Poland and the Baltic Countries based at the Office of Tibet in London.
His Holiness Acharya Sushil Kumarji Maharaj was an exponent of Ahimsa and well respected for his peacemaking efforts. He founded International Mahavir Jain mission, an NGO with UN and Siddhachalam, Jain Tirth. He also founded the teaching system 'Arhum Yoga' the science of sound vibration according to the ancient Arihant tradition. A spiritual guide to JAINA and Jain centers in North America, he left his physical body in 1994. This article is from his talk at the Temple of Understanding in New York City on September 29, 1986.
ORIGIN:
Jainism is one of the oldest living religions. It has no beginning. The word Jain comes from a Sanskrit word Jina that means conqueror. It implies conquest over one's inner enemies or passions -anger, greed, ego, and deceit. About 2600 years ago, Lord Mahavir (599-527 BC), the twenty fourth and the lastTirthankar (path finder, propounder, revealer or prophet) of Jain tradition of this era revived the philosophy preached by his predecessor. The present Jain scriptures called Agam Sutras reflect his preaching. They teach reverence for all forms of life, austerity, and non-violence.
Dr. Laxmi Mall Singhvi is an eminent jurist, a leading constitutional expert, an expert in public and private international law, a distinguished parliamentarian, a highly respected intellectual, a prominent exponent of human rights, a doyen of the Indian Bar, a citizen-statesman, an author, poet, publicist, linguist and litterateur.
Dr. Singhvi was Member of Lok Sabha (1962-1967) and Rajya Sabha (1998-2004) and is Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India.
Educated at, associated with and honoured by different universities in India (Rajasthan, Allahabad, Calcutta, Delhi, Osmania, Andhra, Tamil and Jabalpur Universities), U.S.A. (Harvard, Cornell and Berkeley), and U.K. (Cambridge, Oxford, Hull London, Edinburgh, De Montford, North London, Westminster, Buckingham and several other universities), Dr. Singhvi is equally at home in the academic world, the arbitral tribunals and the courts throughout the world, in diplomacy and international fora......
Dharma (religion) should be instrumental in bringing about our emotional and qualitative growth. The fruit of dharma is compassion (Karuna). Let us awaken our consciousness of compassion and equanimity towards all living beings. Bereft of compassion consciousness of compassion and equanimity towards all living beings. Bereft of compassion and sensitivity, a question mark arises over our religiousness. Dharma should lead to the transformation of our consciousness and improvement in human relationship. If a person is devoid of compassion the principle of human rights is of no avail. It is imperative that religious leaders, administrators and chiefs are imbued with compassion and sympathy. These qualities should also be reflected in their behaviour. If there is compassion in society, it will remain healthy. Dharma is being defiled and degraded in many communities on account of their contradictory norms of conduct and social practices. Where there is cruelty, we cannot build a healthy society. In order to understand the true nature of dharma, one will have to purge one's mind of a feeling of cruelty.
6 Oct 2007, 2316 hrs IST Former Parliamentarian and noted jurist L M Singhvi breathed his last in New Delhi on Saturday. He was 76.
Singhvi, a constitutional expert, was born in Jodhpur in 1931.
A scholar of Jain history and culture, he was one of India's longest-serving envoys to Britain (early 1991 to end 1997).
A linguist and a prolific author, Singhvi also served as a member of the Third Lok Sabha between 1962 and 1967. He was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 1998 and was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1999....
Eminent jurist, noted statesman and former Member of Parliament, Dr. L. M. Singhvi passed away at the Max Devki Devi Hospital this afternoon.
Cremation will be at 10.30 am on Sunday, 7th October at the Lodhi Crematorium, Opposite CGO Complex. Uthaoni will be from 5 – 6 pm on Wednesday, 10th October at the Neeti Bagh Club.
The urgency of 'Ahimsa' today is the requirement of the present era. The recent declaration made by U.N.O. to celebrate the birth-day (2nd October) of Mahatma Gandhi as "International Ahimsa Day" is indeed an indication towards this requirement of the present era. It is again an axiomatic truth that Ahimsa was born and got developed in India.
Disposing off the case against Jain Terapanth Acharya Mahapragya, Yuvacharya Mahashraman, Sadhwi Pramukha Kanak Prabha Ji, Office-bearers of Jain Shwetambar Terapanth Sabha and the parents of four children accepting diksha voluntarily, at Semad village of Gogunda Tehsil in Udaipur division of Rajasthan, Mr. Brajendra Kumar Jain, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Udaipur delivered his historic decision after hearing both sides of the case that Diksha granted to children in accordance to age-old Jain religious practices can not be considered as a crime according to the provisions of Juvenile court or from the point of view of any Indian law.
On 13th September 2007, Celebrating Diversity was officially launched in London at St. Ethelburgas in the City. We had a Bharat Natyam welcome dance by Nilpa and Naytika Shah, readings from the book, a testimonial by Lynne Sedgmore CBE of the Centre for Excellence in Leadership, and a closing Bollywood dance by Anika Shah. Sonal Shah of PWC was a brilliant compere who encouraged everyone to truly celebrate this bold breakthrough and not only buy their own copy, but become active ambassadors. Lynne Sedgmore explained: "This is a creative, timely and insightful book which has complex ideas explained in a very simple and accessible way. It is original and extremely practical and relevant to Britain today. I will order a copy for all my staff."
Recent technological advances have created a new environment for violence not visible to common people. The use and abuse of animals raised for slaughter far exceeds our imagination. The cruelty to dairy cows and other animals has reached its peak behind the walls of dairy farms and slaughterhouses. Their owners, both industries and associated people treat animals and birds (chickens etc.) as commodities. Animals are produced on a large scale through artificial insemination and other means. The owners exploit and torture these animals on a large scale during the prime of their life and ultimately slaughter them well before the end of their natural life spans.
The UN General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution on June 15, 2007 to declare October 2, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, as the International Day of Non-Violence in recognition of his role in promoting the message of ‘peace through non-violence’ around the world. Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Indian Nation, was a great political and spiritual leader, the pioneer of satyagraha, and the practitioner of non-violence.
Prof Dr.Colette CAILLAT started with classical studies in Latin and Greek, being particularly interested by grammatical and linguistic aspects. She was then almost naturally led to the study of Sanskrit, which she studied with Prof. Louis Renou (1896-1966), and Prof. Jules Bloch (1880-1953) when he replaced Renou who was in India. Although the main subject was Sanskrit, the tastes and special interests of Jules Bloch led him to entertain the students about Pali, Prakrit, Apabhramsha, modern Indo-Aryan languages, and about so many details of Indian life...
Dr Balbir is currently Professor for Indian Studies (Études indiennes) at the Sorbonne Nouvelle (University of Paris-3), and since the year 2000 also Directeur d'Etudes for Middle-Indian Philology at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris (Section des Sciences historiques et philologiques). As a trained philologist, her main areas of research are Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, Theravada Buddhism, Jainism, and Hindi language and literature of the 20th century.
Spirituality deals with exploring and understanding the fundamental whole-making characteristic of nature. It essentially deals with exploring and understanding the wholeness of nature. Understanding comes only through self-knowledge, which is awareness of one's total psychological process. Thus education, in the true sense, is the understanding of oneself, for it is within each one of us that the whole existence is gathered.
Hertel's inaugural lecture was on Shvetambara Jain literature from Gujarat. He maintained that Jain narrative literature was of a standard higher than that of the Buddhists. The Jains wrote for a wider audience not limited to the educated as did the Brahmins. They used easier languages like Prakrit, Apabhramsa, Hindi, Gujerati and Rajasthani in the fairy tales, parables, and fables.
Max Mueller is one of the best-known Indologists, partly because of his successful efforts to address the general public. He repeatedly drew attention to the uniqueness of the Veda and awakened interest in Indology among educated people. What he claimed to be the object and aim of philology was certainly his own aim too, "to learn what man is, by learning what man has been."
Wilhelm Geiger studied the Avesta and the culture of ancient Iran. Later, he became interested in Buddhism and the culture of Ceylon. Geiger's contributions were outstanding in both fields. His interests were not confined to philological and historical subjects. He also studied contemporary political problems and contributed articles to daily newspapers.
Heinrich Zimmer Jr. was influenced by the writings of John Woodroff and C.G. Jung in his interpretations of Indian myths and legends. He also studied philosophy and yoga.
Heinrich Zimmer was born in Greifswald on 6.12.1890. His father, Heinrich Friedrich Zimmer (1851- 1910) was a professor of Indology and comparative linguistics.
Heinrich Zimmer Jr. studied Hebrew literature, German philology and history of art in Berlin. Later, he devoted himself exclusively to Indology. He obtained a doctorate in 1913 for the thesis Studien zur Geschichte der Gotras ("Studies on the History of the Gotras"), 1913.
Moriz Winternitz was an outstanding scholar who wrote on religion, folklore, the epics and Sanskrit literature. He is best remembered for his "History of Indian Literature,“ a work in three volumes, which is considered indispensable for teachers and students alike. Winternitz was also one of the co-sponsors of a critical edition of the Mahabharata, a project that held his attention throughout his life.
Richard Pischel was a scholar with profound philological knowledge whose works span the field of Indology from ancient to modern times. He was an authority on Prakrit Grammar.
Ludwig Alsdorf was an authority on Jainism. He travelled extensively in India and promoted a better understanding of modern India and her problems in Germany.
Otto von Boehtlingk, one of the greatest 19th century Indologists, is best known for the compilation of the monumental St. Petersburg Sanskrit dictionary. He also made Panini accessible to Western scholars. He also has some masterly text editions to his credit.
Otto von Boehtlingk published a German Version of Hemacandra's Abhidanacintamani (1848).
Walter Schubring enriched Jainology and Prakrit studies with his vast contributions. It was owing to his untiring efforts that the Jain Canon was made known to scholars.
Helmuth von Glasenapp was a versatile scholar who wrote profusely on Indian philosophy, religion and its impact on German philosophy and literature. His books on Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are excellent introductions for the general reader. He promoted Indological studies in Germany.
More than 5000 attendees from as many as 60 Jain Centers in USA, Canada, and other countries attended the event. Samanis from all three US centers – New Jersey (Mudit Pragyaji and Rohit Pragyaji), Orlando (Param Pragyaji and Punya Pragyaji), Houston (Akshay Pragyaji and Vinay Pragyaji), and India (Mangal Pragyaji and Pratibha Pragyaji) were present.
Ernst Leumann studied Indo-European languages and specialised in Jain literature and Khotanese manuscripts. Ernst Leumann was born on 11.4.1859 in Berg, Switzerland, the son of a clergyman. He took up the study of Indo-European languages in 1877. He studied in Geneva, Zurich and Leipzig, before going to Berlin in 1880. A year later he obtained a doctorate in Leipzig. The thesis was an edited Jain text Aupapatika Sutra. This edition was a remarkable achievement, as there was no critical dictionary or grammar available then. The Jain canon had also not yet been edited in print.
Discover the secret to success and happiness of living in diverse Britain by thinking and living beyond borders and boundaries. The UK is becoming a melting pot of cultures and the world is now at our doorstep. Indian curry has been voted the most popular dish in Britain today and modern life, including the internet, media, travel and international trade means that different cultures are being forced to mix. But, are we as willing to nurture human relationships with people from other cultures as we are to sample their culinary wares?
One of Weber's greatest achievements is that he studied Jain literature and introduced the teachings of this religion to the West. He did not, however, realise that Jainism is a religion in its own right. He mistook it to be an offshoot of Buddhism. G. Buehler had sent Jain manuscripts to Germany and Weber began studying them immediately. The results of these studies were laid down in a treatise Ueber die heiligen Schriften der Jaina ("On the Holy Scriptures of the Jains") in which he discussed the Canon of the Svetambara sect.
Buehler was the first foreigner to be allowed to examine the library at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. There, he found Jain manuscripts and secular literature. He was very happy to note the great antiquity of his discoveries. These scripts later formed the basis of the work done by A. Weber, H. Jacobi and E. Leumann.
History and culture on a worldwide scale have developed to the point where some of the teachings and practices of Jainism have become imperative if life, and especially human life, is to continue (James E. Royster Cleveland State University, U.S.A.).
The growth of scientific knowledge and outlook has destroyed our superstitions and false dogmas. But unfortunately and surprisingly it has shaken our faith in spiritual and human values. Today we know more about the atom and atomic forces than the values needed for a meaningful and peaceful life. Nowadays, due to tremendous advancement of science and technology, we have efficient means of transportation. Physical distance is no bar to meeting people of different nationalities, cultures and religions, and consequently we have come closer and more dependent on each other as we were never before. Our world is shrinking but unluckily, the distance between our hearts is increasing day by day.
Where did the universe come from and where is it going?
Did it have a beginning?
How and why did it begin?
What happened before that?
Will it come to an end, or not?
Did anybody create the universe?
Is it static and unchanging or dynamic and mutable?
These and many other questions regarding space, time, animate and inanimate orders of existence have been before mankind ever since man became capable of thinking.
I wish to present an idea before the world's government in power – In order to get solution to the problems deliberations are made from political, economic andmaterialistic point of view. Similarly, deliberations are required tobe made from the points of view of non-violence and non-absolutisticapproach (that is taking into consideration all points of view).
If “Ahimsa Ayoga” (Non-violence Commission) is set up for such purposes, we can hope for sentimental behavior in human relations.
For thousands of years the human mind has been a controversial subject and it is likely to be so in the future also for those who try to control it. However, the mind ceases to be a problem for those who are capable of entering into the self. Those given to spiritual sadhana view the mind and its problems in a different light. For them the mind is only an instrument. There is no use quarrelling with the instrument. The root cause of all our evils lies elsewhere.
Anuvrata is a network of self-transformed people who volunteer to discipline themselves by accepting small vows and adhering to them out of conviction without expecting any reward for it. It is a movement of small vows or what we call a movement to rid society, nation and the world of moral filth and hatred. It is based on the view that the transformation of an individual into a responsible self-disciplined human being will lead naturally to the ushering in of a non-violent socio-political world order paving the way for the lasting peace in the world, which is torn by strife, terrorism and narrow nationalistic considerations. Selfishness seems to hold the people fast in its grip. It is being institutionalised rapidly and the outlook of the people is getting narrower and narrower.
There is a profound relationship between an individual and society, like that between a drop and a ocean. The drop and the ocean like the individual and the world cannot be separated and therefore they cannot be viewed in isolation. Two Sanskrit words Pind and Brahmand are very well known. Whatever is in the embryo is in the universe and whatever is in the universe is in the embryo. According to the philosophy of Anekant, the relation between the individual (the embryo) and the collectivity or society is so close that it cannot be severed. There is a saying that shaking a finger results in shaking the whole world. The commentators have put the whole concept instructively thus: whenever a sage or anyone tears a cloth, some particles of the atoms thus released may travel thousands of miles and may cause ripples in a sheet of water if they strike it. This encapsulates the entire theory of the environment. Everyone and everything is so closely related to one another that it is undesirable to harm, obstruct or oppress anyone or anything. We should experience this all pervasive universal interrelatedness. It applies to the individual and society as well.
An introduction in 8 chapters: - · The Making of Personality - · Relief from Tension - · Time Management - · Self Management - · Physical Health · Mental Health - · Emotional Health - · Working Proficiency
The question of health is related to life. It is not the question that concerns any particular community or sect. For Bhagvan Mahavira, the soul was of the highest importance while the body was of secondary importance. For him, the body which cooperated in the development of the soul was of value. The body which created obstacle in the upliftment of the soul was worthless. The chetana or consciousness which revolves round the ahimsha from the beginning till the end can attribute value only to that health which has the innate memory of the soul in its every pore.
We are happy being able to present the book Jainism And The Temples Of Mount Abu And Ranakpur by Dix, Clermont & Surana with the kind permission of the publisher and the authors in considerable parts.
The immortal and invaluable disciplinary guidelines forming basis of Maryada Mahotsav were penned by none other than the 1st terapanthi acharya – Shri Bhikshu Swami over 200 years ago. The functions and festivities of ‘Maryada Mahotsav’ – literally meaning – “Grand Festival of Religious Self Discipline” – were started by Jayacharyashri (4th Acharya of Terapanth) around 140 years ago.
Jainism is an ancient eastern religion. The cardinal principles of Jainism propounded by Lord Mahavira twenty-five centuries ago are based on reverence for life, equanimity and a sense of mutual interdependence. The Jain philosophy has enriched the freedom of human thought by its principle of Anekant i.e. Non-absolutism. The Jain culture has exercised profound influence on the lives of millions of people through their non-violent attitude, compassion and friendly behaviour to have peace in our material world.
Jainism is nature in the purest and truest form. Jainism is as old as nature, which has neither beginning nor any end. The mission of Jainism is the mission of nature, which is to work for the welfare of one and all, to rise from the pitfall of ignorance and inaction to the spiritual climax of infinite bliss and perfect knowledge. i.e. absolute freedom.
I salute Anekantavad for without it the world would never happen.
Leave alone the pursuit of truth, even day to day transactions of society and family would not be managed without it.
So far, all quests for truth have remained quests for the methods to get to truth. No goal can be accessed without first identifying the method with which to do so. Truth is a goal, knowledge, the method.
In this book I have tried to evaluate some problems on the anvil of anekanta. This holistic perspective is a significant tool for problem solving. The need is to understand the efficacy of this tool. Acharyashree Tulsi has been my inspiration. His one inspiration gives rise to many rays of thoughts. This book too is one resultant ray.
One is the soul and the other is the matter or pudgal. There is a constant struggle between soul and pudgal. The soul wishes to retain its form but the material world does not allow it to do so. pudgal has been so built that it pulls the soul towards itself. Acharya Pujapada wrote: pudgal is satisfied with pudgal (matter).
It is a good tradition to visit regularly one's Guru to get new spiritual inspiration for day-to-day life. Our last visit to H.H. Acharyashree Mahaprajna and the Sangh was about two years ago, and we felt that time has come to give fresh energy to the spirit. From this moment on, we started to plan the tour to India around this event, trying to meet all our friends. See what has come out until now and see why HereNow4U office will be closed for four weeks.
The non-violent Jain tradition attaches utmost importance to an individual’s emotional competence as the key to success is his life. It does not ignore the intellectual side too and pleads for a balanced developments of both the right and the left parts of the human brain. In order to enhance a manager’s emotional competence as well as intellect I consider the following seven principles vitally significant .they will ensure that both the right and left parts of a manager’s brain get equal attention for their development and thus enable him to be both a good and successful manager.
According
to Jain philosophy, non-violence, sociability, compassion and peaceful co-existence are the forms of love par excellence. In the context of worldly affairs, the meaning of the word ‘love’ is the feeling of attachment to and affection for the body or material objects.
We can trace out the source of compatibility between worldly attachment and renunciation by keeping in view the philosophy of Anekant. Both renunciation and attachment are relative. When there is attachment towards materialism, detachment towards consciousness is created. When attachment towards consciousness exists, detachment towards materialism becomes natural.
People are practising different faiths according to their religion. Still there is immorality, dishonesty and chaos in the society. A materialistic outlook needs to be seriously contemplated upon. A greater awareness has to be inculcated among the masses about the irreversible aspect of old age, disease and death, so that impulses and material cravings of the people are transformed into the desire for salvation.
When the gods bow down at the feet of the Bhagavan Rishabhdeva, the radiance of the jewels of their crowns is intensified by the divine glow of the nails of his feet. The mere touch of his feet absolves the beings from their sins. He who submits himself at the feet crosses the mundane barriers of rebirth into the state of liberation.
I convey my reverential salutations at the feet of Jina Bhagavan [Rishabhdeva] - the propagator of the religion at the beginning of this era.
The subject matter of this mural is the life of Acharya Tulsi. First, I have shown Yaksha (as protector) whose face resembles Ganesha’s. He is shown in a standing posture, with his left foot towards the space of the entire mural (signifying past) and his right foot towards the present. Yaksha’s ‘navel’ (i.e. the centre of energy) appears exactly at the centre of the mural (considered in its height). The theme of the painting, however, starts with a homage to ‘Jinendra’ (Om Jinendraya namah). A dream of the Dev-vimana, seen by Tulsi’s mother before his birth, appears on the right side of the homage.
The object after which a man aspires, the practice, which he repeats so often, conditions his mind. This is the process of self-hypnosis. It can be also called 'japa' (constant reiteration of a spell or the name of a deity). One, who constantly aspires after and contemplates on the soul, gets established in the soul. That is the quintessence of the repeated iteration of 'soham' ('I am the Supreme Soul' - the basic maxim of the Vedanta Philosophy). He who constantly practises the recitation of 'arham' ('I am the Jin, the Buddha or the Shiva') sets in motion the process of becoming 'the Jin or the Buddha or the Shiva'. One person may be inspired by devotion, another by chaste conduct, still another by good fellowship. Different people are permeated by various kinds of aspirations. Anyone who derives inspiration from any good action is led by that inspiration towards his goal.
The terms dhyana (meditation) is usually defined as the 'concentration of thinking on a particular subject for a length of time. Now, the mind is the instrument of 'thinking', as well as 'perception'. And, therefore, when linked with 'preksa', dhyana becomes 'concentration of perception and not of thought'. While it is conceded that both thinking (conception) as well as seeing (perception) assist in ascertaining and knowing the truth, the latter is more potent than the former. In the tenets propounded by Bhagavan Mahavira, 'Perceive and know’ is given more prominence than 'Think, contemplate and know'. This is because perception is strictly concerned with the phenomena of the present; it is neither a memory of the past nor an imagination of the future; whatever is happening at the moment of perception must necessarily be a reality. The process of perception, therefore, excludes a mere 'appearance'.
We arrived in Berlin at 10:00 am and were warmly received by Karuna and Aparigraha Jain, Raoul and Paulo from Spain at the airport. This time, the Berlin weather was very nice, and we were pleased to be in Berlin again after two years. From the airport, we drove straight to the Yoga School of Traudel Pandya. Traudel was waiting for us and gave a warm welcome to us, when we reached there. She was pleased to see us in her Yoga School. She got the information about us from Karuna. She seems to be a pious lady, and we are impressed by her simplicity.
A series of Workshops
by Swami Dharmandji & Nirmalaji
[Adhyatma Sadhana Kendra, Delhi]
on Be Your Own Therapist“Preksha Yoga Therapy” (learn how to cure, control and even reverse some ailments)
May this book help you torealize what you are and to become one withyour deepest quest. May your life pulsate and vibrate with the livingecho of your pure conscious energy....
Namaste to all -
I bow to the light in all Brahmi
(Clare Rosenfield)
Non-violence and kindness to living beings is kindness to oneself. For thereby one's own self is saved from various kinds of sins and resultant sufferings and is able to secure his own welfare.
We are controlled by desire craving arises in our unawareness when we do not see an object as a thought crystal but rather as a means to gratify our desire. Then we put all our energy into getting it. Sometimes you never get it and sometimes you do. But in any case, the time comes when you have to leave it. If you are aware when you have it in your palm, you look at it and smile at yourself saying, "Is this the thing I used so much effort to get? For this I have spent my energy?"
In all corners of the world one hears a common voice of people visualizing a new man, a new society and a new world. Efforts are also afoot to realize the above vision.
How meaningful is the above voice? Will the efforts succeed? The quest for meaning and success cannot be based on the basis of the permanent. The permanent does not undergo any change, and the vision of a new man, a new society and a new world cannot be realized without effecting a change.
and IILM ACADEMY OF HIGHER LEARNING, JAIPUR CAMPUS :
A two-day conference is being organized jointly by Anuvrat Global Organization (Anuvibha), a transnational center for peace and nonviolent action associated with UN DPI and IILM Academy of Higher Learning, Jaipur Campus from 5th December to 7th December, 2005 in New Delhi under the auspices of His Holiness Acharya Mahapragya, a celebrated spiritual thinker and head of a well known movement called Anuvrat Movement.
This concise but informative volume outlines and delineates some of the basic teachings of Mahavira as are relevant to the real understanding of economics.
Economics is the science of economic prosperity and the limitation of wealth is the science of peace.
Sometimes, one is searching for a specific book, and sometimes a book is finding a specific person. Perhaps, some among us had the chance to experience this. Mostly, the speciality of circumstances, resulting in such an experience, is not totally in our awareness; we realise them only afterwards.
The present proposal for The Academic Study of Jainism in North America (ASJNA) attempts to build on the achievements of JA and JAFNA, but with this two-fold distinction: it is fully integrated within the American university system, in which students can earn credits towards degrees; and it is integrated with academic institutions in India, aimed at helping students understand Jainism within its indigenous environments.
Bhagwana Mahavira (599 BC - 527 BC) was the propounder of the Jain religion, which is one of the oldest living religions of the world.
It is not an offshoot of Hinduism or Buddhism, as has been misinterpreted by some scholars.
Acharya Shri Tulsi, the author of the book, being an authority on the subject, has presented an authentic and historical account of Bhagawan Mahavira's life and philosophy.
The religious experience of one who follows the Jaina tradition cannot be properly understood without first grasping the theory of "existents" developed by that tradition.
Not being a theist, the Jaina is unable to support himself through faith in "divine grace"; he is forced to rely a great deal on his own initiative and effort, both for his worldly requirements and for this salvation.
Until recently, Jainism was known outside India only in academic circles. Nowadays, however, closer contacts between India and other countries -- and the immediate interest aroused by a religion which stands for "non-violence" -- have produced a change. These facts prompt us to present a sort of close up view of Jaina ethics as will be seen in the sequel.
The ultimate purpose of all life and activity in Jainism is to realize the free and blissful state of our true being. True philosophy should result in removing all bondages (karmas) in the process of purifying the soul.
The central theme of Jainism considers religion as a science of ethical practice.
Apart from text editions, Jacobi wrote a large number of papers on Jain subjects. Jacobi and his teacher A.Weber were pioneers in Jain studies.He proved that Mahavira and Parshva were historic personalities.
He also established thatJainism was not an offshoot of Buddhism as earlier scholars had thought. Jacobi was awarded the titleJaina Darsana Divakar ‘Sun of Jain Doctrine’ by the Jain community.
The spirit of social work is eternal but its form is ephemeral. The relevance of the spirit is given but that of the form is gained. The formal relevance is contrived and sustained through the alteration of form in consonance with the prevailing ethos of the age. Professional Social Work (PSW) is a progeny of modernism and as modernism is facing multi-faceted onslaughts, PSW too is receiving blows and buffets from myriad quarters.
When one tries, however badly and haltingly, to explain this Jaina faith and way of life to a western audience, again and again good people will exclaim:
"Why have we not been told of this before?"
"What a neat religion, how can I learn more?"
Actually much has already been told, but until recently only a very few have been in a position of life and heart to respond. The World's Parliament of Religion of 1893 when alone Jaina delegate, Mr. Virchand Raghavaji Gandhi, declared Jainism to the West, can be taken as a convenient center point before and after which our description runs.
In the book he is currently writing he explains that to meditate is not only to sit cross-legged and close-eyed and follow a series of guidelines, rather it is a state of mind. Actually, it is an experience we can not communicate to other people, and insofar as we go deeper into it we could reach the stage of working at soul level, which on its turn could make us reach to understand that we are not the body, we are not the mind nor the psyche but something far beyond it, according to him we are the soul.
The talk of preksha dhyana is somewhat new. There are many questions in the public mind about it. How did it originate and why? What values do you wish to establish through it in society? Is this also an extensive movement like Anuvrat?
We started our journey in the evening of the 9.1.2005 from Berlin via Frankfurt to Delhi and arrived at the Adhyatma Sadhana Kendra on the 10.1.2005 at about noon.
As always - heartily welcomed by Dharmanandji we felt at home immediately.
The search for spiritual non-violence is not possible through scientific instruments or history or even genetics. One has to investigate one's soul in order to know one's identity, one's true self. It will reveal to the investigator all those dispositions within him that encourage violence, he will then try to find out whether those dispositions can be neutralized. Such an analysis of the inner self is a prerequisite for the search of true non-violence, because the question of violence and non-violence, even while being related to external factors, is in essence an internal matter.
The Jains are followers of the Jinas or Tirthankaras, who are the pathfinders, ford-makers and the worthiest exemplars. They are the conquerors of the Self (Arihantas), who have in the evolutionary apotheosis attained the transcendental state of body, mind and soul (kaivalya), in which an individual is completely emancipated and is endowed with cosmic consciousness.
Jainism is one of the world's oldest religions. Much of its early history is not known, or has come down to us in a form in which historical fact is difficult to distinguish from miraculous stories. However we do know that this ancient religion was passed on to us through the high spiritual genius of one of the greatest religious teachers of all time, Mahavira.
"Ever since men became capable of rational thinking, their actions have mostly depended upon their theories about the universe and its contents and also as to what is good and what is evil. This is an almost eternal truth. Men's environments play and important part to determine their way of living, but conversely their philosophy do much to determine their circumstance."
Source: 'Microcosmology Atom In Jain Philosophy & Modern Science'
Jaina art is an important element of Indian art. This was realized at an early date as is seen for example from Burgess's impressive study of the Jaina temples of Shatrunjaya, published as early as 1869. A number of substantial studies on Jaina art have been published since then, but much remains to be done until Jaina art is as well-known as Hindu and Buddhist art.
Member, Maharashtra State Minorities Commission,
Government of Maharashtra, Mumbai
Paper Read In
Conference on
Religions in Indic Civilisation
New Delhi
December 18 -21, 2003
Organised by
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
in collaboration with
International Association for the History of Religions and India International Centre,
New Delhi
The five fundamental teachings of Jainism and the five fold Jain code of conduct outlined in this Declaration are deeply rooted in its living ethos in unbroken continuity across the centuries.
They offer the world today a time tested anchor of moral imperatives and a viable route plan for humanity's common pilgrimage for holistic environmental protection, peace and harmony in the universe.
We, women and men, have gathered here from all over the world, to participate in the XXII World Philosophical Congress to find a way of establishing a peaceful co-existence through intercultural dialogue. The subject for discussion before us is "Rethinking Philosophy Today". Why? What has happened suddenly to the great traditions of philosophies of east and west which have guided the humanity for many centuries? The reason seems to be evident. It is believed that in the field of philosophy the year 2000 is the end of the 400years of the modern era. The 21st century is the start of a post-modern era in which the old coordinates of control need a new paradigm. To me, there seems to be two great challenges before us.
►Vishwa Jain Sangathan Will Participate In Delhi Book Fair - 2008 To Propagate Jainism
The Delwārā temple complex at Mount Ābu in the south-west of Rajasthan, close to the border of Gujarat, is one of the most important shrines of the Jainas. The name Ābu is derived from Arbudācala ( Arbudā’s hill) and alludes to the genesis of the mountain. The Jaina temples of Delwārā are located a few kilometers away from the city, in a valley. 
On a curve of the boulder-strewn Maghai River in Rajasthan, in a tiny enclave formed by the forested Arāvalli hills, lies the sacred site of Rānakapura. In the 15th century several temples were built there and a bustling township overlooking the valley occupied the western slopes of the hills. Of the glory of those days, little remains today. The town has disappeared without a trace - the memory of its existence being occasionally conjured up by a vessel, or a gold coin discovered by wandering goatherds. One of the surviving fanes, set slightly apart from the rest, is the Sun temple built by illustrious RānaKumbha, the Hindu ruler of powerful Rajput kingdom of Mewar. Three of the other temples belong to the Jainas. Of them all, the most impressive is the ‘Dharaņa Vihāra’ built by Dharaņa Shah and dedicated to Yugādisvara (the first lord of this aeon). It is also known as Trailokyadipaka Prāsāda-the temple of the light of the three worlds.
As Jain philosophy emphasizes purity of thought and soul, so from absolute viewpoint tīrtha is defined as the efficient cause for achieving emancipation i.e. elimination of the birth-deathbirth cycle called sańsāra. Thus activities and characteristics such as ten virtues (dasa lakşaņa), 12 types of austerities, self-restraint, and right-faith-knowledge-conduct are called tīrthas. However from practical viewpoint, places where the five auspicious events (pańca kalyāņakas) of the twenty-four tīrathańkaras or any special event in their life or of the other monks who attained omniscience are called tīrthas. In this paper we shall talk of tīrtha places as tīrthas as this is the common meaning assigned by laity. Going to these places is called pilgrimage and spending time there and is an extremely important activity in a Jain’ s life...
Within next twelve months, the following eight Jain centers of America will celebrate the Pratishthā ceremony (installation of Tirthankar idol) in their new or renovated/expanded Jain temples. 
The Shrutakevali Education Trust (R) and the National Institute of Prakrit Studies and Research, Shravanabelagola (Karnataka), on the advice and guidance of His Holiness Pujya Swasthishri Charukeerthy Bhattaraka Mahaswamiji, has instituted the Prakrit Jñānabhārati International Award since 2004. The prestigious award with citation, memento, and a cash of Rs. 1,00,000 (Rupees one Lakh in Indian Currency), will be awarded to an eminent scholar of International recognition for his/her outstanding and meritorious service to the promotion and resumption of Prakrit and Jaina Studies. Prof. Padmanabh S. Jaini, Dept. of Asian Studies (Buddhism) California University, BERKELEY (USA) was the first recipient of this Award in 2004...
Jaina Studies was the focus of two academic panels at the 2007 American Academy of Religion (AAR) conference held in November in San Diego. The 'Religion in South Asia' section of the AAR had a panel devoted specifically to Jaina Studies. It featured papers from Jim Hastings, Whitney Kelting, Sherry Fohr, Stephen Quinlan and Anne Vallely. The panel, organized by Anne Vallely, and entitled: 'Transcending Dualities and Dialectics: Capturing Jain Identities' challenged the dualistic conceptual framework that has profoundly influenced most scholarly works on Jainism in the modern period....
Detailed INDEX
Entire Sthanakwasi Samaj is in high spirits on getting the news of reconciliation of differences amongst its top seers. The conflicting groups and their followers have accepted to work together. After the meeting with Shri Umesh Muniji Maharaj at Dewas, (M. P.) The Chairman of Shwetambar Sthanakwasi Jain Conference, Shri Kanti Lal Jain and his group announced the success of peace efforts. The announcement of successful resolution of all the differences between Dr. Shiv Muniji, Acharya of the parent body of Shraman Sangh and Acharya Shri Umesh Muniji, nominated by Shri Roop Muniji has been welcomed by the members and the saint community of the sect.... 
Collected by Yug Pradhan Acharya Sri Tulsi
The UN General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution on June 15, 2007 to declare October 2, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, as the International Day of Non-Violence in recognition of his role in promoting the message of ‘peace through non-violence’ around the world. Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Indian Nation, was a great political and spiritual leader, the pioneer of satyagraha, and the practitioner of non-violence.
Discover the secret to success and happiness of living in diverse Britain by thinking and living beyond borders and boundaries.
I wish to present an idea before the world's government in power – In order to get solution to the problems deliberations are made from political, economic andmaterialistic point of view. Similarly, deliberations are required tobe made from the points of view of non-violence and non-absolutisticapproach (that is taking into consideration all points of view).
For thousands of years the human mind has been a controversial subject and it is likely to be so in the future also for those who try to control it. However, the mind ceases to be a problem for those who are capable of entering into the self. Those given to spiritual sadhana view the mind and its problems in a different light. For them the mind is only an instrument. There is no use quarrelling with the instrument. The root cause of all our evils lies elsewhere. 
Anuvrata is a network of self-transformed people who volunteer to discipline themselves by accepting small vows and adhering to them out of conviction without expecting any reward for it. It is a movement of small vows or what we call a movement to rid society, nation and the world of moral filth and hatred. It is based on the view that the transformation of an individual into a responsible self-disciplined human being will lead naturally to the ushering in of a non-violent socio-political world order paving the way for the lasting peace in the world, which is torn by strife, terrorism and narrow nationalistic considerations. Selfishness seems to hold the people fast in its grip. It is being institutionalised rapidly and the outlook of the people is getting narrower and narrower.
The immortal and invaluable disciplinary guidelines forming basis of Maryada Mahotsav were penned by none other than the 1st terapanthi acharya – Shri Bhikshu Swami over 200 years ago. The functions and festivities of ‘Maryada Mahotsav’ – literally meaning – “Grand Festival of Religious Self Discipline” – were started by Jayacharyashri (4th Acharya of Terapanth) around 140 years ago.
Jainism is an ancient eastern religion. The cardinal principles of Jainism propounded by Lord Mahavira twenty-five centuries ago are based on reverence for life, equanimity and a sense of mutual interdependence. The Jain philosophy has enriched the freedom of human thought by its principle of Anekant i.e. Non-absolutism. The Jain culture has exercised profound influence on the lives of millions of people through their non-violent attitude, compassion and friendly behaviour to have peace in our material world.
Jainism is nature in the purest and truest form. Jainism is as old as nature, which has neither beginning nor any end. The mission of Jainism is the mission of nature, which is to work for the welfare of one and all, to rise from the pitfall of ignorance and inaction to the spiritual climax of infinite bliss and perfect knowledge. i.e. absolute freedom.
The subject matter of this mural is the life of Acharya Tulsi. First, I have shown Yaksha (as protector) whose face resembles Ganesha’s. He is shown in a standing posture, with his left foot towards the space of the entire mural (signifying past) and his right foot towards the present. Yaksha’s ‘navel’ (i.e. the centre of energy) appears exactly at the centre of the mural (considered in its height). The theme of the painting, however, starts with a homage to ‘Jinendra’ (Om Jinendraya namah). A dream of the Dev-vimana, seen by Tulsi’s mother before his birth, appears on the right side of the homage.
May this book help you to realize what you are and to become one with your deepest quest. May your life pulsate and vibrate with the living echo of your pure conscious energy....
Non-violence and kindness to living beings is kindness to oneself. For thereby one's own self is saved from various kinds of sins and resultant sufferings and is able to secure his own welfare.
We are controlled by desire craving arises in our unawareness when we do not see an object as a thought crystal but rather as a means to gratify our desire. Then we put all our energy into getting it. Sometimes you never get it and sometimes you do. But in any case, the time comes when you have to leave it. If you are aware when you have it in your palm, you look at it and smile at yourself saying, "Is this the thing I used so much effort to get? For this I have spent my energy?"
In all corners of the world one hears a common voice of people visualizing a new man, a new society and a new world. Efforts are also afoot to realize the above vision.
This concise but informative volume outlines and delineates some of the basic teachings of 
The relation entailed in the expression 'I and my mind' throws up many ideas.
Sometimes, one is searching for a specific book, and sometimes a book is finding a specific person. Perhaps, some among us had the chance to experience this. Mostly, the speciality of circumstances, resulting in such an experience, is not totally in our awareness; we realise them only afterwards.
The spirit of social work is eternal but its form is ephemeral. The relevance of the spirit is given but that of the form is gained. The formal relevance is contrived and sustained through the alteration of form in consonance with the prevailing ethos of the age. Professional Social Work (PSW) is a progeny of modernism and as modernism is facing multi-faceted onslaughts, PSW too is receiving blows and buffets from myriad quarters.
