A prolific writer, orator, educationist, thinker, and above all, spiritual preceptor to millions, Dada Vaswani, the head of the Pune-based Sadhu Vaswani Mission, turns 90 this month.We pay tribute to a life lived in service to God, guru and the world. More>>
In
an exclusive interview with Life
Positive magazine, Acharya Mahaprajna, head of Jainism's leading Terapanth
sect, discusses the philosophy of the Jain faith and his own vision for the future
How would you explain the basic principles of Jainism? Jainism has a sacred book known as Saman Sutra. This
contains scriptures written by Lord
Mahavira and has been put together by Acharya
Tulsi (one of Jainism's leading spiritual leaders and guru of
Acharya Mahaprajna). Jainism is basically atman (soul)-oriented.
The main tenet is that the atman is both bondage and a source of
moksha (liberation). The individual has to fulfill his karma to
achieve moksha: man is responsible for his own happiness and sorrow.
God is just a natural part of the universe. Jainism, however, is
better known for its principle of non-violence. Acharya Tulsi incorporated
another tenet—non-pollution, of the mind, body, spirit and the environment.
But the basic philosophy is truthfulness. Jainism has compiled
an aachar samhita (code of right conduct), which is codified in
the form of anuvrat.
Why hasn't Jainism attained the same international stature as
Buddhism?
In northern parts of India, even in Karachi and Sind in Pakistan, Jainism
is well known. But this faith does not have many followers abroad. The
reason is simple. Jainism has tougher rules than Buddhism. Jain
monks have to wear a white cloth on their mouths. We also do not touch
most things, including money and electronic items.
But Acharya Tulsi did try to liberalize
the rules. What are you doing to spread the religion?
To spread Jainism abroad, we have initiated a separate group of
monks, called Saman, and nuns, called Samani. At the moment
they are around 1,000 in number. According to traditional principles,
Jain ascetics are supposed to travel only by foot and are not allowed
to use modern technology. But this special group is allowed to travel
by air and train. They are also allowed to use computers. As they travel
in foreign countries, we have even kept more flexible diet rules for them.
However, non-vegetarian food remains taboo. In India, we have begun featuring
in religious programs on cable television. We are also planning a series
of documentaries on all Jain acharyas, starting from Acharya Bhikshu.
Representatives from the Jain community are handling all these projects.
The monks do not come into the picture at all.
Are there
more male monks than female in Jainism?
That's not true. In Jainism, there have always been more nuns
than monks.
How do you relate
to other religious traditions? We hold regular inter-faith talks.
We also organize peace seminars where we invite representatives from various religions
to discuss social and moral problems of the world. Is your vision
any different from that of Acharya Tulsi? Essentially I am working
on the same tracks as him. But, of course, as you move along, you discover more
avenues of growth.
What would you like to do for the people? My emphasis is on inculcating strong moral values in our society. But isn't
the concept of right and wrong extremely subjective and time-space specific? There
are some absolutes. Take cruelty. We know that hurting someone, be it a human
or an animal, is wrong.
What about corruption? Bribery
is definitely wrong. But what else can a person do in today's society? This is
actually a social problem.
What role does religion play in politics? In ancient times, the two were interlinked. Today, money is the pivot around
which society moves. People no longer give religion and faith the same priority.
With few people opting for monkhood, will Jainism fade out? No. I don't think it will ever completely vanish. Sacrifice, restraint, and
truth are eternal values. Maybe only a handful possess these qualities but they
will never be non-existent.
KAYOTSARG
MEDITATION
An
integral part of the Jain meditation technique of Preksha Dhyan, Kayotsarg meditation
helps eliminate all deep-rooted negativities
According to Jainism, the physical body is the medium and
not the root cause of suffering. The cause lies in the karma
sarira, the coded record of one's past deeds. Kayotsarg meditation,
the core technique of Preksha Dhyan, helps in first identifying
the cause of this suffering and then eliminating suffering from
both the physical body and the karma sarira by harmonizing
body, mind and spirit. Kayotsarg literally means abandonment
of the body, coupled with high degree of conscious awareness. But
before the mind can be steadied, the body has to be free of tension.
So, in kayotsarg, "you perceive the self through the self".
Says Acharya Mahaprajna, head of the leading Jain sect of Terapanth:
"The principle behind it is that this physical body is not mine
and I am not just this physical body." In practice, it is a conscious
suspension of all gross movements of the body, resulting in total
relaxation of the physical, vocal and mental make-up of the individual.
To practise this meditation, simply follow the given instructions:
• Adopt a comfortable posture to meditate, sitting, standing or lying
down. Make this affirmation: "It is essential for me to relax to get rid of physical,
mental and emotional tensions. I shall devote myself only to this exercise of
relaxation."
• While standing, take a deep breath and stretch yourself
on tiptoe, arms above the head.
• Lie down on your back on a folded
blanket and repeat the above step. Feel the tension go out.
• Put
your head comfortably on the blanket, legs slightly apart, arms along the body,
palms turned upwards. Close your eyes.
• Slowly breathe in, the
stomach rising while inhaling. Then slowly breathe out, the stomach falling while
exhaling.
• Still in the same position, with eyes closed, focus
on the muscles of your toes. Concentrate on relaxing the muscles of the right
toe. Slowly move to ankle joints, then calf muscles, knees and finally thighs.
Repeat the procedure with the left leg.
• From the legs move on
to muscles of the lower abdomen at the hip, around the waist and at the base of
the spine. Concentrate on relaxing these.
• Relax the internal
organs-kidneys, intestines, spleen, pancreas, stomach and liver. · Relax all muscles
up to the collarbone.
• Relax the arms. Start with the right arm-first
the thumb and fingers, then the palm and wrist. Move on to the elbow, shoulders
and shoulder blades. In the same manner, relax left arm.
• Come
to the neck. Concentrate on the top, back and muscles supporting the neck.
• Now, the face. Allow the jaw to fall without opening the mouth. Inside,
the teeth must be unclenched and the tongue becomes limp. Relax the facial muscles
and each ear in turn. With eyelids gently closed, relax each eye. Relax the head.
• Initially, you will sense gravity. Your trunk and limbs will
slowly become heavier. Don't fight this, for consciousness will reveal its existence.
• Once the exercise is over, allow your will to travel over each
part of the body, from the head to the feet, breathing regularly and consciously.
