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Teachers, and the Sāhunam or Saints. Bowing before the symbol was an act of renewed commitment and reverence for those who had traveled the Path first and had lit the way for others. These five were called upon as witnesses to the monks' work toward self-refinement and purification.
On this day, one by one, the monks completed their forty-eight minutes of silent meditation and came into the hall to wait their turn to recite the mantras before the sthāpanāchārya. Young Chandraprabh was waiting patiently while Chandra Sāgarji chanted before the symbol. All of a sudden, before his teacher had had a chance to complete the prayers, the monk for whom Munishree felt distaste came in the room, walked over to the sthāpanāchārya, and snatched it away to put it in front of himself.
Munishree was so offended that he forgot that he was in silence! He reacted abruptly to what he perceived as an act of flagrant disrespect to his teacher. He blurted out, “What are you doing? Don't you see our Guru has not completed his mantra? You can't take the symbol away like that," and he snatched it back out of his hands.
The fellow monk sneered at him and gave him a push on the shoulder. All Chandraprabhaji's suppressed feelings exploded. Anger blinded him and within seconds, they started to have a fist fight. Finally, young Chandraprabh grabbed him by both shoulders and threw him several yards away. He landed up against a wall, bruised. With that, the blows came to an abrupt halt.
Their teacher kept silence over the incident. He allowed his disciples the space to see what they had done.
Munishree Chandraprabh was horrified at the havoc his anger had caused.
I have changed the clothes but I have not changed my inside nature. Inside there is an angry wrestler. I am deceiving myself. It is a deception to act like a calm monk on the outside and to bum like a volcano on the inside.
The tears started flowing. In that flow, his consciousness was bathed and cleansed. He felt the burning congestion become extinguished.
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| SR No. | 001808 |
| Book Title | Chitrabhanu Man with Vision |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Clare Rosenfield |
| Publisher | Jain Meditation International Centre New York |
| Publication Year | |
| Total Pages | 326 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English & Biography |
| File Size | 24 MB |