________________ It was a great pleasure meeting you in Mumbai recently and thank you for sending me your recent book on 'Abha Mandal' - AURA. I am happy to know it is being published in another edition now. I do beleive that in general, an increased interaction between the science and spirituality has the potential to bring very fruitful results for mankind. Towards such a purpose a careful and scientific study of ancient Indian texts can be of great value. I wish you all the best in your efforts. With best regards and good wishes. Dr Pankaj Joshi (Professor, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, TIFR, Mumbai 400 005 But 42-year - Nandighoshvijayji has charted almost a new course for nearly a decade - and-a-half now, exploring pure science and examinig its compatibility with what has been observed, and remained buried to the common eye, in the Jain scriptures. The scriptures, he said, were 2500 years old, and were preserved in oral traditions for a thousand years before being put on palm leaves. He does not find anything odd in what he is doing. He is not a dogmatic person, out to prove something with a fanatic finality; he has triggered a rational debate. Tushar Bhatt (Senior Editor, The Times of India, 2nd August 1997, Saturday Ahmedabad Edition.) The gap between spirituality and science is wide, particularly if we talk of Aura and connect it to Karma, Chakras, Lesyas, Vastu and want to have practical applications in physical or psycological therapies based on colour, magnetism and the exotic. To bridge the gap, we can start either from science point of view or by taking scriptures as the base. Both approaches have their merits. Acharya Shri Vijay Nandighoshsuriji Maharaj has studied the scriptures related to Aura, introduced experimental approach and also made some efforts to explain them in a scientific way. From his exposition, one can readily find what is written in scriptures wihtout going through them and analyzing them individually. Dr Narendra Bhandari (Emeritus Professor and Senior Scientist, PRL, Ahmedabad - 380 009) अपर्याय AD RISSIOS Jain Education International ISBN 81-901845-6-3 www.jainelibra For Private & Personal Use Only