________________ started conducting a pathshala, a program of religious education. We loved listening to visiting Jain scholars, many of them stayed in our home. I was moved by Jin Chandra Maharaj's ninety lectures on "Shant Sudharas" granth. The "Twelve Facets of Reality" (12 bhavnas) helped me to cope with the stresses of work and home. I also studied with the Brahma Kumaris, completed an eleven-day course on Vipassana meditation, and attended week-long shibirs by Jain scholars such as Dr. Ujwala Shah, Dr. Bharill, Pandit Abhaya Kumarji and Pandit Dhirubhai. As I retired from my professional career, I discovered Pujya Gurudev's lectures. It felt like a culmination of all the searching that had come before, and also like a new beginning. I often read his lectures until 2AM. I began questioning the roots of my beliefs and digging toward the true nature of the world within. My prior feelings of obligation and my desire to prove myself diminished. This is when I began to go from a state of gulam to a state of freedom. Gurudev has given me a new vision. I have discovered something so profound, so beautiful, and so steadfast within me. Something that will last forever. The thoughts offered here arrived in the form of pictures as I conversed, read, listened, or just contemplated. Each poem came to me in one of three languages English, Hindi, or Gujarati. I am sharing this book in the hope that readers will find these reflections useful, or reassuring, or provocative as they undertake their own spiritual journeys. *** 174
