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Shri Ashtapad Maha Tirth - II
Kundalini Yoga in all its forms and Tantra of both Indian and Tibetan origin have their roots in Mount Kailash and from the revelations in the holy inner sanctum of the cave of Sapta Rishis, who descended into the temporal realm from the divine spheres to redeem the mankind of earthly woes and sow the seeds of divine possibilities in their evolutionary spiritual journey to bliss and eternity. The Jain initiative pioneered by Dr. Rajnikant Shah through the Jain Center of America, New York, of locating Ashtapad is the bold and first ever initiative by any Institution in the world and he will thus be remembered ever in the history of mankind. The expedition's findings subject to my perceptions are briefly outlined in this article. Ashtapad 2009 expedition findings are as follows: There are two important issues that relate to the expedition
Ashtapad-where it is believed according to the traditions that Aadinath Rushabhdeva attained his Nirvan. A memorial monument believed to be built by his son in celebration of Aadinathji's attainment. From the perspective of the Jain community it is important to locate the memorial monument relics believed to have been made 10,000-12,000 years back by his son which would archaeologically prove the antiquity of the Tirthankars and also serve as an important focus for reverential worship. I would like the two issues to be dealt with
separately without linking the first with the second. 1. Ashtapad : I would divest the discussion on this issue of trivialities of our day to day movements during the expedition and details of places enroute to Kailash. I am happy that John Bellezza completely accepted my idea that Mt. Kailash is Ashtapad and mentioned so in his report. I would like to forward the important reasons why I believe it to be so: According to the 'Bons' (a pre-Buddhist shamanist sect) Kailash is believed to be a nine storeyed Swastika mountain (well documented beyond any debate). Identically, Hindus believe that it is Mount Meru the central axis around which the various tiers of existence revolve. In the Tantras (a wider version of Hindu shamanism) Meru is likened to a Shri Yantra whose worship is popularized across the country through the Shakta philosophy and Kashmir Shaivism specially popular in the south of India through Sri Vidya or the Devi cult. Those knowledgeable on this subject are aware that Meru the iconographic three dimensional cosmological archetype embodies a nine storeyed pyramidal structure where at the top of the hierarchy i.e. at the ninth layer) is the Bindu where Shiva-Shakti(divine interplay of consciousness and energy) are resident just as Shiva and Parvati are believed to be resident at Kailash (according to the Shiva Purana/Kailash purana) or the Demchog-Dorje Phagmo by Tibetan Buddhists. To be able to attain this ultimate realization of the undifferentiated experience of consciousness-energy principle at the ninth and final stage of spiritual ascension, it is believed that any Human being would have to transcend the eight steps or Ashtapada to be able to reach Bindu, a point of complete transcendence into the divinity. Sri Vidya texts elaborate this in very great detail the ritual worship of the various layers to attain the penultimate divine state. The Ashtapad Initiative
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| SR No. | 009860 |
| Book Title | Ashtapad Maha Tirth 02 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Rajnikant Shah, Others |
| Publisher | USA Jain Center America NY |
| Publication Year | 2012 |
| Total Pages | 532 |
| Language | Hindi, Sanskrit, Gujarati |
| Classification | Book_Devnagari |
| File Size | 26 MB |