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Spiritual Resurgence - The Crying need of our Times
Spiritual education is not mere reading of religious texts, reciting from holy scriptures or participating in discourses. It is in active day to day life while performing one's earthly duties that one should achieve spiritual awareness and rise above the mundane existence to the higher plateau of self-realisation regarding the ultimate purpose of life. It is acquiring this higher and deeper spiritual perspective that is part of one's steady growth in spiritual education. It comes through not conviction alone, but also practice reflected in day-to-day thoughts and actions. Self education in this realm is the best education.
The process of spiritual education will be accelerated if we understand the true meaning and coverage of religion in our lives. The learned Swami Ramatirtha says in a very profound observation :
"Religion is which is found in the streets, which is written upon the leaves, which is murmered in the brooks, which is whispered in the winds, which is throbbing in your veins and arteries, a religion which concerns your business and bosom, a religion which you have not to practice by going to a particular church, mosque or temple only, a religion which you have to practice and live in your everyday life.
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Inspiration should be drawn for spiritual education from the life and teachings of great human personalities like Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Mahavira, Rāma, Kṛṣṇa. They were all human beings of flesh and blood like us. They had access to material comforts. And yet they renounced earthly pleasures attained spiritual enlightenment and became 'pathleaders' and 'torchbearers' for the entire humanity. Albert Einstein has rightly observed:
"What humanity owes to personalties like Buddha, Moses and Jesus ranks for me higher than all the achievements of the enquiring and constructive mind."
Conclusion
Spiritual prosperity unlike material prosperity can be far more universally spread as it does not recognise or encourage artificial barriers created by greed, deceipt, exploitation and injustice. The vastly varying
Jain Education International
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| SR No. | 014010 |
| Book Title | Jainism in a Global Perspective - Collection of Jain papers of 1993 Parliament of World Religions, Chicago |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Sagarmal Jain, Shreeprakash Pandey |
| Publisher | Parshwanath Vidyapith |
| Publication Year | 1998 |
| Total Pages | 402 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Seminar & Articles |
| File Size | 23 MB |