Jaina Gazette 1927

SR No.: 034889
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: J L Jaini, Ajitprasad
Publisher: Jaina Gazettee Office
Publication Year: 1927
Total Pages: 568
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 47 MB

Page 85

50
THE JAINA GAZETTE
that the physical and mental natures are so linked that they are affected together. Even the Mohammedan writers on the History of India have mentioned these facts in their books, specially when writing of the time of Akbar, who issued a mandate to the effect that all these places were very important and that no person should kill any animal or perform any irreligious act on or near the hill. In concentration we should not quite forget the self, but should exercise our active conciousness every moment. That is why crystal-gazing is not a good way of concentration; we call such things black magic.
The Jain rosary has always 108 beads on the string, and is made sometimes of sandal-wood, sometimes of other substances, but we never use a black rosary, as the Catholics do. There are 108 beads. The number is based on the symbal Om, which is considered to be a mystical symbol. The Brahmins say that the syllable Om is composed of three sounds, O which represents the creative power of the verse, on which represents the preservative energies, and ma, which represents the destructive power. That is the origin of the word according to the Brahmin theory. We say that we must think of soinething higher than matter, and we say that this syllable is a combination of five letters, which by the rules of euphony become the syllable Om. The first letter means saviour, the second is a generic name for liberated souls. though not saviours ; the third is the generic name for the spiritual masters ; the fourth the generic name given to religious students, and the fifth stands for the holy men and women of the world. It is said in our prayer, “I bow down to all holy men and women of the world," and in this you will see the liberality of the Jain community. The first letter, we say has 12 qualities ; that is you will find these twelve characteristics in a person who can be called a saviour. The second has eight, the third thirty-six, the fourth twenty-five and fifth .twenty-seven characteristics which are to be found in the holy men and women of different countries. The total of all these numbers is 108, and when we have the rosary in our hands we contemplate on the qualities of these five
great classes, and so our desire is to reach that state ourselves. Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat