Jain Digest 2011 04

SR No.: 527119
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA
Publication Year: 2011
Total Pages: 80
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, USA_Jain Digest, & USA
File Size: 18 MB

Page 59

JAIN DIGEST .. May 2011
"Dhammo Mangal Mukkitham, Ahimsa Sanjamo Tavo,
Deva Vi Tan Namasanti, Jass Dhamme Saya Mano."
Acharya Shree Shiv Muniji
The Enlightened Dharma(Religion) is NonViolence, Self-Control, and Penance. Even heavenly gods worship the one, whose mind is always engaged in Enlightened Dharma.
Following the tradition of Varsilap sadhana
initiated by Bhagwan Rishabhdev, the
fourth Acharya
Samrat Dr. Shiv
Muniji (who
heads and leads the
Shwetamber
Sthanakvasi
Shraman Sangh with more than
1300 Sadhus
and Sadhvis under his guidance), is currently doing his 25th varsitap (penance). The Shraman Sangh was formed 60 years ago by uniting 22 Sampradays. It began with Jain Acharya Samrat Atmaramji, Anand Rishiji, Devendra Muniji and now Acharya Dr. Shiv Muniji. Acharya Dr. Shiv Muniji is currently the spiritual head of the sangh. He is an extremely pious soul whose inner piety and goodness is revealed in divine splendor on his face.
History & Background:
Shiv Muniji was born in a very affluent and respectable Oswal family in a small town called Malaout in the Malwa region of Punjab on September 18, 1942. He was known for his sharp intellect and power of comprehension. He had nurtured an intense desire to know and realize spiritual truth ever since his childhood. His acquisition of higher academic knowledge further intensified his desire for higher spiritual knowledge. During his student life he traveled far
and wide throughout America, Canada, England and several other countries. The wealth and material comforts of worldly life failed to tempt and bind him. He thoroughly studied the life and teachings of Lord Mahavir, Jain philosophy and theology. This stirred his inner being and he made a firm resolve to renounce this worldly life and take to the life of an ascetic. He got his doctorate from the Punjabi University, Patiala, on the topic of "Doctrine of Liberation in Indian Religions, with special reference to Jainism". On May 17, 1972 he was initiated in the Shraman Sangh as a
disciple of Gian Muniji. Gian
Muniji was a wellknown Jain
scholar and a
disciple of
Acharya Atma Ramji. After his initiation into the Shraman Sangh, on his Guru's directives, Shiv Muni travelled throughout India preaching Jain
tenets. Shiv Muni sojourned through the interiors of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and other states. It was during this sojourn that the Shraman Sangh selected him as its first Yuva Acharya on May 13, 1987 at Pune and on June 9, 1999 he was declared the Acharya or the spiritual head of the Shraman Sangh.
Acharya Shree Shiv Muniji
Spiritual Journey & Meditation:
Through meditation, he has constantly been on the upward move of his spiritual journey. During the course of this inward sojourn, he has had wonderful experiences with truth called Atma Dhyan or Self Meditation. For more than two decades, he researched various methods of
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