YJ International Newsletter 2004 Vol 18 No 03

SR No.: 527771
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Young Jains (UK)
Publisher: UK Young Jains
Publication Year: 2004
Total Pages: 28
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, UK Young Jains, & UK
File Size: 11 MB

Page 26

WHOM AM I? WHERE AM I FROM?
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF MY EXISTENCE?
By Ashik Arunkant Shah
ain thinkers have provided a great number of insights, based upon the experience of the Tirthankars and their resultant message, recorded posthumously. This message has been explained by a series of Self-Realised Saints, who were monks or householders, and many of whom wrote first hand.
The basic positive message is that our true nature is a spiritual one. Each one of us is an eternal Soul, charged with consciousness. The very person who asks the questions of identity and purpose is this consciousness, is the Self.
We are eternal and so, in that sense, have always been here. However, from the perspective of any particular life, from the eternal cycles of our lives, we have come from a previous embodiment, and this current circumstantial body of ours is the result of our past deeds, words, thoughts, inclinations. However, in our short-term perspective we identify wholeheartedly with this mortal coil, the flesh, the body. When the body is in favourable circumstances we respond to the sensation of like, and we respond to dislike when in unfavourable circumstances. These responses are the passions of anger, pride, deceit and greed. This very identification, the resultant like and dislike, and the resultant passions are the very causes of our embodiment, as they cause the Karma which bind to us and bind us to the cycle of worldly life.
Typically our purpose centers on the search for happiness and peace. However, the very passions prevent true harmony in our lives and they arise from the like and dislike which also cause most of our worries. All these ultimately arise from the false sense of identification with the body. We pamper the body but neglect the soul, our very essence. Indeed, the very happiness, which we attribute to those around us, is actually within us.
The nature of the Soul, the Atma, of each and every one of us is Pure, Blissful, Vibrant with Energy, and Charged with Consciousness. We can all realise our full potential by following the path to Self-Realisation and then progressing to Moksha, with the Tirthankars as our model. The path can be shown and taught to us by one who themselves is already SelfRealised, a True Guru.
CHARACTER KASHAY To be completed by workshop grps
The Jain tradition provides us with the insight, the message and the examples to facilitate progress on this path. Each of the practices with which we are familiar, or might be aware, has, as its purpose, progress on the path to Moksha, the realization of our ultimate, eternal, true nature, and if this purpose is born in mind, the act will itself be more rewarding.
TTM2- the Next Slice: Drama to Real Life: Workshop I-A Case Study from Bhagwan's Previous Lives Below is part of a worksheet for a short scene, from a play written by Young Jains America, portraying one of the lives of Bhagwan. At Tasting the Mango 2 - the Next Slice! we'll take the scene as a case study to understand how to use the tools which the Dharma provides and then we can begin to apply them practically in our lives by taking a problem or source of worry and applying the same analysis to it.
Act III Scene I
Mahavir Swami is the most recent Tirthankar who walked on this earth. His life is full of many examples for us to emulate and messages to imbibe. In the play of his 27 significant lives (by YJA and available on the YJ UK website) we can map his spiritual progress to a certain degree. To understand it better require more study, thought and guidance.
(Guards at the gate to a garden)
NARRATOR: Now, in his sixteenth birth, this soul was born as the nephew of King Vishvanandi of Rajgriha. The nephew's name was Vishvabhuti. One day Vishvabhuti was out with his queens in the royal gardens. His cousin, Vishaakhanandi, the son of the king, also arrived there shortly after that... (Prince Vishaakhanandi enters.) VISHAAKHANANDI: Please step aside. I would like to enter the garden.
GUARD: Prince! Please wait here. You cannot enter the garden. Your cousin, Prince Vishvabhuti, and his queens are already occupying it.
TATTVA @TTM2!
In the related stories we see how each of his, and so each of our, actions has consequences. In his incarnation as Naysar, his initial sense of duty and charity, as well as respect for the Dharma, led to two monks teaching him the path and his attaining Samyag Darshan. His pride in his family had consequences, as did his willingness to take advantage of others as a false Guru. In one of his lives, his strong desire that all Souls attain and take interest in the Path and the Dharma led to his auspicious birth as a Tirthankar.
VISHAAKHANANDI: What! This is ridiculous! As the king's son, I cannot enter the royal gardens when I want to. I can't believe it. (Walks away visibly upset.)
KARMA
As Bhagwan Mahavir's inclinations, thoughts, words, deeds had consequences in the many lives of his Soul which we know, so are their consequences for us: The tools which the Jain Dharma provides as practices, insights, ways of thinking, train us to cultivate qualities which will enable us to act in awareness and to bring harmony in our relations with the outside world. The ethics of Ahimsa is informed by the realization that we are souls just like all living beings. We have been given the tools of the qualities of life, to make ourselves more gentle and compassionate; the qualities to overcome the passions, to attain calmness of the passion, Upsham. The 12 Bhavnas enable us to foster detachment, Vairagya, so as to overcome duality. The Tattvas help us understand the, dynamic Soul-Matter relationship so we can overcome our delusion, Mithyatva, and chose between liberation and bondage.
For Person26Private Use Only
BHAVNA
OTHER CONCEPTS