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In order to comprehend Tulsi's response, I asked my respondents about Preksha
Meditation and how its practice (sadhna) assists the Anuvratis in realizing the goals of
the movement. As I gathered from my responses, the technique called Preksha Meditation
was developed by the monk Mahapragya (who later became Tulsi's successor as Acharya
in 1995) in 1970 to provide a holistic aspect to the growing Anuvrat Movement.
Mahapragya, in an article, gives the reason for incorporating meditation in the movement.
He writes: "Mental tension has emerged as a dreadful disease of the age of industrial
progress. To remedy it, the Anuvrat Movement has added a new chapter to itself in the
form of Preksha Meditation."965 Elaborating on the benefit of his new experiment Tulsi
stated: “Meditation affects the secretion of the endocrine glands and this in turn brings
about an inner transformation of the individual."66 Another monk (who has been guiding
the movement's activities since few decades), I interviewed, sheds light on the position
meditation holds in the movement: "The practice of Preksha Meditation helps in the
purification of emotions and a transformation from negative thinking to positive thinking.
Unless these are purified, people are not able to maintain vows.96
The above explanation led me to ask, with Preksha Meditation holding such a
central, transformative role in the movement, what was the need for the vows? An
Anuvrati responded that the "Anuvrat vow means self-control and meditation is the
technique for strengthening these vows.1368 Several of my informants also said both
03 Yuvacharya Mahapragya, "The Anuvrat Movement in Restropect," in Anuvrat Movement, ed. S. L. Gandhi, 2nd ed. (Ladnun: Jain Vishva Bharati, 1992), 27.
66 Gandhi, Anuvrat Movement, 8.
67 Muni, interview by Shivani Bothra, Hindi, trans. Shivani Bothra, June 3, 2012.
68 Shrikant Verma, interview by Shivani Bothra, May 20, 2012.
