________________
.
“Vatsala Amin, the young Jain laywoman from Bombay who presented the Jain message at the Temple of Understanding Conference, is an extremely beautiful and spiritual person. I was very impressed by her talk, and this evening had a long and good conversation with her. We talked about meditation and her Master, Munishri Chitrabhanu, whom I would like to see if I can get to Bombay. And about her desire to live in solitude in the Himalayas, and her project of doing so “Vatsala Amin: great soft intelligent dark eyes. A white sari. Vivacity and seriousness, warmth, spiritual fervor. She meditates on a picture of her guru, preferring the one in which his skull and chin are shaved. Jain gurus shave once a year. 'If he can be so perfect, so can I,' she reflects. Today she left for Bombay. I on my part am impressed by her purity and perfection. She gave me a garland, like a lei, made of sandalwood because I was her special friend. She gave another to Sister Barbara Mitchell from Manhattanville."
One of the Moslem leaders, Shri Rashid, who had attended the Conference, made a special trip to Bombay to meet Gurudev before going on to Israel. He asked him one great question which had been disturbing him.
"Gurudev, if religion is a means to lift us to God and to bring us peace, why is there discord among the peoples of the world?"
Gurudev answered, "Man treads upon the earth which is one yet parcels it into portions which are many. He names them hamlet, village, province, or country. Then he slinks away quietly to take shelter in his own corner. The same man who limits himself can also fly at a great height. From above, we can have infinite vision. The vast boundaryless space stretches before us and we can see the land in wholeness, with its dividing lines blotted out.”
"Why does man make these divisions? Where does the idea of ownership come from?”
"From the ignorance of the lower mind. The unenlightened mind generates the concept of 'mine' and 'thine.' But
260
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
