Chitrabhanu Man with Vision

Author(s): Clare Rosenfield
Publisher: Jain Meditation International Centre New York

Page 84

to lead you out from sorrow and delusion into the bliss of universal consciousness.”
Rup inquired, “What must I do to become your disciple and receive ordination?"
"Seek the permission of your father,” he answered. “You may take diksha when you are ready."
Rup carried with him a new sense of calm and purpose. An intense feeling for renunciation, began to steady his mind, channel his energy, and unify his being.
He called his father to ask his permission. At first his father did not agree. “Rup, we have to think about the family, the business. Please, don't ask me this.”
“But father, people are dying. We are going to die. I want to get some answer beforehand. You have your shop, but it could not save my mother. You have money, but it could not save my sister."
There was frustration in his father's life. "Come home Rup, and we will talk about it.”
*
Respect for Father
Rup was the last male of his family line. His aunts, in particular, were eager to see him married. If he decided to enter the monkhood, it would bring an end not only to the reputable cloth business but also to the family name. In a country where ancestral lines can be traced back for hundreds of years, and where extended families of twenty and thirty members may live together at a time, he could not easily dismiss the responsibility of perpetuating the family name.
Rup returned home and faced the resistance of various relatives. One day his aunt appealed to him in tears, “How can you allow our good name to die out? Can you not put your father's business and the family first in your life? How can you turn your back on those who have cared for you all these
years?"
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