Chitrabhanu Man with Vision

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

Page 99

Only during monsoon season from July to early October did they reside in one place and not travel elsewhere. The origins of this rainy season retreat called chaturmās lay in the Jain monks' dedication and commitment to ahimsa, the practice of non-violence and reverence for all life. They were aware that if they were to continue walking from village to village during this wet season, their feet might crush tiny insects and worms. By remaining in one place, they avoided harming even the smallest life forms.
The monks' way of life recognized only the bare minimum of needs. Parigraha or external possessions were reduced to two sets of cloth, a simple wooden alms bowl and a cloth to clean it, a small pot for water, a mouth cloth or muhapatti which was used to avoid inhaling small insects and other micro-organisms in the air, a small soft broom or rajoharan to sweep the floor at night, a walking staff, and a book to study the sacred Agamas.
Rup had experienced in his twenty years the perpetual flux of the external world, the impermanence of persons, places, and things. By leading the wandering monk's life, he now turned this ever-changing quality to a positive purpose - to renounce attachment to that which had no immortal value and to learn how to welcome change as a natural process of life. During these months of preparation for the monkhood, he came closer to seeing that only in meditative glimpses could he touch that which was impervious to change. Though he felt these glimpses to be as fleeting as the light of a firefly, still they left an indelible imprint upon him.
By the time Rup and the company of monks reached Bordi, Rup had memorized four books of Agamas in which the disciplines for Jain monks were presented. In particular, he absorbed what were called the eight steps of "Mother": three guptis and five samitis. These rules were designed by Mahavir to protect the soul like a mother protecting her baby. They were minute in detail and required precise adherence.
Gupti means to conceal. Just as a tortoise withdraws his limbs into his shell at the onset of harm, so the monks learned how to withdraw their senses from potential violence by utilizing the three guptis to keep mind, speech, and body under
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