JAINA Convention 2003 07 Cincinnati OH

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 15

OUR HEAVENLY ABODE SPIRITUAL LEADER
H. H. Acharya Sushil Kumar Ji Maharaj Born June 15, 1926; Samadhi April 22,1994
His Holiness Acharya Sushil kumarji Maharaj was a perfect master employing both the time-honored rituals of religion and the science and technique of Yoga. He embodied a rare blend of religious saint and yogi. Merely being in the presence of Gurudev, one caught the sparks emitting from the mighty power harnessed within him. His dynamic energy enlivened and transformed the Self with a light so brilliant that all darkness was dispelled. At the same time, his love, his calm, his total non-violence made his ocean of spiritual serenity inspiring with peace and hope.
Since his early childhood, Gurudev was a practitioner of Arum Yoga. At the tender age of 15, he renounced the world and took Jain diksha from his spiritual master Shri Chhotey lal ji Maharaj. As beloved Guru and spiritual Father of thousands in the East and West, Acharya Sushil Kumar Ji's life is one of selfless love and sacrifice.
He was deeply versed in the varied religious scriptures and literature of both the East and West. His ideal of Interreligious Coordination and of one World Religion was based, as it were, on his profound realization of the essential unity of all religions. First time, he visited United States in summer of 1975 as a goodwill ambassador of peace during the 2500th Nirvana anniversary of Lord Mahavira. In 1977 he founded Muni Sushil Yagvill and in 1979 International Mahavira Jain Mission (Siddhchalam) in New Jersey. He was also the founder of World Fellowship of Religions, Kundalini Science Center, and many other local and international organizations.
Hindus and Muslims, Christians and Jews, Materialists and Rationalists, Idealists and Reformers and Iconoclasts—all found in him a willing response and sympathetic hearing of their views. From 1954 to 1989, Guruji organized and presided over a significant number of World Religious Conferences, many of which were attended by highly esteemed individuals, including various Presidents and Prime Ministers of India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Zail Singh, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were amongst those who were known to participate in these conferences.
There is hardly a nation that has not been touched by Guruji's efforts to fulfill his divine purpose of non-violence, reverence for life and compassion for all. He traveled all over the world and at every opportunity he preached peace on earth. In 1981 he was one of the spiritual leaders who guided in the establishment of Federation of Jain Association in North America (JAINA).
The Jain Community of North America will miss his religious counsel forever.
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