________________
SI
"WHY SHOULD WE HAVE A DARSHAN OF THE LORD? We Are jains. Our duty in life should be to become true and faithful followers ofParamatmaaa J'meshwar Bhagwan because our ultimate objective is to enable our souls to attain the state of Vitrag, (One who has conquered attachments and hatred). Therefore it is absolutely necessary to have a thorough knowledge of the Jmeshwar Paramtma. It is necessary to carry out every day such spiritual activities as having a darshan of the Paramatma, worshipping him, glorifying him, etc. Moreover how can we live without having a darshan of the Lord if we have in our hearts, love, affection and devotion for the Parmatma. Of course, at present it is not possible to meet the Lord actually. Therefore, we should have a darshan of the idol of the Paramafma; salute it and glorify it because it gives us the message that we too should become Vitrag. Of course, every day we go to the temple to have a darshan of the Paramatma. But often on account of our ignorance of the proper and prescribed way of worshipping the Lord, our darshan of the Lord does not create in us a fascination of him. HOW SHOULD WE HAVE A DARSHAN OF THE PARAMATMA? Come, let us learn the right and simple method of having darshan of the Lord, Know thou right way having a darshan of the Lord so that our soul by having a darshan of the Paramatma, may dive into a deep experience of delight and our hearts, our minds and our whole being might dive in the ocean of sublime serenity. When we leave our house to have darshan of our Lord, we have to take some precautions. Our body should be clean, pure and healthy. There should be no laziness or indolence in our body. Our dress - our clothes should be neat and clean. While going to the temple, we should not wear sandals or shoes while going to the temple. If it is absolutely necessary, we should at least not wear leather made foot wear. After leaving the house, while going to the temple, we should not allow any thoughts or problems of the worldly life to enter our mind. While going towards the temple, we should keep silent and keep meditating on the image of the Paramatma. We should keep thinking of the benefactions of the Paramatma that are bestowed upon us. We should sing with perfect concentration the songs of prayer or glorification addressed to the Paramatma. Our minds, our hearts, our intellects must be plunged in the Paramatma's divine love for us. While approaching the temple, on seeing the towers of the temple and the flags flying high on the towers, we should with folded hands, bend our heads in deep devotion for the paramatma. We should salute him uttering the expression, "NAMO JINANAM" (I bow to the jin). After reaching the door of the temple, you should leave footwear outside the door and you should also discard your worldly thoughts. As soon as entering the temple say three times "Nisihi," "Nisihi/ 'Nisihi/ we take a vow by uttering 'Nishi that after entering the temple, we will not entertain worldly thoughts, we will not speak of worldly things and that we will not engage in any worldly activities or propensities.
169
