Jain Journal 1981 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 41

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were limited to some most indispensable objects for daily use. For four months during the year he remained in his cell, plunged in deep meditation. In the remaining months, the monks wandered from place to place, barefoot, carrying only holy books and a foodbowl. They preached to the people and received from them, once a day, willingly offered food. They observed the law of ahimsa to a degree which might be considered extreme, watching their every step to prevent crushing an insect. In such conditions Gurudeva tramped (without being allowed to make use of a vehicle) about 30 thousand miles during twenty nine years. In his teaching, he induced people to take responsibility for their destinies and taught them the significance and techniques of meditation.
JAIN JOURNAL
During those many years, Gurudeva's importance in his congregation grew constantly, and when he reached the age of fifty, he was one of the leading personalities among the Jainas. His activities exceeded the strict monastic routine and he was instrumental in the founding of various social welfare organizations in India, including the Society of Divine Knowledge in Bombay. He directed its work for meditation, teaching, publications and breaking racial, caste, sectorial and cultural barriers. Through such organizations, he initiated despatch of volunteers and supplies to areas suffering from natural disasters and distribution of food, clothing, blankets and medicines to the poor and needy throughout India. According to him, "Salvation comes when you forget about your own salvation and put yourself in the place of all living beings."
A break through in his life occured when he accepted many invitations to lecture in Europe and America. The monastic rule do not permit monks to travel, and up to then none of them had left India. Gurudeva broke this prohibition, participating in 1970 at a Spiritual Summit Conference in Geneva, and a year later, at the next such conference which took place at the Harvard Divinity School. Afterwards, he left his congregation, renounced the monastic life and devoted himself to worldwide activity. He settled in New York, without however breaking with India which he still visits frequently. He lectured at a variety of learning and human development institutions such as Princeton, Sarah Lawrence, Cornell, the United Nations, Koinonia Foundation, Pendle Hill, Wainwrigt House and others.
One can easily imagine the commotion which all this provoked among Jainas in India, particularly after Gurudeva decided to marry a woman of that religion who had been his disciple for several years. He stated at a later time that "Social conventions were created in the perspective of a certain time, and some are no longer applicable. The law of life is