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Celebrating Jain Society of Houston Pratishtha Mahotsav 1995
Their lack of significance to the ritual per se is wellrecognized. We have already seen the social benefits which follow from making offerings, erecting Jina-images, and the like; but such practices are fundamentally intended as a means whereby the layperson can withdraw from worldly occupations and dwell for a time in the peaceful presence of the holies. Bhavapuja, therefore, is the real devotional activity of the Jain laity, while for the ascetic it is the only acceptable form of worship.
Veneration of the Teachers
The second important ritual duty of a Jain layperson is guru-upasti, visiting and venerating the medicant teachers. An usually close relation has always been obtained between, ascetic and householder in the Jain tradition; monks and nuns have acted as the spiritual teachers of the lay followers and have in turn been revered, often to the point of adoration, as the only "true propagators" of the Jina's message. This honored status has carried with it the expectation of a very high standard of conduct; every layman is well-informed on the sorts of behavior appropriate to a medicant, and constant vigilance by the lay community has usually enforced strict adherence to this code. Unlike their counterparts in certain other religious groups, moreover, Jain clerics have scrupulously avoided involvement in the social activities of the laity; the image of the "nagging preacher", questioning his parishioners about the conduct of their daily lives, is totally foreign to Jainism. The monks' involvement has been of a non manipulative sort, concerning itself only with the spiritual wellbeing of the people. Hence the relation between the two groups has contrary, a very real feeling of mutual respect and affection has prevailed.
It should be noted that the members of the Digambar laity have had far less exposure to bona fide "ascetic" teachers than have those of the Shvetambar. The extreme severity of restraints incumbent, upon a Digambar monk, especially as regard to clothing, has tended to keep the number of individuals who undertake this path to a select miminum. Hence the teaching function has fallen mainly upon the shoulders of eleventh-pratimalaymen-ksullakas, ailakas, and the female aryikas; in terms of guruupasti such preceptors typically receive the same treatment accorded an actual (naked) monk.
The ritual of teacher veneration shows some sectarian variation. For Digambars it involves bowing, and beseeching the teacher to utter the
formula blessing "may your righteousness increase". The layman may also take this opportunity to confess any vrata-infractions of which he is guilty, or perhaps to assume still further restraints. Shvetambars have restrained a very ancient and rather more complex procedure. Called vandana (reverent salutation), this ceremony begins when a lay man or woman approaches a medicant (preferably of the same sex) and greets him or her as ksamasramana, ascetic who suffers with equanimity. There follows a ritual exchange in ancient Prakrit, with both individuals reciting their parts from memory. The content of this exchange gives a clear picture of the sort of relation obtained between a Jain monk and layperson:
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I desire to worship you, ksamasramana, with very intense concentration. (The guru: so be it). You will have spent the whole day, fortunately little disturbed. (The guru: yes). You are making spiritual progress. (The guru: yes, and so are you). You are unperturbed by your sense organs? (The guru: yes). I ask pardon, ksamasramana, for my daily transgressions. (The guru: I too ask pardon). I must engage in Pratikramana (confession) to you, ksamasramana, for any day-by-day lack of respect. Anything done amiss through mind, speech or body through anger, pride, deceit, or greed, through false behavior and neglect of the sacred doctrine at any time; what offense may have been committed by me, forbearing monk, I confess and reprehend and repent of it and cast aside my past self.
The Annual Rite of Confession
The vandanaka also includes certain forms of further confession (pratikramana) and renunciation (pratyakhyana), as we have seen in the case of Digambars. The confessional aspect of guru-upasti is very important to the conscientious layman who has taken or more of the pratimas; he is likely to
approach the teacher nearly every day in order to ritually clear his conscience and strengthen his spiritual resolve. In addition to the twenty or more formulas used for this regular practice, there are others to be employed on a fortnightly (paksika) basis and some intended especially for the great annual rite known as samvatsari.
The latter ceremony is observed on a large scale by Jains of all sects. It takes place during the rainy season, since monks are at that time required to maintain a fixed abode for several months; thus an extended ritual involving their continuous presence is possible during that time.
"Those who eat meat or drink alcohol are animals in human form and a burden on earth"
(Chanakya)
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