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JAINISM ON THE BBC WORLD SERVICE
Atul Keshavji Shah was recently approached by the BBC World Service to produce a series of three Jain messages for their Words of Faith programme, which has an estimated audience of 20 million listeners worldwide. Two of the 4 minute messages were broadcast on the first and last days of Paryushana. Attached is the text of these messages.
believes that real freedom comes from an active detachment from sensual pleasures, and food is one of these pleasures from which we should refrain from time to time. Such discipline will provide us with real and lasting happiness, not the temporary happiness which rises and falls from one meal to the next. In fact, the entire festival aims to encourage such spiritual discipline and self-reflection. The word Jain comes from the root Jin which means a perfected or liberated soul. Thus Jains are those people who ceaselessly aspire towards such perfection.
The message of Paryushana is a very universal message applicable to people of all faiths. All of us need to periodically step back and reflect on our past and remind ourselves of the real purpose of life. We need to actively recognise the limitations of the daily struggles, and rise to the challenges posed by the significant spiritual and moral decline in modern human history. Jains firmly believe in the importance of right knowledge and understanding and righteous conduct. A sustained period of reflection, prayer and discipline is a neccessity, which will help make this world a better place not only for ourselves, but for all around us.
great loss of personal pride and respect Kshmapana recognises that we are all minute elements in this vast ocean of life, and to have violent thoughts or opinions of others is to harbour pain and suffering for ourselves Forgiveness not only strikes peace, but it cleans es our own souls, guiding us on to the path of righteousness in knowledge and conduct Some Jain monks have conducted forgiveness ceremonies in prisons where even the relatives of murder victims have forgiven the murderers.
Apart from addressing human relationships. Jain kshamapana also emphasises the seeking of forgiveness from all living beings, explicitly recognising the need to minimise violence and injury to al life forms. One of the most auspicious prayers recited on this day is Iriya Vahiya which is translated as follows. Please note especially the detailed description of the types of violence that we may have committed over so many different types of living beings:
PARYUSHANA DAY 1 Today marks the beginning of the Jain festival of Paryushana, a week long period of spiritual refinement for the Jains. Jainism is one of the oldest religions in the world, dating back some 10.000 years, and a religion whose central philosophy is that of Ahimsa, an active love and compassion towards all living beings on the planet. One of its most famous recent practitioners was Mahatma Gandhi, who undertook a detailed study of Jain philosophy in order to translate Ahimsa into a practical doctrine.
For me, Paryushana provides a very important spiritual recharge. Living a very busy life. I look forward to Paryushana. During this week, I try to take a complete break from work, and spend the time in fasting, prayer, listening to lectures from Jain philosophers, and generally withdrawing from worldly life. For all of us, the daily struggles of life to work for our food and shelter tend to overwhelm us, giving us little space to reflect on the higher purposes of life. If all these struggles are inevitably going to end in death, then why do we allow them to be so overpowering? Jainism emphasises the importance of not sinking in worldly life but rising above it. And Paryushana is one of the most important religious festivals for doing so.
Jains from all over the world will be spending this week in prayer, fasting and meditation. Many Jains will fast for the entire eight day period, taking only pre-boiled water in the daylight hours. personally have done that three times so far, and experienced a significant degree of spiritual energy during and after the fasts. I have not had any ill-effects, and to the contrary, felt much healthier after the fasts. Penance and fasting remind the Jains to develop discipline in their eating habits, and not to get too attached to food. Jainism
PARYUSHANA DAY 8 Last week, I presented a message on the Jain festival of Paryushana, where I explained its central aims of reflection, penance and repentance over a period of eight days. Today is the last day of Paryushana and is the most auspicious day. Over the last week, Jains have been preparing for this great finale, a day devoted to forgiveness, or kshamapana, in Jainism. It is believed that sincere fasting and prayer on this day can wipe out all the sins committed in our past year, and revitalise us to be more loving, compassionate and charitable in the following year.
The Jain idea of forgiveness is two-dimensional. It does not merely seek forgiveness from God, but requires us to seek and give forgiveness to each other, especially the close friends and family with whom we have had any arguments during the past year. It is not unknown on this day for Jains to write letters or make personal visits to these people to seek their forgive ness, a task which ordinarily would involve a
With good wishes, Oh Lord, I wish to retract from this path. I wish to retract from sins While going to and fro Whatever types of lives I might have destroyed While walking While attacking While crushing On dews In ant holes In water In clay In cob-webs While cleaning or brushing Whatever types of lives I might have destroyed Those with one sense Those with two senses Those with three senses Those with four senses Those with five senses I might have kicked them, rolled them, touched them, scared them, displaced them, separated them from their own kinds or killed them In connection of all these things May my sins or faults be destroyed
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Jain E.44 tion in Jain Spirit
July - September 1999
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