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208: JAINS TODAY IN THE WORLD
imperative to have a good health and to be not physically or mentally handicapped. In an order, the living conditions are very hard to bear. Novices and monks or nuns should not be later a burden to the group (gaccha) or an embarrassment for the others to perform their daily religious duties (āvaśyaka), meditations, penances, etc. For the same reason, an adult must not to be too old when asking for admission.
Some conditions concern the status and the intellectual level of the candidate. Irreproachable conduct and character are required. Any fault on these matters would be an immediate cause for nonadmission. Likewise, it is worthwhile nowadays that the candidate be able to read, understand and learn the contents of the most important sacred books and possibly to teach them later to novices or to read and interpret them to the laity.
3. Life of the Jain novices
If a candidate monk or nun is admitted by the “Ācārya" who leads the obedience or group of ascetics, he (she) must learn what the fitting conduct is, to be in accordance with the religious rules laid in Jain sacred scriptures. For that, a boy or a man is immediately placed after his admission under the authority and guidance of a "guru", a monk who has been assigned such a task by the “Ācārya" on account of his knowledge and zeal. The same for a young girl or a woman with a "guruņi” This "guru” is at the same time the master and the leader of conscience of the “brahmacārin”. He gives him all instructions needed and is in charge of his perfect development and education. The novice will always need the agreement of his "guru”, have great respect for him, greet him with the "guruvandana” and report to him all he has done, thought or said, in accordance with his instructions and orders. The novice must, in particular, confess to his "guru' all the sins or mistakes committed in daytime or during the night and undergo penances ordered by him. It is the same for a female (brahmacāriņi) with a "guruņi” in the identical role.
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