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In the west, Gurudev has spoken at many colleges and universities, including Yale, Princeton and Cornell, and worked with many church groups drug addiction centers and international-minded groups. He was the first to address the United Nations on Ahimsa and has served as founder-president of World Fellowship of Religions in America. He has many books in print in India and in the West which have also helped to spread his message. They include The Dynamics of Jain Meditation; Realize What You Are; The Psychology of Enlightenment: Meditations on the Seven Energy Centers; Twelve Facets of Reality, and about ten more in English and twenty in Gujarati and Hindi.
In 1981, by the ocean at San Diego, Gurudev attained the enlightened state of self-awareness, which enabled him to purify further his own consciousness and life and enhance his present global mission of Reverence for All Life. Being a world traveler, centers all over the world regard Gurudev as their spiritual advisor: in America, Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia and India. He is the founder of the Jain Meditation International Center in New York City, in Manhattan, where he has weekly talks and meditation, and he is spiritual advisor to the Lighthouse Center, Inc. in Whitmore Lake, Michigan.
"Jain," Gurudev explains, "is not a religion or an identity, but has its roots in the Sanskrit verb 'ji,' meaning 'to conquer"." This conquest is very much the result of a personal spiritual struggle against our enemies of anger, jealousy, ego and greed. A "Jina" is one of those enlightened beings who has conquered these inner enemies and thus has seen through the negative clouds which obstruct our natural state of enlightenment.
Gurudev has through the years helped many come closer to their own true, divine nature, by helping them let go of their own inner enemies, through meditation. Thus, by his many talks, guidance, communications and consultations, he is helping to bring about a world full of individuals who realize that compassion for the universe begins with compassion for self. The New York Times in 1973 wrote, "Chitrabhanu... is no evangelist seeking to convert followers to Jainism." He encourages them, "to become strong enough in body, mind and soul to take charge of their own spiritual journey," and use their energies for self-realization and for the benefit of all through Ahinsa and Reverence for All Life.
8- Journey to Enlightenment - Volume Two
