Mokshamala

Author(s): Manu Doshi
Publisher: Manu Doshi

Page 44

In the evening also he should vigilantly perform Pratikraman and take vow to avoid all sorts of food and drinks till morning. Thereafter he should go to bed.
Before sleeping he should think over the eighteen abodes of sinful activities and about the faults relating to twelve laymen's restraints. Then he should ask for being forgiven by all the living beings, recite Navkär mantra, and peacefully and quietly go to sleep.
The above routine is very beneficial. It would be particularly helpful, if one deeply thinks over it and acts accordingly.
Lesson 56: Atonement
O' Lord, I have forsaken too much. I did not heed to your invaluable words; I did not ponder over the unparalleled truth presented by you; I did not observe the supreme code of conduct propounded by you, I did not correctly comprehend the concepts of compassion, tranquility, forgiveness and purity as explained by you. O' Lord, I am lost; I wandered, roamed and have been endlessly entangled in the worldly life. I am sinner, highly infatuated and smeared with the particles of Karma. Oh God, I cannot reach the salvation without (adopting) the truth propounded by you. I am incessantly indulging in sensuous pleasure, am blinded by ignorance, do not have discernment and am senseless, shelterless and helpless.
Detached Lord, I am now surrendering myself to you, to your precepts and to your saints. I earnestly desire to get rid of all my faults and to be absolved of all sins. I am repenting for the sins committed earlier. As I ponder minutely and deeply, I get the glimpse of my true self in light of your manifested state. You are unattached, absolute, embodiment of everlasting existence, consciousness and happiness, innately blissful, infinitely enlightened, infinitely percipient and illuminator of the universe. For the sake of my own benefit, I beg for atonement in your presence. Let me not have, even for a moment, any doubt about the truth presented by you; let my sole aspiration and tendency be to stay day and night on the path shown by you.
О' Omniscient Lord, what else can I state? Nothing is unknown to you. With utter remorse, I pray for atonement of the sins borne of Karma.
Aum; bliss, bliss, and bliss be unto all
Lesson 57: Detachment is the true form of religion
If a cloth is stained with blood and if we try to clean it with blood, the stain cannot be removed; it gets more stained instead. If we clean it with water, the stain may go off. Let us relate this illustration to the soul. This soul has been stained with the blood of worldly life since the infinity and it has penetrated deep within the soul. If we try to remove that stain with fascinating sensuous objects, it would not be possible to remove it. As blood cannot be cleaned with blood, the impurity of soul resulting from indulgence in sensuous pleasure cannot be removed by resorting to the fascinating means.
There are many religious beliefs prevailing in the world. In order to examine them dispassionately it is necessary to bear in mind that soul does not feel at peace, where one is urged to avail sensual pleasure, wealth, merriment or leisurely life. If that is considered religious, the entire world is religious. Every home is filled with such aspects; it is the abode of children, women, merriment etc. If that is treated as a temple, which place could be irreligious? What would then be wrong in continuing the way we have been living?