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A Moment With Parmatma
speakers and each and everyone must have told you about the Do's and Don'ts, you should do penance (Samayik, Pratikraman), take religious oaths, recite mantras and should not eat underground vegetables, do not lie, etc. If we follow the above rules, only then we are considered as Jains, otherwise we are not. What will happen with this? Lifestyle will change. By a day's fasting, lifestyle will change but next day we end our fast and eat happily and again we are back to square one! There are a few who would fast for eight days, especially during Paryushan and on the ninth day, they will be seen at a food stall craving for food. For those eight days, it seems as if their external life has changed, external appearance had changed, superficially they looked religious, superficially it looked as if they were following all the principles of Jainism, but on the 9th day they are again back to square one.
By merely changing one's lifestyle one cannot change one's soul, the soul will change only when one's individuality changes, and when one's heart blends with the Guru or Paramatma.
Gautam starts losing his own individuality, Gautam forgot his own identity, he forgot who is he and he rushed, climbed the stairs and hurriedly reached Lord Mahavir and bowed his head down at Parmatma's feet. He forgot that he was Indrabhuti Brahmin, he forgot that he was the Guru of 500 disciples, he forgot he was highly learned and most knowledgeable great scholar, he forgot he had worn a
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