Pinnacle Of Spirituality

Author(s): Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: Raj Saubhag Satsang Mandal

Page 98

41. Guru – Shishya (Disciple) Relationship
M unishri Lalluji, was very eager to spend time in sacred association with Shrimad, and thus decided to spend the four months (Chaturmas) in Mumbai. Everyday the monks, Lalluji and Devkaranji, would walk about four miles to Shrimad's shop for guidance and understanding.
The monk would normally give their daily sermons before coming to see Shrimad.
One day Shrimad asked : "Who reads the daily sermon and how many people attend these sermons?"
Munishri Lalluji's disciple Muni Devkaranji, who was a great orator and whose sermons were very popular, replied that it was he who delivered the daily sermons, and that the daily attendance averaged a thousand people.
Shrimad then asked if any impure thoughts arose when looking at the women in the audience. Muni Devkaranji replied that no physical passions arose, however his mind did become unsettled with such thoughts.
Shrimad said a monk must have full control over his body, his words and his mind - all three must work in unison.
Muni Devkaranji asked: "When you are sitting at your desk, with diamonds and pearls all around you, is your mind not drawn to them ?"
Shrimad replied by saying: "We view them as deadly poison. Do you ever feel like that?"
Muni Devkaranji was stunned with this reply and fell silent.
Shrimad said "As a coconut kernel remains separate from its shell, we remain separate from all that is around us." Hearing this, Muni Devkaranji lapsed into deep thought. Shrimad had provided an insight into his own detached way of life, whose subtlety, the monk had failed to grasp.
Once Tribhovanbhai Bhanjibhai asked Shrimad “How honest ought a Jain to be ?" Shrimad caught sight of the spire of Bombay High Court building, a little distance away and, pointing at it, he replied: "The honesty of a Jain has to be as good, if not better than that of the Judge who sits in that High Court. His or her honesty should be so transparent that it leaves no room for any doubt about it. The degree of honesty should be such that, should anyone accuse a Jain of dishonesty, he would not be believed."
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