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Preface
firmly on the path to liberation. Having long ago renounced his worldly family and home, and realizing that the world is a storehouse of sufferings, he derives extreme contentment in treading the path shown by Lord Jina. Thinking always that there is no regime better than that expounded by Lord Jina, he dedicates himself firmly to the service of no one else but Lord Jina. He has no attachment to sense pleasures, to karmas, or even to his body. He has no aversion towards the objects of environment. He has won over desires with contentment and restraint, negligence or inadvertence with study and meditation, and anger with composure and compassion. Having no conflict or disagreement with any living being, human or plants and animals, he showers his blessings on all, as a mother blesses her child. He exerts, with extreme care, to save from injury the mobile (trasa) as well as the immobile (sthāvara) beings. He has fully grasped all realities including the soul and the non-soul, and his eyes are bright with the light of knowledge. In order to maintain steadiness of his body he accepts food that is pure, simple and free from faults.
Although his body has weakened and frame shrunk due to severe austerities and age, his determination to conform to the rigors of meditation has not dimmed. His frail body exhibits rare glow and piousness, just as gold gets to brightness and preciousness on being severely heated.
Having assimilated the ocean of profound knowledge contained in the Holy Scripture, he is today a living institution of learning.
This year (2017) Ācārya Vidyānanda has entered the seventy-third year of initiation (dīkṣā) as a kşullaka and fifty-fifth year of initiation as a Digambara muni. We are truly blessed to have such a pious soul in our midst. Only the darśana of his pious frame is capable of cutting the shackles of karmic bonds that have constrained us since long.
Turning his soul inwards and avoiding all outward concerns, Acārya Vidyānanda has established himself firmly in own nature. Engaged incessantly in Self-realization, he has no time or inclination to interact with external environment. External objects gener remain unnoticed by him, as he pays no attention to these. His
(XXXVII)
