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his family and royal household, gave up his worldly possessions, and became a monk in search of a solution to eliminate pain, sorrow, and suffering from life.
Mahavir spent the next twelve and a half years in deep silence and meditation to conquer his desires, feelings, and attachments. He carefully avoided harming other living beings including animals, birds, insects, and plants. He also went without food for long periods of time. He was calm and peaceful while enduring unbearable hardships. During this period, his spiritual powers developed fully and he realized perfect perception, perfect knowledge, perfect power, and total bliss. This realization is known as kevaljnan or perfect enlightenment.
Mahavir spent the next thirty years travelling barefoot around India preaching the eternal truth he had realized. The ultimate objective of his teaching is how one can attain total freedom from the cycle of birth, life, pain, misery, and death, and achieve the permanent blissful state of one's self. This is also known as liberation, nirvana, absolute freedom, or moksha.
At the age of 72 (527 BC) Lord Mahavir attained nirvana (salvation) and his purified soul left his body and achieved complete liberation. He became a siddha, pure consciousness, a liberated soul, living forever in a state of complete bliss. On the night of his nirvana, people celebrated the festival of lights“ Diwali” in his honour. This is the last day of the Hindu and Jain calendar year.
Jains believe all souls are equal because they all possess the potential of being liberated and attaining moksha. Tirthankaras and siddhas are role models only because they have attained moksha. Jains believe that every human is responsible for his/her actions and all living beings have an eternal soul or jiva. Jainism insists that we live, think and act respectfully and honor the spiritual nature of all life. Jains view God as the unchanging traits of the pure soul of each living being, chiefly
shantidoot messenger of peace
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