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484
The Unknown Pilgrims
Among the Terāpanthis, there has been for several years a very real effort in this direction. In May 1972 a group of sādhvis and munis, together with some śrăvakas and śrāvikās, took part in a sadhanā camp of a month's duration under the direction of Acārya Tulasi and Muni Nathamala.33 Sadhanā implies the notion of fulfilment, particularly when used in reference to the spiritual realm. It is more exact to say, at least in this context, that sādhanā comprises a number of spiritual and bodily disciplines which, if practised regularly and seriously, bring in their train a fulfilment of personhood and the harmonisation of all the faculties in a process which leads towards the goal peculiar to the dharma. This camp was organised in order to embark upon a practical training, an existential initiation, with the goal in mind of awakening a consciousness of being and of indicating a direction to follow. In this, dhyāna was given pride of place. At the end of this session, there was a free interchange between the participants and the thirty-six sādhvis present gave their impressions and made their own comments.34 It is extremely interesting to peruse the sincerely expressed Tuflections of each at a moment when their minds had been newly awakened. On the whole, dhyāna was for them a discovery; they now realised that a dimension had been lacking in their lives and felt themselves new beings. They understood that ekāgratā, concentration, must be practised for limited periods just in order that it may become a constant attitude underlying everything and may lead to a deeper and deeper awareness of being.35 The Terāpanthis always act in accordance with directives given by their ācārya and obeyed unitedly by all members; besides, once given the initial impetus, the
33 Cf. Muni Śricandra, 1973.
34 Ibid., pp. 189-196.
35 Several times thereafter some Terapanthi sādhvis have been participants in sessions of vipassanā, a method of concentration propounded by the Theravada school of Buddhism, organised by Śri Goenka, a master in this discipline. Some Kharataragaccha sădhvis have also participated in these sessions. We may make a careful note of this recent initiative, through which the essential values of one particular tradition are being re-discovered through a master of another, albeit closely-related, one.
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