Walk With Me

Author(s): Chandanaji Acharya, Vastupal Parikh
Publisher: Veerayatan

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Ch. 6: Vardhaman - Education and Ordainment
enough wealth and love, but he was restless because he was in search of the absolute truth. His goal was to free his soul from its ties with his fickle mind and mortal body. He used to say, “limitless energy and knowledge of my free soul will enable me to help all human beings, even those in the animal and the plant world - every living entity.
One day, Vardhaman was standing on the banks of a rapidly flowing river. I was watching him from a distance. I sensed that he was thinking about the river. I could read his thoughts, 'Poor river, it is sending all this much water to the ocean, but the ocean is ever thirsty. It is never content, never satisfied! Is life just like the ocean? Is it ever possible to feel satisfied with life? Will our thirst for comforts ever be quenched? Is there any end to our greed and lust? Can we ever be free of misery? Is this the truth of existence?' Vardhaman was getting restless.
By now, my brother was like a free bird, neither tied down by his past, nor worried about his future. His focus was on the strange 'Me' within ones body. How could 'Me' be a ruler, if ‘Me' himself is trapped within a physical form and is ruled by his mind? One who is influenced by external events cannot be an influential ruler. How can the one who is being ruled over, be freed to become a true ruler?'
Vardhaman was focused on only one question, 'Who am I?' Almost no one has succeeded in answering this age-old question. No one seems to have understood the Reality. Why else would there be so many scriptures, and such different versions of Reality peddled by those who claim to have the only and the absolute truth? Nevertheless, Vardhaman was confident that he could discover Absolute Truth through sadhana. He
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Jain Education Intemational