Wave of Bliss

Author(s): N P Jain
Publisher: Jain Meditation International Centre

Page 12

THE WAVE OF BLISS
Western civilisation has given so much hedonistic comfort. Life in its daily routine is comparatively smoother without hassles. These are not the kind of acute problems one faces in a developing country related to bread-andbutter issues, related to sheer survival in the face of poverty, hunger, disease, shortages and so on. And yet with all the freedom from want as well as opportunities knocking at the doorstep for material progress, people do not have peace of mind. Tensions fill the life of an average Westerner and he/she finds it difficult to cope with 'suffocating voids' in relationship with others, with 'disappointments, disillusionments and distress' arising out of failures in communicating with fellow human beings. Deceit and betrayals, falsehood and pretensions shock human conscience.
What does one do? You go to a counsellor or a psychologist and human psyche becomes a disease to be treated like any other. It is precisely at this point that those who have come in touch with the teachings of Jain religion have found remarkable solace in them, a key to the peace of mind and above all a feeling that you are your own cure.
Bruce pours out his heart when he writes: "So much involvement with people, yet the inner balance is stronger now and somehow there is faith that with inner balance and love, the KARMA is not accumulating. It is now possible to help more and be more clear in asserting what is true and not feel exhausted. There is a great inner peace with this new faith".
Danesh Cockayne describes, the feeling of self-reliance 'generated by taking to the path of spiritual realisation of self and getting into one's higher self'. And all this in a simple and direct manner without having to resort to