YJA Convention 1994 07 Chicago IL First

Author(s): Young Jains of America (YJA)
Publisher: Young Jains of America YJA USA

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committed by me, forbearing monk, I confess and reprehend and repent of it and cast aside my past self.
I ask pardon of all living creatures; may all of them pardon me. May I have a friendly relationship with all beings and unfriendly with none.
The Annual Rite of Confession The vandanaka also includes certain forms of further confession (pratikramana) and renunciation (pratyakhyana), as we have seen in the case of Digambars. The confessional aspect of guru-upasti is very important to the conscientious layman who has taken or more of the pratimas; he is likely to approach the teacher nearly every day in order to ritually clear his conscience and strengthen his spiritual resolve. In addition to the twenty or more formulas used for this regular practice, there are others to be employed on a fortnightly (paksika) basis and some intended especially for the great annual rite known as samvatsari.
The pratyakhyana aspect of visiting one's teacher never developed into any rituals so elaborate as the samvatsari; even so, it is considered a highly important practice. In accordance with the great Jain emphasis on fasting, the layman typically performs pratyakhyana by renouncing certain kinds of food. This usually involves only temporary abstention, but in some cases it can be undertaken for life. It is accomplished by utterance of a formula similar to the following:
When the sun is risen I renounce for the duration of a day (or certain portion thereof, as the case may be the fourfold aliments (cooked food, water, snacks, and pastes) and except for cases of unawareness or of force majeure ... Or of instructions from a monk or except in order to attain full tranquility of mind, I abandon them.
The latter ceremony is observed on a large scale by Jains of all sects. It takes place during the rainy season, since monks are at that time required to maintain a fixed abode for several months; thus an extended ritual involving their continuous presence is possible during that time.
For an eight to ten day period, known as paryusanaparva, the laypeople take various temporary restraints from food, fasting altogether, eating only one meal a day, and so on; towards the end of this period they go through confession. The admissions of sins, and accompanying pleas for forgiveness (ksama), are directed not only to a teacher but to all of one's family and friends, irrespective of age or sex. Letters are written to those relatives and acquaintances not in attendance, repeating the same acknowledgments of wrongdoing and solicitations of pardon. Finally the participant in a samvatsari extends his own forgiveness to all beings and asks that they grant the same favor to him; this is done by repetition of a famous verse which points up the real spirit of pratikramana-the establishment of universal friendship and goodwill:
Fasting and Presentation of Alms Ritual fasting is also associated with lay observance of the parvan days, referred to earlier in connection with the posadhavrata. The virtue of going without food or drink on these days has long been stressed by Jain teachers; even the early Buddhist texts refer to it as a characteristic practice of the Niganthas. Fasting actually begins after a single meal on the day prior to the parvan period. The layman takes breakfast on the morning of the seventh, for example, then retires to a temple or fasting hall for some thirty-five to fifty hours. During this interval he remains in strict seclusion from his family. Sleeping very little at night, he may chant the Namokara litany or read the scriptures; for the most part, however, he will observe silence and meditate upon the virtues of the Jina. Bathing, or even washing of the mouth, is not allowed unless one plans to perform dravya-puja. (Bhava-puja is more strongly recommended while fasting, but the 'external' ceremony, requiring prior purification by bathing, is not proscribed.) He returns home on the morning of the ninth, does
ksamemi savvajive savve jiva khamantu me, metti me savvabhuesu veram majjha na kenavi
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