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Act NOW!
This human life is a golden opportunity to experience and realise our True Self. It is NOW or NEVER. BUT HOW? We must turn to God: Satdev-SatdharmaSatguru. • Satdev - Lord Mahavira - the last Tirthankar
of our times; Satdharma - we take complete shelter in the religion professed by HIM with true faith and devotion; Satguru - Then we turn to SATGURU. The best and most powerful healer is the TRUE GURU who works through our immune
system in miraculous ways. If we take shelter in the True Guru, then we are accepting all three, as it is through the True Guru, that we can understand the Satdev and Satdharma. If we follow with full faith and devotion, we will be amazed at the results.
She then explained difference between being born human and true humanity, Manushyatva. We must strive to attain the qualities of serenity, gentle sensitivity, humility, and compassion. For a peaceful life, we need a True Guru and a good character. Only through purifying our lives, can we hear the truth (Shruti) from our Guru and the scriptures. Repeatedly hearing this Truth gives us True Faith, Samyaktva, the very basis of Jainism. That faith leads us to and gives us the energy to follow the Dharma, and practice selfcontrol. We will thus have all four things which Mahavira Bhagwan described as difficult. Pujya Minalben stated: "One who knows the fives senses, knows the world: one who overcomes the senses, will attain internal eternal bliss."
“Meditation is the missing link between
Mithyatva and Samyag Darshan”
We must thus search for a True Guru who is the embodiment of bliss, who will guide us with experience. We all understand the need for a teacher. Even if we read a textbook, we need someone who knows the subject to help us understand the more detailed meaning. In the same way, when it comes to ATMA, we must turn to someone who knows ATMA, who has realised his Soul, Bhagwan Atma, and is thus a Living God. We seek solace in him and he can show us our faults and guide us how to remove these faults, and to our final direction, if we surrender ourselves unconditionally. His Soul will thus light up our lives
Pujya Minalben later added: "Meditation is the missing link between Mithyatva and Samyag Darshan." A True Guru helps us overcome our Rag and Dvesh, our Kashays, preparing the soil of the mind before planting. Mind and body become fertile by cultivating Upsham (calmness) and Vairagya (detachment) and contemplating the Bhavnas. Meditation is the Beej (Seed) Mantra taught by the True Guru, a method that gives divine eyes: Divya chakshu! Usually our eyes look out, but when we close our eyes, using the method that the Guru has given, we look inside for our soul.
too!!
Scriptures say, by having a human body, we are half way there, and so should follow Lord Mahavir: "A person should properly practice religion before old age inflicts us diseases become chronic, the senses become powerless," and "Just as the withered leaf of
Meditation induces detachment from name and form, making us aware of the changing nature of the body and all around. We forget the past and future, concentrating on the "I am," the eternal now. The Atma's function is to always know (Gnan). When the mind is concentrated, far from concepts of "my car, my family" and so on, we are closer to Atma. Deep within is this experience of abundant eternal infinite bliss, which we all must strive to attain.
'Scriptures say, by having a human body,
we are half way there...'
a tree falls down after some nights go by. Similarly the life of a man comes to an end." This human body is not immortal and so we must ACT NOW!
Pujya Minalben told the delegates that she had really enjoyed the convention and that, instead of thanks and appreciation, she wanted us to make a change in our lives, to make this human life meaningful by the pursuit of self-realisation: to ACT NOW!
This is an abridged version of an article first printed in the Young Jains Newsletter in October 2004 reviewing the TTM2 convention
in September 2004.
Lord Mahavir warns even an ardent, capable and knowledgeable devotee, such as GAUTAMSWAMI, not to waste a single moment. "A drop of dew remains suspended on the top of a blade of grass just for a moment. Human life is also like that. So we should not be careless even for a moment." Pujya Minalben gave a number of examples from the scriptures on the rarity of human birth. She asked us simply: "This is a real awakening for us, isn't it?"
Param Pujya Bhaishree, Minalben and Vikrambhai will be visiting London from Ist to 15th May. To find out more about the programs or the spiritual and humanitarian work of the Asrham, please visit www.rajsaubhag.org, look up the Facebook group RajSaubhag, or e-mail or call Ashik Shah, on ashik@youngjains.org.uk, or 020 8950 3397.
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