Thursday, April 12, 2012

Live from London – Day 10 (7th April) – Second day of the Pratistha Mahotsav

11:00 : Second day of celebrating the Pratishtha Mahotsav. The Mahavir Foundation put up an amazing performance based on the ‘Chyavan Kalyanak’ and ‘Janma Kalyanak’ of Bhagwan Mahavir. As we enjoy the recreation of this most benevolent of events nearly 2600 years ago , our eyes keep stealing little glances at PP Bhaishree – for we just can’t get enough of His gentle inwards looking eyes, his compassionate & glowing countenance and his beatific smile ! How incredibly blessed are we to have out Satguru who has given us divine eyes to behold the true nature of Bhagwan Mahavir and to understand His path.
When Bhagwan was born , 64 Indras (Kings of the heavenly beings) took the baby boy up to Mt. Meru and performed the ceremonial ‘Abhishek’. With great devoution in their hearts they sang the following stuti exalting Bhagwans numerous and incomparable qualities :
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13:00 : ‘Diksha Varghodo’ or Ceremonial procession in the honor of two souls who are about to renounce the world and adopt monkhood. London shravaks took great joy and pride in rejoicing at the diksha procession, and the occasion was graced and blessed by Bhaishree and Jinchandraji. We bow down to these highest of humans , heartily congratulate these great souls and wish them the best on their spiritual journey . May the lords of the three worlds, the Tirthankars bless these divine children of theirs so that they may attain the three jewels of Jainism and dwell in the eternal bliss of the soul.
We yearn for that day when we can all adopt ‘charitra’ or renunciation , at first internally and then externally too. This internal charitra or internal renunciation has been explained to us by our compassionate Guru based on the words of great Jain spiritual masters as follows :
“Atamgnani shraman kahave” – Anandghanji MS
“Atmagnan tyan munipanu” – Param Krupaludev
“Jem aavi pratiti jeevani, janyo sarve thi bhinna asang,
Tevo sthir svabhav te upaje re, kahyu charitra te analing” – Param Krupaludev
We thank our Guru for granting us this unfathomable understanding of the essence of Jainism as preached by the kevalis ! And for these new munis, we wish the following –
“Shudh charitra paaljo,
Vastra ne shobhavjo
Kul ne ajvaljo,
Shasan ne deepavjo,
Ane am saune taarjo”
(O Munis, may you observe the conduct of a monk in the purest way,
May you always be worthy of your attire of a monk,
May you bring honor to your ancestry,
May you enlighten the entire Jain Shasan,
And may you be kind enough to bless us all so we may attain salvation)
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19:00 : Dinner with mumukshus. Despite His busy schedule PP Bhaishree has been kind enough to grace the residences of mumukshus for dinner every evening. The fortunate families have experienced great joy in spending a couple of hours with Bhaishree and the Bhramanisths. Last evening Bhaishree was at the Sanghvi’s and this evening at Narendrabhai and Ilaben’s.
One young Sanghvi recounted the experience as follows – “Large in numbers and devotion, the whole house was buzzing with bhakti for the whole day in anticipation. Young and old alike broke into song as Bhaishree finally arrived with his beaming eyes and energising smile. “Sad guru tumhare pyaar ne, jeena bata diya” (O True guru your love has taught us how to lead our lives). Swiftly filling up the entire main room they sat lovingly at his feet while he explained Param Krupaludev’s Letter 301 to them all. In just a few words he shared the rules by which we can live peacefully in our families and in the world. 1.See a soul similar to yours in every living organism in the world 2. Gracefully accept your destiny as it unfolds 3. Never find fault in others 4. Do not be proud of your own good qualities.”
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21:00 : PP Bhaishree was called upon the stage to deliver an ‘aashirvachan’ to the audience on the eve of the pratishtha. He said that there are numerous ways for a soul to attain self-realisation – Gnan (knowledge), Nishkam Karma Yog (selfless service) and Bhakti (devoution). Of these He said that Bhakti is the easiest for us to follow in this day and time. And then He added that the pratimaji or idol of Bhagwan is an extremely cogent tool for developing Bhakti. Such pratishthas therefore are invaluable in promoting bhakti for Bhagwan. He blessed the audience so that they may develop this love for Bhagwan and that it may someday intensify to such a level that it would lead to union with the pure blissful soul just as a river unites with the ocean.

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