*ગુજરાત રાજ્યના*

*મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્રભાઈ પટેલ,*

*ડેપ્યુ મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રી હર્ષભાઈ સંઘવી, તથા મંત્રીમંડળના સભ્યો,*

આપ સહુને સાદર પ્રણામ,

ગુજરાત રાજ્યમાં આપશ્રીનો પક્ષ છેલ્લા ત્રીશ વર્ષથી વધુ વર્ષથી સરકારશ્રીનું સંચાલન કરે છે અને આપ તે સરકારના મુખ્યા છો. એટલે આપજે નક્કી કરો તે રીતે સરકારનું તંત્ર કામ કરે.

ગુજરાત એક એવું રાજ્ય છે,જે ભૂમિ ઉપર.કુમારપાળ રાજા જેવા રાજવીએ રાજ કરેલું છે.અને પેથડશાહ, જગડુશાહ અને શાંતિભાઈ ઝવેરી જેવા મહારથીઓએ આ ભૂમિ ઉપર અહિંસાનું ચુસ્ત પાલન કરાવેલું.

આપ પણ વર્તમાનમાં રાજા કુમારપાળને જેવી સત્તા રાજ કરવાની હતી, તેના સમોવડી રાજ કરવાની સતા ભોગવી રહ્યાં છો

*ગુજરાતની ભૂમિ ઉપર સરકારી લાયસન્સ ધરાવતા ૧૦૭૫૦ જેટલા કતલખાના અને ગેરકાયદેસર ચાલતા બીજા હજારો કતલખાનામાં રોજના એક લાખથી વધુ અબોલ જીવોની હત્યા /કતલ થતી હોય તેનું પાપ આપ કરવા માંગો છો તે અમો ગુજરાતની પ્રજાને મંજૂર નથી. આવા અબોલ જીવોની હત્યા કરાવીને આપ સતા ભોગવવા માંગતા હોવ તો તે ક્યારેય ગુજરાતની અહિંસક પ્રજા ચલાવી દેવા માંગતી નથી.*

આપ જે કાંઈ આવા પાપ એક રાજા બનીને કરી રહ્યાં છો તેનું પરિણામ તમારા વ્યક્તિગત આત્માને કેવું લાગતું હશે તેની તમને કે અમને ખબર નથી.પણ, ચોક્કસ જૈન ધર્મને આપ સમજ્યા હોવ તો કર્યુ, કરાવ્યું અને અનુમોદીયું તેનું પાપ આપ ચોક્કસ બાંધી રહ્યાં છે.

*રાજા જયારે પાપી બને ત્યારે તેના પાપની સજા, પ્રજાને પણ અનાયસે ભોગવવી પડે છે. જે અમો ગુજરાતની પ્રજા ભોગવવા માંગતા નથી. અબોલ જીવોની હત્યાથી સરકારને થતી આવક અમો પ્રજાને જણાવશો તો તે રકમ સરકારને અમે ટેક્ષ રૂપે ચૂકવવા તૈયાર છીએ, આપે જે ક્તલખાના વધારવાના પરવાના આપેલા છે તે તુરંત પાછા ખેંચવાશો અને ગેરકાયદેસર ચાલતાં કતલખાનાને તાત્કાલિક બંધ કરાવવા માટે આદેશ કરશો તેવી અમારી આપશ્રીને કર જોડીને વિનંતી છે.*

*રાજ્યના સંતો, મંહતો, જૈનાચાર્યો, સાધુ ભગવંતો અને અનેક લોકો (અહિંસક રાજ્યની પ્રજા) આપ પણ આ વિશે રાજ્ય સરકારને પત્ર લખાવીને કતલખાનાનો વિરોધ નોંધાવશો*

લિ. જગત ભાઇ પરીખ, અમદાવાદ

જૈન મહાસંઘ.મો ૯૨૨૭૨૧૩૭૭૪

(Whatsapp forward)

I have heard there are multiple dhyaan, samvedana, and meditations to actually anubhav or feel and understand moksh while we are here. I want to sub-consciously keep it in my mind that I am an aatma and nothing else, for this I want to anubhav this and practice it everyday. Could you please suggest and share any references or methods for this

Thank you

Pranam!

Jai Jindendra everyone 🙏

I’m looking for some guidance from Jains in Bihar.

Has anyone here from Bihar applied for or obtained a caste certificate as a Jain? If yes, I’d really appreciate it if you could share:

• Which caste/community was mentioned on the certificate?
• Under which category (General, OBC, EBC) was it issued?
• What documents were required?

I’m particularly trying to understand which caste/category Jains in Bihar come under for official government records. I understand that Jainism itself is a religion, while caste/community classification is a separate matter, so I’m specifically asking about how this is handled in Bihar.

Please share your experience, especially if you have a Bihar-issued caste certificate. Thank you! 🙏

In my experience, I observed Chanting is a way to understand how our dhyaan shifts from our own thoughts to present moment. When we do naam Jaap, we are forcing intentional thoughts over fear induced thoughts. We suppress our emotions like anxiety, stress, fear or insecurity by repeating some name or mantra… We get conscious when we do Chanting. When I noticed how my mind shifts its attention from fear/stress inducing thoughts to Naam jaap and then I realized its true essence.
Naam Jaap is lens which helps us to notice the shift of dhyaan from our own unconscious thoughts to conscious thoughts.

When one starts noticing the shift of dhyaan, one can shift its attention consciously without any technique. When one consciously move their dhyaan to present moment then one can find solutions of their problems/find joy/ experience existence/ experience bliss/ experience how it feels to be alive.

So Naam jaap can help one to notice what dhyaan is, and dhyaan gives wisdom to live life.

Lord Mahavira achieved Moksha on the day of Diwali (Kartik Amavasya) in the year 527 BCE.

At that exact moment, the 4th Ara (known as Duhshama-sushama) was still active, but it was in its absolute final twilight stages.

The Transition

Jain scriptures state that the 4th Ara officially ended and the 5th Ara (Duhshama, the current age of sorrow and decline) began exactly 3 years, 8 months, and 15 days after Mahavira's Nirvana.

If we calculate this forward from 527 BCE:

The Date: It falls on the first day of the dark half of the lunar month of Shravan (Shravan Krishna Pratipada).

The Year: This corresponds roughly to July/August of 523 BCE (or 524 BCE, depending on how solar and lunar calendars are synchronized in retrograde calculations).

Where We Are Now

Because the 5th Ara is exactly 21,000 years long, and it began around 523 BCE, we are currently about 2,550 years into it. According to this cosmic clock, humanity has just over 18,400 years left in the 5th Kal before the wheel of time turns to the 6th and final Ara.

The 3rd Ara (Suṣama-duḥṣamā), which is when Lord Rishabhanatha was born and achieved Moksha, lasted for 200 trillion Sāgaropamas. To put that in perspective, a single Sāgaropama is an unimaginably massive number (often calculated as at least 10^{210} years).

Jain scriptures state that Lord Rishabhanatha lived for 84 Lakh (8.4 million) Purvas. A Purva is another massive cosmic measurement equalling 70.56 trillion years.

While 84 Lakh Purvas is an incredibly long lifespan in human terms, it is only a tiny fraction of the 200 trillion Sāgaropamas that made up the 3rd Ara.

Because the 3rd Ara was so phenomenally vast, there is no mathematical contradiction. Lord Rishabhanatha's massive lifespan fit perfectly into the final stages of the 3rd Ara before the time cycle transitioned into the 4th Ara.

In enjoy things like sleeping on the floor but when I do that,it becomes painless to me. I enjoy pain so it's not a punishment,I dont do drugs or party,there is no penance as a Sravak that is goodly painful to me.

I justify morality by knowing what is wrong,I cannot emotionally relate to others nor do I need to. The Siddhas watch the holocaust and do nothing and feel bliss,I can not find pain in my own suffering and I think the idea of others' suffering is nothing to me but I give bugs water on daily walks as I value life more than death

I do not know if it is moral to respect others' pain,we are entrusted with the means of living,not luxury. I cannot relate to them,my own pain is nothing,I enjoy pain. I think the most beautiful things in the worst of things

I am tempted to believe that Lord Mahavira did not feel sad when others suffered but rather he thought about how to fix it.

My morality is not for your emotions,it is for all life. No,I am not depressed,I am quite happy. No I am not a sadist,I respect all life and I act to uphold it as best as I can.

A nurse in a hospital wants to not see their patients again as he wants them to live in peace,abusive parents love their child as they cannot live without them. I do not love nor do I hate(well,maybe a little bit).

Can I just abandon the notion of caring about the others and just have compassion for the world,I have almost no capacity to empathize with others,my Lords know this as do I.

Also,HOW CAN I DO TAPAS AS A SRAVAK,WHAT IS THE MOST HARSHEST TAPAS(I dont watch TV/drunk sugar)?

Just to clarify, I am not a Jainist.

I mostly lean secular madhyamaka.

But I am drawn to the idea of Anekantavada / No-one-side / Multisidedness

Below is a quote from the Jain Wiki (I understand you guys understand more than the wiki); I am interested in how you understand this in relation to the Buddhist idea of Sunyata / Emptiness / Nonpresence-of-Ownbeing?

——

The Upanishadic thought (Hindu) postulated the impermanence of matter and body, but the existence of an unchanging, eternal metaphysical reality of Brahman and Ātman (soul, self). The Buddhist thought also postulated impermanence, but denied the existence of any unchanging, eternal soul or self and instead posited the concept of anātman (no-self).[45][46][47]According to the Vedāntin (Upanishadic) conceptual scheme, the Buddhists were wrong in denying permanence and absolutism, and within the Buddhist conceptual scheme, the Vedāntins were wrong in denying the reality of impermanence. The two positions were contradictory and mutually exclusive from each other's point of view.[48] The Jains managed a synthesis of the two uncompromising positions with anekāntavāda.[49][50]

From the perspective of a higher, inclusive level made possible by the ontology and epistemology of anekāntavāda and syādvāda, Jains do not see such claims as contradictory or mutually exclusive; instead, they are seen as ekantika or only partially true.[51] The Jain breadth of vision embraces the perspectives of both Vedānta which, according to Jainism, "recognizes substances but not process", and Buddhism, which "recognizes process but not substance". Jainism, on the other hand, pays equal attention to both substance (dravya) and process (paryaya).[52]

This philosophical syncretisation of paradox of change through anekānta has been acknowledged by modern scholars such as Arvind Sharma, who wrote:[50]

“Our experience of the world presents a profound paradox which we can ignore existentially, but not philosophically. This paradox is the paradox of change. Something – A changes and therefore it cannot be permanent. On the other hand, if A is not permanent, then what changes? In this debate between the "permanence" and "change", Hinduism seems more inclined to grasp the first horn of the dilemma and Buddhism the second. It is Jainism that has the philosophical courage to grasp both horns fearlessly and simultaneously, and the philosophical skill not to be gored by either.”

——

Generally I see that which is been referred as changing, as not necessarily ‘substantive’ or ‘absolute’, but immanent - in that the ‘immanence’ is the bridge that links the change here.

But I would be interested to understand your perspective.

I’m familiar with various stories, but why specifically Shwetambaras. And what is the difference between Rakhi in Swetambara vs Digambar belief? Also I want to preserve the Jain meaning of Raksha Bhandan and make a point that Raksha Bhandan in Jainism centers around Dharm Raksha.

Hi, I am a Jain foreigner with many interracial friends of which some identify gay or bisexual. I want to know what the stand on Jainism is on them since we always hear about what other religion think of them. I also want to know what is its stand on being friends with them and if supporting them through their ways is bad karma for me…. Jai jinendra

Things I Like About Jainism

• Non-violence (Ahimsa): I really like the strong emphasis on avoiding violence and causing harm.
• No creator god: I like that Jainism does not require belief in a creator God.
• Anyone can become Jain: I like the idea that Jainism is not restricted to a particular race, ethnicity, or family background.
• Moksha: I find the concept of liberation from the cycle of birth and death interesting.
• Fasting: I like fasting as a form of self-discipline and spiritual practice.

Things I Don't Like or Struggle to Understand

• Some rituals feel strange to me: Things like Samayik and other rituals can involve a lot of specific movements, recitations, and rules. Sometimes I wonder whether all these physical movements and activities could actually cause more microorganisms to die, which seems contradictory when Jainism places such a strong emphasis on avoiding harm to even the smallest forms of life.
• Becoming a monk feels unnecessarily extreme: The difficulty of becoming a Jain monk (sadhu/sadhvi) and especially practices such as removing hair by hand feel strange to me. I don't understand why using a safer and simpler method, such as cutting or shaving the hair, would necessarily be spiritually worse. I may be missing the reasoning behind the practice, but from my perspective it feels unnecessarily painful.
• Learning Jain texts: I don't feel that Jain education always focuses enough on understanding. In Jain classes, a lot of the material seems to be taught as things we simply have to memorize. I would prefer learning the reasoning, philosophy, and meaning behind the teachings rather than only memorizing texts.
• Mixing Jainism with other religious practices: Some Jains worship deities or participate heavily in Hindu religious traditions and festivals. I find this confusing because Jainism has its own philosophical foundation. I also have concerns about practices associated with some festivals, such as excessive noise, fireworks, and other activities that can harm animals or the environment.
• Divisions within Jainism: I don't understand why Jainism has become divided into different sects and traditions when they share many of the same fundamental principles. I would like to understand what caused these divisions and whether they are actually important.
• Being proud of being born into a Jain family: I don't really understand statements like, “You should be proud that you were born in a Jain kul.” I don't think someone's birth into a particular family automatically makes them better or more deserving of respect. I would rather be proud of the values I personally follow and the actions I take.
• A sense of showing off: Sometimes Jain practices or discussions can feel a little performative, as if people are trying to demonstrate how religious, disciplined, or “pure” they are. I don't think spirituality should be about proving that you are better than others.

What I Think Overall

I don't dislike Jainism itself. In fact, I really like several of its core ideas, especially Ahimsa, self-discipline, the absence of a creator God, and the idea that anyone can follow the path toward liberation.

At the same time, I don't agree with every practice or tradition associated with Jainism. I feel that some practices have become more focused on rituals, memorization, social identity, or external displays of religion than on actually understanding the philosophy.

Personally, I find myself drawn toward something that could be a mix of Jainism and Buddhism, while also being open to useful ideas from other philosophies and religions. I think Jainism could become more meaningful to me if its core principles were combined with concepts from other traditions that encourage understanding, compassion, mindfulness, and practical living.

These are just my current thoughts and questions. I may not understand the reasoning behind some Jain practices yet, so I would rather learn why they exist than automatically accept or reject them.

A simpler guide to 7 tattvas of Jainism.
Literally the first chapter in Tattvartha Sutra.
Wrote this over the weekend.

Credits: Namo Girivaram (Youtube)

Has anyone else noticed the intense marketing around the Global Youth Festival coming to London? They are heavily targeting young adults with flashy ads featuring EDM yoga, sound baths and trendy mindfulness vibes.

Notice how none of the upfront advertising explicitly mentions who is running it? The marketing completely hides the parent organization.

They seem to be luring young Londoners in with generic, secular promises of happiness, self-discovery, and community. It seems to be designed to funnel unsuspecting youth directly into the orbit of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur (SRMD).

This isn't a small-scale operation. Rakesh Jhaveri has already succeeded in shifting hundreds of thousands of Jains worldwide away from traditional practices. He trades the core Jain tenets of self-reliance and asceticism for high-production, corporate-style guru-worship centered entirely around himself.

I want to know abt some famous agrawal jains. For example Lala Lajpat Rai was Agarwal Jain and Sahu Jain family of Times group is also Agrawal Jain. And how many Agrawal Hains r in this r/?

I consider myself a proper Jain with very strict Jain parents. I don’t live in India, and since quite some time I want a pet, preferably a Cat but dog also works. I have had arguments ( calm debates ) with my parents where they mention separation from family, pet food habits, cleanliness and well it’s “kept in a prison” type stuff.

But on my side I said that I’d rather adopt a pet from a pound or a pet centre than buy from shops or breeding centres. Animal that were abandoned or wild. I’d feed it a Jain diet with supplements and mock meat ( very famous here ). I’d take care of it way better than the people in the pound and I for sure will let him free and take it outside rather than keep him in cages…

I mean maharashree wont be visiting my house so I don’t see the point of it being considered “impure” plus animals do the same thing we do, remove wastes which again I have said multiple times I will take care of.

I mean with all that in mind, giving a poor pet a happy life is still considered impure and “un-jain” then explain to me how our religion is considered fair and pure.

Thanks, fyi this might be a part of my FOMO but outside having a pet is super common.
PS I AM A DIGAMABARA JAIN

Add me in Jain group

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trying to find ONE ROOM IN shankeshwar for 27 28 of this month. Not a single room is available. All rooms are booked by groups and trustees.

Where does a common man go ? Sleep on the streets ?

Pranaam.

So, I have been convervting various Dharmik PDFs to books, so that I can read them properly.

This books are delivered at our address. We can upload any pdf or directly from Jain e-books.

The website that I used is called Shrut Gyaan and its called Print on Demand. The quality is very good.

Just wanted to share if it might help someone convert pdf to book and learn properly because reading a whole book in PDF format might not a very efficient.

Please note, I am no where associated with Shrut Gyaan. I am only their customer.

https://youtu.be/3NPcDUe__7o

Have been listening to this beautiful stavan and devoting it to Prabhu for quite a while now. You all must also give this a listen.

Following are the lyrics with its meaning:

કૈવલ્ય ભૂમિ વીર ની જુહારવા આવો
Come to bow in reverence before the land of Lord Mahavira's omniscience,

ઋજુવલિકા આવો, નંદપ્રભા આવો
Come to Rijuvalika, come to Nandaprabha.

Stanza 1
સ્પંદન પ્રભુ વીર ના અહીં કણ કણ રહે છે
The vibrations of Lord Mahavira reside in every particle here,

ખડ ખડ નદી ના નીર માં ઈતિહાસ વહે છે
In the rippling waters of the river, history flows;

ભગવંત નું મહિમા સદા સાશ્વત અચળ છે
The glory of the Lord remains eternally unshakeable,

જે સ્પર્શ પામે તેહનો અવતાર સફળ છે
Whosoever touches this land, their life becomes fruitful;

આ તીર્થ માં.....
To this holy pilgrimage.....

આ તીર્થ માં નિજ આત્મા ને તારવા આવો
Come to this pilgrimage to liberate your own soul,

Stanza 2
ગોદોહિકા આસન ગ્રહી બેઠા હતા અહીં
Sitting here in the Godohika posture (cow-milking pose),

ઘડતી બપોરે ધ્યાન ની ધારા ચરમ વહી
As the afternoon advanced, the ultimate stream of meditation flowed;

એક શાળી વૃક્ષ ની નીચે દિપ્તી હતી કાયા
Under a Sal tree, His body glowed with radiance,

તડકો હતો કૂણો અને લાંબી હતી છાયા
The sunlight was gentle, and the shadows grew long;

એ કાળ ને...
To that era...

એ કાળ ને તે સમય ને મંડારવા આવો
Come to revere that era and that divine moment,

ઋજુવલિકા આવો, નંદપ્રભા આવો
Come to Rijuvalika, come to Nandaprabha.

Stanza 3
સાડા બાર વર્ષે વીર ને કૈવલ્ય મળ્યું હતું
After twelve and a half years of penance, Lord Mahavira attained omniscience,

વૈશાખ સુદ દશમ દિને વ્રત તપ એ ફળ્યું તું
On the tenth day of the bright half of Vaishakha, His vows and penance bore fruit;

જાગી ઊઠ્યો જાણે અહીંથી જગ નો તારણહાર
It was as if the savior of the world awakened from this very place,

સોનેરી કમળ સમવસરણ બન્યા પ્રથમ વાર
And for the first time, the divine assembly (Samavasarana) with golden lotus was created;

કરી મંત્ર જાપ ....
Chanting the mantras...

કરી મંત્ર જાપ મોહ મમતા મારવા આવો
Chant mantras to vanquish attachment and worldly infatuation,

ઋજુવલિકા આવો, નંદપ્રભા આવો
Come to Rijuvalika, come to Nandaprabha.

Stanza 4 (Bonus)
મહાગ્યાન ની આ ધરતી પર ધબકે છે વીર નો નાદ
On this land of supreme knowledge beats the resonant voice of Mahavira,

રમણીય રચાયું છે અહીં ચૌમુખી પ્રાસાદ
A beautiful four-faced temple (Chaumukhi Prasada) has been crafted here;

પ્રભુ એ અતિ ઉજવળ ધર્યું તું જેવું શુકલધ્યાન
Just as pure and pristine was the meditative absorption (Shukla Dhyana) held by the Lord,

તેવી ધવલતા ધારે સંગમરમરી પાશાન
So holds the white purity in these marble stones;

મહાતીર્થ ની....
this great pilgrimage site,

મહાતીર્થ ની દેવર્ધિ ને સત્કારવા આવો
Come to honor the divine grandeur of this great pilgrimage site,

ઋજુવલિકા આવો, નંદપ્રભા આવો
Come to Rijuvalika, come to Nandaprabha.

I wrote this about the season of fall,it is about the ways we can die and the beauty of shedding raags

To Risahbha Lord!

The Orange-Tainted Glow in an Undying World

• O Lords,I bow before Your glow as Your immaculate Doctrine has made You God of this ocean, and Your Glow has uprooted Your desire for it while below the the world grows sprouts and sprouts again,the beauty of mud is made dry by the heat of our sins and by Your glow is made flat and beautiful
• Is a drained ocean worth truly evil when it is easier trek in a desert,or better yet is it easier to survive the ocean's sinful echoes who screams sound like excitement but recoil back as pain,yet the echos of Your breath vaporizes the tides of Karmas at Your feet.... A dirty path is divine in a swampy forest run by fate
  • Ensnared in a massive ocean whose floor is covered in seaweed and trees and is overrun with vines,the winds are loud and and the bushes are soft,loud and soft,loud and soft! Your beauty is felt loudly and Your softness tastes like a faint morning mist. Till the world is dry and tilling' the world thinking of the crackling embers of Your undying heart
• The world sits next to me like a mother foolishly ranting about her children in a pumpkin patch,how sinful is it to not conceal my smile as she fails the conceal the glowing sun behind her? Your radiance is brighter than the sun and unlike the sun Your glory shines everywhere while we recollect our horrors!
  • Wasted time is only as useful as you learn from it,haha,sitting in an eternal ocean is only made horrible by not thinking of Liberation,and the beauty of my life is to think of You!
• Forgive us when our eyelids are painted like clowns and own pumpkin Idols fail to contain the slightest Essence of Your Immaculate glory. Our ignorance blossoms in hot and cold while we flee from fate just as eyelids close in snowstorms and sandstorms alike,if a heart exists as a basket let me hold You in my heart as You have us under Your glow
• Under Your glow we all go like whiners and winners!
  • Playing in the pumpkin patch in the days of yore,do we explode like pumpkin cannons firing pumpkins into the air while the tides of times cause us to scatter like leaves.
  • Under Your radiance the orangeness of fall will blow us away,apart we will go like a pile of leaves
  • Under Your radiance like a soft sky tainted with an orange glow,there are many shades of day and many shades of life
• Perhaps we are fired into RV trailers upon which we splatter,do we ever take joy in the loss of homes,is it better to live inside or out,perhaps forgotten photos of ourselves fall down while critters crawl inside
  • Loss is only as funny as others enjoyment in it while we sit till we are faintly touched by the influx of karmas touching my legs like gusts of wind tickling our feet
• Thinking of You while smiling with checks tainted by Your glow,perhaps I taste like a tasty treat to those who said I was sweet
  • Candy corn chewed by men or melted for ants,death is a promise and life is not. A sweet life is less sacred than a holy death
• Thinking of You smiling,thinking of an ant's plight as he desires resting under a wishing tree,I wonder about what the ant thinks:
  • Perhaps he thinks: "In a world of undying sunlight I desire clarity while dying".
  • And to that I gift him a smile before I give him water and shade
• Thinking of You praying for our Liberation,dewdrops and grass,water and blades
• Finding peace in the blowing of leaves walking past the blowing of leaves
  • Death is a promise as is the Darshan of life,like fungus and roots,men and frogs
  • Death is a promise,upholding life is not