This last Sunday I attended a prayer meeting in Jain temple in memory of a person's mother. There they recited a prayer written by Shrimad Rajchandra (Guru of Mahatma Gandhi), a Jain person, who lived like a monk and have written many scriptures in modern Gujrati. This prayer was to teach 6 basic understanding in a Guru-Shishya (Teacher-Disciple) Q&A style. Here are the highlights as I understood it.
There are 6 basic points to understand in life:
1. Atma hai (Soul exists)
2. Atma anitya hai (Soul is eternal)
3. Nijkarm ka karta hai (Causes its own deeds[actions])
4. Bhokta hai (Bears the fruits of its deeds[karmas])
5. Moksha hai (Moksha exists - a state of eternal bliss with freedom from life-death cycle)
6. Sadharm hi sadhan hai (Righteous ways are the ways to achieve Moksha - as propounded in Jain scriptures).
These fundamental thoughts on Jainism were quite revealing to me, as before then I never read about them or contemplated on. Although it was known in various ways, but presentation in this way is quite unique and makes the understanding quite clearer and simpler.
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