Page 26 - Shilanyas2

For his decisions, Guruji drew inspiration from great saints of the past such as Manidhari Shri Jinchandrasuriji Maharaj (Dada Guru) and Roop Chandji Maharaj. Guruji said that he often communicated with Dada Guru in the course of his meditations. In a video recording available at Siddhachalam, Guruji says that Dada Guru instructed him to travel outside India and spread the message of Bhagwaan Mahavira. Guruji, it seems, initially resisted the instructions. At that time, Guruji was an enormously respected monk, not just by Jains but by all, including successive prime ministers and presidents of India. Traveling by air outside the country could result in excommunication by some among the Jain community. Yet, for too long, the message of the Arihants had remained largely shut to the outside world. Also, the institution founded by Bhagwaan Mahavira comprised of monks, nuns, laymen and lay women. Yet, hundreds of thousands of Jains had migrated to foreign lands and there was no mendicant amidst them.

On June 17, 1975, at the height of his popularity, Guruji made the fateful decision to travel outside India by use of an aircraft. That solitary act is probably the most significant event in the history of Jainism in modern times. It opened doors to many monks and nuns using mechanical means of travel, including outside India.

During his travels, Guruji helped found many organizations and communities across the globe that engage in promoting ahimsa and anekantvad (the thinking that no one has monopoly over truth and that our notion of truth depends on standpoint). In the tradition of great teachers and saints, Guruji generated in all, regardless of sect or faith, a profound love and respect for ahimsa, brotherhood and desire to grow spiritually. His manner of communication was simple, direct and practical. His message, it seems, did not need the crutches of sophistry or scholarship for it was based on truths he had personally experienced and realized as a great yogi and saint.

Siddhachalam Tirth

Siddhachalam, Guruji said, is the place he had seen in his vision when he was around 15 years old. 1 In his vision, he saw a place where he would cause to be built many temples. 2

More than four decades later, in 1983, the site of present-day Siddhachalam was an abandoned Jewish deaf children’s camp. It was also, we learn, a site of the civil war. For Guruji, however, it seems, it was a laboratory to conduct his study and tapasya on the Namokar Mantra and to create a teerth (a pilgrimage place) where monks and nuns could come in the future.

Soon after founding it, Guruji explained as follows:

I saw a dream when I was a child. I was constructing a beautiful temple in a beautiful place on a small hill. Siddhachalam was that place. I saw this when I was 15-years-old. Roop Chandji Maharaj appeared to me at that

time. I was sitting on a river bank.

But this place wants sacrifice. The land has already taken the sacrifice of so many people. Long ago it was a battlefield. Much blood was shed. In the past, people fought among themselves. But now, we will fight with inner enemies as Lord Mahavira did. We must sacrifice our comforts, devote our

time and work hard. 3