Swami Dharmananda
Batinda, 22.02.2006
The Ahimsa Yatra procession was well received by the citizens of Batinda. The procession turned into a spiritual gathering at Seth Bhanamal Trust Dharamshala. The people offered welcome songs and facilitations. H.H. in his sermon said, when he had come to Batinda in 1979, he had recited one Shloka (verse in Sanskrit), and now he would like to repeat the same. The meaning of that Shloka is as follows:
I know the word,
And now I have to know the wordless.
I know logics,
And now I have to reach the state
Where all logic ends.
I have to reach the state
Where the thinking state is finished.
H.H. continued, “For this I want your support. If human being becomes wordless, ontologically thoughtless, then he reaches a new world of experience.
Anekant is the column of the philosophy of Jainism. It can bring about harmony among all. We have used this in our Aims Yatra and have succeeded in establishing the efficacy of Anekant concerning reconciliation. The main formula of non-violence is tolerance. We have to learn to tolerate, the dear and the non-dear.
To look outside is beautiful; we should concentrate on inner beauty also. If there is non-violence, the inner will become beautiful. The person, the society, and the nation, all become healthy by following non-violence. “
In the evening, hundreds of intellectuals like doctors, engineers, advocates, and government officers gathered and got guidance for better and ethical living.
Batinda, 23.02.2006
The second day in town, addressing the gathering H.H. said that there are two spheres of knowledge in Indian canonical teachings, the materialistic world and the knowledge of the soul.
“Man has tried to get the subtlest knowledge of matter, but due to lack of knowledge of the soul, things have become complicated instead of easy. Self-realisation is the root of knowledge, unnecessary violence, and crimes are increasing due to lack of it. The power to check bad things belongs to the knowledge of the self.
There are three stages of soul
- Extrovert soul,
- Introvert soul
- Bondage free soul (Parmatma)
The extrovert soul possesses knowledge of the body only, without knowledge of the self. Neither present, nor future life is good. The person with knowledge of the soul and Karma can be free form bad things by knowing that he has to bear the fruits of Karma. This person is an introvert soul. Only bondage free souls are capable of bringing about the maximum efforts towards self-realisation.”