Dr. Raksha J. Shah
International Conference on Science and Jain Philosophy
The Need For Amalgamation Of Science And Spirituality For Peace And Bliss
It was 7a.m. and as per my usual practice, I gave a click to the YouTube link to listen to the Bhaktamar Stotra after finishing my meditation. My son walked up to me with his mobile phone shouting me the video of a German lady who is said to heal cancer patients, reciting the Bhaktamar Stotra with clear pronunciations. "Mom! do you believe that such recitations can help heal cancer patients"? You and grandmother recite it daily, what benefits do you get? I told him that we both have faith in what the Tirthankaras, the Enlightened souls, have pronounced, and my son, today science has proved that such auspicious recitations have power to keep you relaxed, reduce the heart beats, brain waves and respiration. Such mantras help release the hormone melatonin which not only helps the healing process but euen has the power to help shrinkage of tumours. The scientific explanation convinced him!
In the yester years it was the 'Faith' factor that uuorked in the acceptance of the verdict of the all knowing Omniscient Tirthankaras. As Dravya (substance), Kshetra (place), and Kaal (time) change there is bound to be a change in the 'bhava', (modes/emotions) and the thought process and to accept the change and walk with it is the need of all times.
Today's youth do not take things at face value, they want logical and empirical scientific reasoning to believe in religious precepts. The generation that embraced age-old teachings based on mere faith and respect is now replaced by a more critically thinking population which takes informed decisions on all fronts.
This instance got me thinking about how wonderful and easily palatable it would be, to our future generations, if each of our Jain tenets were backed by proof and scientific evidence.
Two months back, when I first received the invitation for the ICSJP Conference from Samani Chaitanya Prajna, and was briefed about the purpose of BMIRC, I was thrilled to see that our community is truly taking a step in the right direction. The Jain religion is unique in a way that all of its concepts and principles are not dependent on any supreme authority or any single power. It professes that every single individual including you and I have the ability to attain Moksha, just like the Tirthankaras did. It believes in equal respect for all living beings, be they advanced humans or primitive single-celled species. In many ways, these tenets draw parallels to the scientific principles of fostering stability and balance in the ecosystem and aim towards promoting equitable treatment to all living beings.
Scientific research thus far has mainly been focused on tangible and more material-driven outcomes. The benefits of this type of research are no secret. The technological advances we have made with the help of science in today's day and age, have truly made the world come closer than ever before. It can only be imagined therefore, how tremendous the power of scientific research in the intangible fields of prayer, meditation, penance, compassion and forgiveness can be. Several believers swear by these practices and the positive blissful impact of their observance, not only on the self, but also on others around them.
The Jain Tirthankaras are called 'Kevalgyani' or the omniscients. They have grasped and imbibed the realities of the world and the true path to enlightenment. They have navigated through the extremely complex uueb of all the realms, understood it to the minutest detail and worked hard towards propounding these truths to the laities, as they wanted all jinas to benefit and walk towards the path of peace and bliss. It is now in our hands to re-invigorate these teachings by fortifying them with the endorsement of scientific research and experimentation in order to help fight today's burning problems like terrorism, violence, intolerance and materialism.
If science and spirituality join hands and we put our heads and hearts or direct our energies, wealth, intelligence and dedication into unravelling the true scientific and empirical evidences for the Jain principles like Ahimsa, truthfulness, compassion for peaceful coexistence, there is little doubt, that the supportive research will help these principles be received with open arms by the future generations thereby making your world and my world - our world - a better place to live in peace and bliss!
Let me take this opportunity to thank all of the Presenters, the Contributors, who have come from far and wide and all those who have been a part of the event. My special thanks to Samani Chaitanya Prajna ji who was the guiding force, Dr. K.P. Mishra for his support, Muni Abhijit ji for his complete cooperation and dear Pooja who has put in hard work and was at our beck and call all of the time. We are grateful to all others whose mention is not made here due to space constraint but who have been directly or indirectly instrumental in extending their support in the completion of the SOUVENIR.
Dr. Raksha J. Shah, Editor
Dr. Muni Abhijit Kumar, Co-Editor
Ms. Pooja Banthia, Co-Editor
