HereNow4U - Living Jainism Tour 2006 - 06.05 Tamkor

25th November 2006, 16:30 – 20:30

Refreshed, we went for Guru Darshan. As usual, people surrounded Acharyashree and were eager to address him. He however was an island of equanimity, and so were Samanijis beside him. When we came near, an author presented his book to him, titled ‘In Quest of Solidarity’. Acharyashree attentively inspected it; on its cover was also his photo.

He then gave his blessings to the author. Thereafter, he retired, as the hour when he keeps silence had come. All visitors were requested to leave.

On our way out, we took the opportunity to an extended talk with Muni Akshay Prakash who is known to us since our 2005 visit to Ladnun. We again were impressed by the cheerful way he speeks. Our subject was respect for living beings and unanimated objects, roughly about soul and matter. He explained that Ahimsa does not only mean respect of all living beings, but also gratefulness towards unanimated objects for the service they do to us. We can show respect towards them when we keep them in good condition. We were astonished when he spoke of respect towards unanimated objects; he certainly was aware of our astonishment, for he continued to explain his point to us.

He said that he holds unanimated objects in high regard, as they are facilitating day-to-day life. From a cotton belt of his robe - Munishrees deposit objects of daily need in the pockets of their robes - he took an incredibly clean little white towel. “After washing my hands, I use it to dry them. When I do not use it, I could not touch a thing without making it wet, or things I want to grip would slip off my wet hands. I use it respectfully, as it serves me well.” A very down-to-earth and realistic lesson! We kept it in mind because of its simplicity; anyway, this talk has inspired a changement of our attitude towards unanimated objects.

We then visited Munishrees Saggermalji and Manilalji, well known to us from Taranagar. They like always were in high spirits, and it was a pleasure to talk to them. Some visitor kindly translated our talk.

We also talked to the young Munishrees in their company and were impressed how naturally they supported the seniors when they needed help to get up or move. Munishree Akash Kumarji (r) was well known to us from Taranagar and to Karuna from Surat already, where she was in the audience when he took Diksha.

On the main road, we again met the author, who was accompanied by an old friend from Taranagar.

A fountain then attracted us; it was in a little park where the annual meeting of all India Terapanth dignitaries on management issues took place. Someone was giving a PowerPoint presentation on the subject. Near to unbelievable, fountain and beamer in the desert!

We went home for dinner; another unforgettable day was about to finish.