“Seek Truth Yourself”
-Bhagwan Mahavira
H.H. Mahapragya’s formulation of praxis for peace is unique because, while inspired by the central Jain teaching of ahimsa, it has the potential to harmoniously synchronize with other religious traditions and their distinct teachings regarding moderation, truth, and peace. While Mahapragya’s formulations of yogic systems including preksa meditation and the Science of Living spiritual curriculum have found most of their support among the Jain community, these systems are not founded with any political agenda and do not require any religious conversion. Because of this non-sectarian quality, Preksha meditation and the Science of Living curriculum has recently found a home in the West within academic institutions including the University of London and Florida International University.
Acharyashree’s call for the moral awakening of the individual was based on his deep conviction that each soul contributes to society and that the health of the individual is foundational to the quality of life for all living beings in the world. This great visionary scholar, and leader sought to identify the common essence within a divided and conquered humanity and found it in individualized religious experience. He defined this common individual experience of pure, unadulterated religion as the “perception of the soul”, and distinguished it from the more traditionally based components of religions, such as ritual, tradition, and ideology. His insistence that anyone from any religious tradition could fall prey to the misperceptions created by attachment to transient worldly things, to the violence that springs from such possessiveness, and to the intolerance that is bred by faulty notions of distinction and difference. His concern over
Although we are all sad that our great teacher and guide is no more, his message remains a song of truth in our hearts and a light of inspiration in our minds.
