JAIN TERAPANTH.COM

Philosophy of soul and Karma: Every living being is a soul , existing in the world from infinite time, passing through the cycles of birth and death. It is bound by Karma (a fine form of matter) through its own action of passion - attachment and aversion. Soul itself is the master of its own fate, responsible for all its action - good or otherwise . Jainism does not accept creationism.

Freedom from passion leading to Emancipation: Soul in the worldly existence undergoes suffering caused by Karma. It also possesses the potentiality of attaining Emancipation. First by getting rid of passions (such as anger, pride, deceit, and greed ) and attaining omniscience through right knowledge, right faith, right conduct and right penance one can finally get emancipated.

Non-Violence and Non-possessiveness: The practice of religion consist in the renunciation of two deadly sins of humanity - the aggressive urge and the possessive urge - through Non- violence and Non- possessiveness respectively. The basic principles leading to this two are -(1) all souls are equal to one’s own soul ; (2) limitless desires and possessions vitiate one’s attitude and behavior.

Non-absolutism (Anekantvada): It asserts that infinite twin qualities of opposite nature such as , permanence and change , identity and difference exist in each and every substance. Therefore Truth is multifaceted . All statements contain relative truth. To comprehend the complete truth , one has to take into consideration the different aspects of a thing /even from different points of view.

Terapanth is a religious sect under Swetembar Jain. The terapanthi sub-sect is derived from the Sthanakvasi; section. The Terapanthi sub-sect was founded by Swami Bhikkanaji Maharaj. Swami Bhikkanaji was formerly a Sthanakvasi saint and had initiation from his Guru, by name Acharya Raghunatha. Swami Bhikkanaji had differences with his Guru on several aspects of religious practices of Sthanakvasi ascetics It was Founded by Acharya Bhikshu in Vikram Sambat 1817 i.e. June 28th of 1760 ( Saturday ) at KELWA (a small town in Udaipur District of Rajasthan State ).This sect is entirely based upon the Ideology of Jain .

As Acharya Bh1kkanaji laid stress on the 13 religious principles, namely, (i) five Mahavratas (great vows), (ii) five samitis (regulations) and (iii) three Guptis (controls or restraints), his sub-sect was known as the Tera (meaning thirteen)-pantha sub-sect. In this connection it is interesting to note that two other interpretations have been given for the use of the term Terapantha for the sub-sect. According to one account, it is mentioned that as there were only 13 monks and 13 laymen in the pantha when it was founded, it was called as Tera (meaning thirteen) -pantha. Sometimes another interpretation of the term Terapantha is given by its followers. Tera means yours and pantha means path; in other words, it means, "Oh! Lord Mahavira! it is Your path ( Panth )".
HAI PRABHOO YEH TERA_PANTH

This practice of regulating the entire Pantha by one Acharya only has become a characteristic feature of the Terapantha and an example for emulation by other Panthas. It is noteworthy that all monks and nuns of the Terapantha scrupulously follow the orders of their Acharya, preach under his guidance and carry out all religious activities in accordance with his instructions. Further, the Terapantha regularly observes a remarkable festival known as Maryada Mahotasava. This distinctive festival is celebrated every year on the 7th day of the bright half of the month of Magha when all ascetics and lay disciples,

Sädhus (monks) and Sädhvis (nuns) are people who have voluntarily given up their household lives and worldly affairs and have accepted the five major vows to uplift their souls on the spiritual path. They strictly follow the rules laid down for them. Shrävaks and shrävikas, on the other hand, continue to lead worldly lives. They may observe in full or to a limited extent, twelve minor vows laid down for them.

Terapanth is non-idolatrous and are very finely organized under the complete direction of one Acharya, that is, religious Supreme . In its history of little more than 200 years, the Terapantha had a succession of only 10 Acharyas from the founder Acharya Bhikkanaji as the First Acharya to the present At present Acharya Mahapragya is the supreme head . He is the Tenth Acharya of Terapanth religious sect comprising more than 850 monks , nuns, samans and samanis( a new rank between the ascetic and the lay - followers ) following critical codes of disciplines, and millions of followers all over the world.

Apart From founder Acharya Bikshu Swami & other Acharya's , Acharya Jeetmal popular name " Jayacharya " ( the 4th Acharya ) & Ganadipathi Acharya Shree Tulsi (the ninth Acharya) was a missionary in the history of Terapanth. The were a adorable torch - bearers of great spiritualistic tradition of India . People designated him a "lord of Humanity" His strenuous efforts are well known to the common people.

All Acharayas of Terapanth
(All Dates according to the respective Acharyaships)

At the time terapanth foundation there was only 13 monks and no nuns. In V.S. 1821 three women approach to Acharya Bikshu for Diksha and qualified. Since there was no nuns before and as per rules minimum three nuns required to stay . In case one nuns change her mind how to face such situation. Hence Acharya bikshu asked all three women in case such think take place then remain two need to go for fasting till death known as Santhara - Salekhana. All three women taken diksha V.S. 1821 and these are namely Sadhivi Kusalanjee , Sadhivi Matatujee, Sadhivi Ajabujee. Credit go to Sadhiv's for 1st Women diksha after the 13 terapanth founder monks. Monks further added in V.S. 1822.

Sadhivi Kusalanjee was leader of remain two nuns as like Monk Thirpaljee was leader for 11 monks and all are under umbrella of Acharya Bikshu. From V.S. 1821 to Till Administration of Acharya Tulsee total 1597 women become true terapanthi nuns.

Till the third Acharya Raichandjee there was no Custom for appointing a leader for the nuns. This responsibility were carried out by Acharya's preferred nuns. Sadhvi Barjujee were looking this job during Acharya Bikshu administration, Sadhvi Hiranjee were during Acharya Bharimaljee , Sadhvi Dipanjee during Acharya Raichandjee.

4th Acharya Shree Jeetmaljee has set-up a custom for Leadership for nuns called as "Sadhvi Parmukha". As nuns were increasing hence it was required to maintain deiscpline . The 1st Sadhvi Parmukha Sardarajee appointed by Acharya Shree Jeetmaljee in V. S. 1910. Then after total seven Sadhvi Parmukha including present Parmukha Sadhvi Kanak Prbhajee. The table are as under.

Guru Dev Tulsi who is now no more was magnanimous in life and glorious in death. He lives for ever in the hearts and minds of millions of people for whose mental, emotional, and spiritual upliftment he worked all through his life. He was borned in 1914 at Ladnun (a small town in Nagaur District of Rajasthan). Right from his early childhood he exhibited brilliant qualities of head and heart giving indications of his greatness to be and his spiritual inclinations. He renounced the material world and became a recluse at the tender age of 11years and showed promise to this difficult path with remarkable dedication . He thus rose in the saintly order to the highest seat in Terapanthi order of saints .The young saint Tulsi surpassed all estimates being made about him by the keen observers of the society . This young talent through his dynamism and sense of purpose , captured the attention of his Guru Shri Kalugani who nominated him to be his successor and he actually succeeded to his seat at the young age of 22 years . He thus had the credit to be the youngest of the eight Acharya’s who preceded him.

Acharya Shri. Tulsi was a great visionary and conceived many innovative programmes and schemes to uplift the mental, moral and emotional status of his disciples and the entire population at large . He had the unique quality to translate his vision into actual practice . Rastrapita Mahatma Gandhi is the only other name which captures our imagination in this context . Acharya Tulsi showed great dynamism in conceiving and forth-rightly implementing the Anuvrat Movement for moral regeneration of the nation. The five principles of Anuvrat (brief resolves for leading an upright life) i.e. Satya, Ahimsa, Aparigraha, Achaurya and Brahmacharya became the five pillars of this movement for adoption in real life by individuals. This movement made a good headway through the teaching of his disciple saints , the foremost among them being Acharya Mahaprajna , the present head of the Terapanth sect This awakened the nation to a new moral code and cleansed the personal life of a large multitudes of the people giving them a sense of confidence and a direction for a purposeful upright living.

Gurudev Tulsi took up another gigantic task of editing the age old Jain ‘Agamas’-(shastras) which constitute the canonical literature of the Jain’s. In this trend he and his chosen disciples undertook research in depth on this ‘Shastras’ and discovered the ancient Jaina Technique of Meditation which he named as ‘Preksha dhyana’ This system of Jain Meditation was so well developed under his and Acharya Mahaprajna’s spiritual guidance that it completely revolutionised the Meditation techniques so far practised by the Jain Saints.

Besides controlling and administering a saintly order of nearly 800 monks,nuns, samans andsamanis. Acharya Tulsi was seriously absorbed in thinking about the future of the nation . His main concern in this regard was the education of our children and young men -the real citizen of tomorrow. After a deep probe into the contents and methodology of present day educational system Gurudev and Acharya Shri Mahaprajna discovered some serious loopholes which needed to be plugged to make it really effective and useful.

Acharya Shri.noticed that in the current system though it was advancing in technical and intellectual field but it cared little for the emotional development of the students. This lacuna leads to many evils in the society & proves an impediment in the balanced and harmonious development of a youth’s personality. Gurudev Tulsi along with Acharya Mahaprajna worked out a wonderful innovation of ‘JEEVAN VIGYAN’(Science of Living) as his latest contribution to our educational system to engineer a balanced growth of mental and emotional faculties among the Youth.

A remarkable and historical event of Gurudev’s immaculate life history is his willing and voluntary abdication of his ‘Acharya Pad’ (headship of Terapanthi saintly order) in favour of Acharya Shri Mahaprajna Ji. His is a landmark in Indian Saintly tradition unprecedented & unheard so far. This speaks Volumes of his ‘Tyag Vriti’(non-attachment to mundane glory). The world will remember him for many many years to come.

Acharya Tulsi
  Acharya Tulsi, the Jain guru and founder of the Anuvrat hailed from a devout family of Jain traders in Ladnun. He born on October, 20, 1914 in Ladnun, Rajasthan, India. Acharya Tulsi was a an ascetic. Acharya Tulsi became a monk in Sam.1982 and an Acharya of the Terapanth sect in Sam. 1993. He initiated more than 776 monks/nuns. He has been an accomplished poet, author of over a 100 books, as well as a distinguished religious leader.
He was the founder of the Anuvrata and the Jain Vishva Bharti Institute, Ladnun. He is also called "Ganadhipati Anuvart Anusastha Acharya Shree tulsi." He started his Anuvrata movement in Sam. 2005. He has been a proponent of Jain unity regardless of the sectarian differences. His message was not just for the jains but for the entire humanity. Acharya Tulsi passage of 84 years and 62,000 miles on foot, came to an end on June 23, 1997.
Dr. Radhakrishnan in his "Living with Purpose" included him in the world's 15 great persons. He was given the title "Yuga-Pradhan" in a function officiated by President V.V. Giri in 1971.
  Acharya Sri has given a new form to religion. In this scientific age, there is need of such a religion which can offer a solution to such a mental tension originating from a materialistic outlook, a religion which can make people experience a joy not to be got from material objects, and which can awaken in men the consciousness of morality. Acharya Sri recognised the need of the age and presented Anuvrat and preksha Meditation for its fulfillment. This is a religious revolution which is quite capable of maintaining its identity even in an age of economic and political revolutions.
Anuvrat
The five principles of Anuvrat i.e.Truth, Non Violence, Non Possession, Non-stealing and Celibacy became the five pillars of this movement for transforming the real life of individuals. The ANUVRAT MOVEMENT launched by Late Acharya Tulsi in 1949 has since inspired millions of people to practice purity and self-discipline in personal life. The ultimate aim of the Movement is to create a nonviolent socio-political world order with the help of a world wide network of self-transformed people. This movement made a good headway through the teaching of his disciple saints and still continue under the leadership of Acharya Mahaprajna. Anuvrat Movement raised its voice in the following words:
Dharma is not merely an instrument of ensuring happiness in the hereafter but it is also a means to bring happiness to the present life. Who was fails to make his present life better is unlikely to achieve happiness in the hereafter. The primary aims of dharma is to purify character. Its ritualistic practices are secondary.
A large number of institutions are working under the spiritual leadership of the Anvrat Anushasta, among which are the Akhil Bharatiya Anuvrat Samiti, Anuvmt Vishva Bhamti, Jai Tulsi Foundation, Jain Vishva Bharti Institute Ladnun, Tempanth Mahasabha, Adarsh Sahitya Sangh, Akhil Bharatiya Terapanth Yuvak Parishad, Akhil Bharatiya Terapanth Mahila Mandal. They are dedicated to upholding the Anuvrat Anushasta's message of love, non-violence and peace and undertaking activities related thereto.

Nationwide padyatras
Anuvrat became a massive movement in the 1960s and the 70s. Tulsi had led many nationwide padyatras, logging over 100,000 km, administering the Anuvrat oath. Preksha dhyan was the logical next step. Preksha literally means looking deeply, the technique involves engaging your mind fully in the perception of the subtle internal and innate phenomena of consciousness to control your passions and purify emotion. Jeevan Vigyan (the Science of Living)      aims at the all-round-physical, mental, emotional and moral-development of the student.
What inspired a religious head like him to launch the popular Anuvrat movement, aimed at social reform and moral regenerations? "Human suffering," he replied. "Religion," he elaborated, "has two aspects: Modes of worship which     vary wildly from religion to religion and a code of conduct which is more or less universal. I consciously chose to work on Character and conduct."   Since ordinary people find the five big vows (nonviolence, nonstealing, celibacy, non-acquisition and speaking the truth, common to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism) too intimidating, he developed a "minimum moral code" undated with vows such as: I will do my best to avoid contributing to pollution; I will observe rectitude in business and general behavior; I will not resort to unethical practices in the elections.
Achraya Tulsee - A View
Date of Birth      ...        V. S. 1971. Kartik Shukla Dwitiya.
Place of Birth     ...        Ladnun (Nagaur)
Father's Name   ....       Jhoomarmalji
Mother's Name   ....      Vandanaji
Marital Status ...          Unmarried
Gotra               ...         Khate
Caste                ...        Beesa Oswal
Date of Diksha ..          V. S. 1982 Paush Krishna Pachmi.
Diksha By        ..          A. Shri. Kalluramji
Place of Diksha ...        Ladnun
Teacher (Guru)    ....     A. Shri Kalluramji
Tenure as Acharya:      57 years. Pad Visarjan
Maximum Chaturmas: 10, Ladnun
Appointment of Successor and Place:   (Yuvacharya)V. S. 1993. Bhadravshukla Tritiya. Gangapur
Appointment as Acharya and Place:       V. S. 1993. Bhadra V. Shukla Navmi. Gangapur
Number of Sadhu & Sadhvi at the time of appointment as Acharya:    Sadhu; 139, Sadhvi: 333
New Diksha of Sadhu & Sadhvis during Acharya period.                    Sadhu: 262. Sadhvi: 622
                                                                                                    Present; 136 Present: 505
Sadhvi Pramukha during Acharya period:                                       Sadhvi Jhamkuji, Sadhvi Ladanji,
                                                                                                    At present Mahashramani Sadhvi Kanakprabhaji
Date of passing away (Devlok- Mahaprayan ):                                  23rd June' 1997 at Gangasahar (Rajasthan )

ACHARYA MAHAPRAGYA

: Acharya Shri Mahapragya (91), the Tenth Acharya, head of Jain Swetembar Terapanth group, passed away at Sardarshahr in Churu district at 2.50 pm on Sunday following a heart attack.

His last rites would take place at Sardarshahr at 3 pm on Monday. He was in the city in connection with "chaturmas" festival to be held next month. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot, his cabinet colleagues and other prominent people, are likely to attend the funeral.

"He was guru to all, including followers of other communities," said state home minister Shanti Dhariwal, who is a Jain. Gehlot said, "The country has lost a great guru and a social reformer."

Former Indian President S Radhakrishnan had termed Acharya Mahapragya as as one of the two fine philosophers of modern India along with Swami Vivekananda.

Now Acharya Maha Shraman has become the 11th acharya of Jain Terapanth. Acharya Mahapragya had made Acharya Mahashraman the Yuvacharya of the Terapanth in 1997 at Gangashahar ( Bikaner).

Acharya promoted non-violence and led the Ahimsa Yatra movement. He had traversed more than 100,000 km on foot covering more than 10,000 villages reaching out to masses, spreading the message of harmony and peace. Walking across the length and breadth of India from Kutch in Gujarat to Kolkata and from Punjab to Kanyakumari, the Mahapragya had travelled on foot under the leadership of Acharya Tulsi, his predecessor. During these travels, he addressed thousands of public meetings.

Acharya Mahapragya is credited with the formulation of the preksha meditation system in 1970s. He was also the supreme head of Jain Vishva Bharati University and played a key role in its establishment. He also took forward the Anuvrat' movement launched by Acharya Tulsi.

The Acharya formulated the concept of Jeevan Vigyan' science of living as a panacea for universal problems. Both Acharya Tulsi and Acharya Mahapragya have stated that modern education cannot be dubbed as entirely faulty because it has produced such innumerable people who have excelled in their respective fields.

The news of the demise of the Acharya send waves of shock in Jodhpur and hundreds of his disciples and followers left for Sardar Shahr to attend his funeral. One follower, Vimal Raj Singhvi told TOI that Acharya Maharpagya had visited Jodhpur in 2001 for "Chaturmas" (a religious ceremony) and had stayed for 10 days. He impressed all with his sermons advising the audience to practice "Ahimsa".

According to Singhvi, Acharya impressed all by his erudition, intellect and ideology, which also included the former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, with whom he had authored a book "Family and the Nation". Kalam was also present at the Surat Spiritual Declaration, at Surat and in which 16 religious leaders from various religions participated.

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