Jain priest urges people to avoid drugs
From a Correspondent
TEZPUR, May 5: “According to Jainism, each individual soul is pure and perfect, but since eternity it is associated with karmic matter which is transformed into different forms. This suppresses inte cognitive and other properties of soul which has, therefore, become subject to birth and rebirth. The supreme object of religion is to show the way of liberation to the soul from the bondage of karma. This spiritual process is inextricably connected with the process of shedding karmas.
The basic concept underlying a vow of sallekha or santhara is to prevent influx of new karmas even at the last stages of life and at the same time liberate the soul from bondage of karmas.” This was a lesson on Jainism given by Jain priest Acharya Shri Mahashraman, the eleventh Acharya of Terapanth sect while addressing the jawans of the Bihaguri ITBP Headquarter and the common people of the Bihaguri area on Wednesday during his five-day long Ahimsa Yatra in Tezpur.
The Jain priest, who after coming a long way with a mission of establishing world peace and harmony and passing a message of avoidance of abuse of drugs or any kind of intoxicating products, held a meeting in the ITBP headquarter before approaching Tezpur town. He stressed particularly on avoiding drugs and added, “It has been noticed that consuming alcohol of any kind has an intoxicating effect on the physical and mental health of a person and because of this, people have been seen losing their position in the family, society and in the business field.” After entering Tezpur town, the Jain priest accompanied by other saints and nuns were welcomed by the Vyawastha Samiti, Tezpur with a procession from the Rupam Petrol Pump. He will be attending a series of prabachan (spiritual meeting) at various places, including Lachit Ckowk, and Mahashraman Bhavan, spreading the message of world peace.
The five-day long programme being held here with a view to spreading the message of peace, brotherhood, tiol harmony, non-violence, environment protection, drug abuse, female infanticide and feticide, has been acclaimed by people.
