Bhagavan Mahavir, the last of the 24 Jain Tirthankaras, was born in 599 BCE in the kingdom of Vajji (somewhere in present-day Bihar.) Much of the biographical details of his life are, of course, disputed by various scholars but they are not really important. What’s important are his teachings.
It is believed that he was a contemporary of Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha. Maybe they were contemporaries or maybe they were not. Again it does not matter.
Their are parallels in their lives. Like the Buddha, Mahavir was born and raised in a royal family, renounced his family and wealth when he was around 30 years old, and went in search of truth and spiritual awakening. He became an ascetic, gave up all his possessions (including clothing) and meditated under a tree. He even lived in Rajagriha for many years, the same place that the Buddha lived in for a while. Rajagriha appears to have been a special place. It was also the birthplace of the the 20th Jain Tirthankara Munisuvrata. Continue reading “Best Wishes on Mahavir Jayanti”
Happy Holi. Among the dozens of Hindu festivals, holi and diwali are the most fun. Holi is also a wonderful Hindu export — like yoga, meditation, ayurveda, the Hindu number system.
Vijay Dashami greetings all. Shubho Bijoya. May Ma Durga bless us all with the strength to overcome all our adversity.
After quite a few years, I find myself in India on Ganesh Chaturthi. At my friend’s place in Mumbai where I am staying, today (Thursday 13th Sept) we had Ganesh puja in the morning. There’s Shri Ganesh and of course his favorite modaks (left foreground). I have some videos too which I will upload to Youtube in a bit.
