Page 104 - Faith Personified

the rituals of monkhood, serving God and Guru and
acquiring knowledge, so much so that he was the sole
person who tooth tirelessly took 7 lectures of our
Aagam scriptures per day.

What does this depict?

Leave all that which steals your time for spiritual progress.
How effective was Sthoolibhadra’s formula! First, he forsakes
the post of State Minister for the sake of the seemingly precious
pleasures time with Kosha. Next, he forsakes these pleasures
and accepts monkhood. Above all, even in the course of
practicing monkhood, he avoided unnecessary chats and talks
and optimally utilized the time available for spiritual progress.

This formula can become a source of great inspiration–

If you cannot completely renounce this world, you can take
small or big vows and stand by them against all odds. Thus,
you will not lose out on the time available for restraint over
senses and resistance over temptations. For e.g. Immediately

after your meal, you are not going to have anything for an
hour. Here if you do not pledge ‘to not eat or drink’, then
that time will not benefit you. Instead if you take an oath for
a 1 hour, then the time is optimally utilized in restraining
your senses and thus stops the interrex of new karmas.

You are definitely not going to acquire an income of lakhs or
crores in the near future, but if you do not take an oath that,
“I will not keep wealth more than a specific amount’ then
your time is bound to strengthen your attraction, greed and

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