Dada Vaswani
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Contents |
Biography
Shoumojit Banerjee, July 12, 2018: The Hindu
MANOJ MORE, July 12, 2018: The Indian Express
From: Shoumojit Banerjee, July 12, 2018: The Hindu
Born Jashan Pahlajrai Vaswani on August 2, 1918 in the city of Hyderabad in Sindh province (present-day Pakistan), he was a brilliant student in his youth. His M.Sc. thesis examined by Nobel Laureate, Dr. C.V Raman.
Acclaimed as a humanitarian and non-sectarian leader, he later gave up a promising academic career to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, Sadhu T.L Vaswani — the legendary educationist who started the Mira Movement.
In order to propagate Sadhu Vaswani’s ideas and vision, he edited three monthly journals – the Excelsior (which became a popular journal), the India Digest and the East and West series.
He also served as one of the earliest Principals of the St. Mira’s College for Girls. On the death of Sadhu Vaswani in 1966, Dada J. P. Vaswani succeeded him as the head of the Sadhu Vaswani Mission.
Regarded as a philosopher and a modern-day saint by the Sindhi diaspora, Dada Vaswani was a familiar face on a number of spiritual television channels.
Fondly addressed as Dada by one and all, Vaswani all his life espoused the cause of vegetarianism and campaigned extensively for animal rights. Every year, the Mission observes November 25 as Meatless Day, to which scores of Puneites responded to unhesitatingly. Dada has also written over 150 self-help books.
The Vaswani Mission also runs several schools and colleges and has offices across the globe.
Dada Vaswani took over the charge of the Sadhu Vaswani Mission around 1965 after the demise of his mentor and uncle Sadhu T L Vaswani.
Inspiring orator
An inspiring orator who often exchanged ideas with world spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama, Dada Vaswani’s addresses and lectures were marked by his witty parables and aphorisms that advocated practical routes to happiness in a materialistic world.
He was also a prolific author, composing several hundred books on spirituality and communal harmony which have seen translations in a number of world languages including French, Spanish, German, Mandarin and Arabic.
In May this year, President Ram Nath Kovind, along with a host of dignitaries include veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani, had inaugurated the Sadhu Vaswani International School which is to come up in the city’s Pradhikaran area.
“He [Dada J.P. Vaswani] has dedicated every moment to the cause of humanity. He has been an ambassador of Indian tradition and culture on countless platforms, within the country and abroad, including at the United Nations,” the President had said, speaking on the occasion.
In August 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had wished the spiritual leader on his 99th birthday via a video conference.
A recipient of the U Thant Peace Award in April 1998, for his dedicated service to the cause of world peace, he spoke from a number of global podiums including the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, the Global Forum of Spiritual Leaders and Parliamentarians at Kyoto, the U.N. and the British House of Commons in London.
Teachings and thoughts
Practise Meditation To Energise Body And Mind
Dada JP Vaswani, Practise Meditation To Energise Body And Mind, July 13, 2018: The Times of India
To know what meditation is, we need to go within ourselves, and, in the words of Sadhu TL Vaswani, “sink deeper and deeper”. No one else can do that for us; we need to do it ourselves. We need to silence the clamour of our unruly minds. We need to strip ourselves of all pride and passion, selfishness, sensuality and sluggishness of soul. We need to remove veil after veil until we reach the inmost depths and touch the pure white flame.
As a first step, we need to throw the dirt out of our mind. You are what you think, taught the rishis of ancient India. Therefore, take care of your thoughts. Often, we pay scant attention to our thoughts. We say, ‘after all, it was but a thought’. But we must never forget that thoughts are forces, thoughts are the building blocks of life. With thoughts we are building the edifice of our own life, building our own future. People blame their stars, their destiny. “Men heap together the mistakes of their lives,” said John Hobbes, “and create a monster they call destiny.” Destiny is not a matter of chance: it is a matter of choice.
We are building our own destiny, every day, with the thoughts that we think. A thought, if it is constantly held in the mind, will drive us to action. An action that is repeated, creates a habit. It is our habits that form our character. And it is character that determines our destiny.
The Buddha speaks of five types of meditation. The first is meditation of love in which we so adjust our heart that we wish for the happiness of all living things, including the happiness of our enemies.
The second is meditation of compassion, in which we think of all beings in distress, vividly representing in our imagination their sorrows and anxieties so as to arouse a deep compassion for them within us.
The third is meditation of joy, in which we think of the prosperity of others and rejoice with their rejoicings.
The fourth is meditation on impurity, in which we think of the evil consequences of immorality and corruption. In this meditation, we realise how trivial is the pleasure of the moment and how fatal are its consequences!
The fifth is meditation on serenity, in which we rise above love and hate, tyranny and oppression, wealth and want, and regard our own fate with impartial calm and perfect tranquility.
Meditation disciplines the mind, sharpens concentration and improves memory. It also energises body and mind. Thus modern medical practitioners have begun to use it as an effective aid in healing and therapy. Meditation also helps the mind to relate to our inner instinct-intuition. This connection aids our creativity and innovative thinking. Thus meditation is a systematic method of tapping human brilliance.
The life of meditation, however, must be blended with the life of work. We must not give up our worldly duties and obligations in order to meditate. We must withdraw ourselves from the world for a while and then we must return to our daily work, pouring into it the energy of the spirit. Such work will bless the world.
The four stages of forgiveness
Dada J P Vaswani, August 2, 2018: The Times of India
The first stage of forgiveness is hurt. Someone has been unfair to me and I cannot forget it. I feel hurt. The hurt keeps on throbbing within me. My ego is hurt.
A woman met a holy man and confessed that she resented a prominent sister of the community. The holy man said to her, “Go to her immediately. Don’t try to justify yourself. Tell her that you have had unkind thoughts about her. Be humble and ask for forgiveness.”
The woman said, “I can’t forget the hurt she had inflicted on me.” But the person who holds a grudge injures himself more than the one against whom the grudge is held. Hurt leads to hate, which is the second stage. I cannot forget how much i have been hurt and i cannot send out thoughts of goodwill to my enemy. In some cases, i hate the person so much that i want him to suffer, as much as i am suffering.
Madam Chiang Kai Shek, we read, hated the Japanese. Her mother was a pious woman. Madam Chiang Kai Shek said to her, “Why don’t you pray to God that Japan may drown in the waters of the ocean?” Her mother, of course, said to her, “My child, how can i offer such an evil prayer?”
Hatred was painted by an artist as an old man shriveled up and pale as death, clutching in his jaws lighted torches and serpents, and cruelly tearing out his own heart with black, decayed teeth.
Explaining the picture, the artist said, “Hatred is an old man because it is as ancient as mankind, pale because he who hates, torments himself and lives a tragic life, with claws because it is so unmerciful, with torches and serpents because it creates discord, and it tears out its heart because it is self-destructive.”
In the third stage, God’s grace descends on me and i begin to see the person who has hurt me in a new light and begin to understand his difficulty. I feel healed. I am free again.
A girl came to a holy man and said, “I know not why, but i am unable to sit in silence and pray or meditate. I feel restless. I used to be so happy … I think it has something to do with one whom, at one time, i regarded as a friend. But she was very cruel to me, and i said that i would never forgive her, never talk to her. I am sorry i said it, but since then there has been no peace in my heart.”
The holy man said, “It is better to break a bad vow than to keep it. Go to her and seek her forgiveness.” The next morning, she went to her friend and confessed her uncharitable attitude and asked her forgiveness.
The one whose forgiveness was sought burst into tears. She said, “You have come to ask for forgiveness. It is i who should be asking for forgiveness, for i am ashamed of my wrong attitude.” The two friends were reconciled.
The fourth stage is of coming together. I am anxious to make friends with the person who hurt me. I invite him into my life. I share my love with him and we both move to a new and healed relationship.
