INFORMATION
International Jain Conference on Forgiveness Dilip V. Shah, Philadelphia
Dilip V Shah of Philadelphia is the past president of JAINA. He is currently serving as chairman of JAINA’s Overseas Relations Committee and a member of the Academic Liaison Committee. In addition to being an advisor for Jain Digest, he is also publisher and General Editor of Jain Avenue magazine – a publication of JAINA India Foundation.
JAINA will organize the second International Jain Conference in Ahmadabad in January 2023. The first International Jain Conference organized by JAINA in 2020 was well received and was attended by over 400 attendees. Due to the Covid pandemic, in 2021 and 2022 the Second International Jain Conference did not take place. The 2023 conference will be a threeday conference and the theme of the conference will be Forgiveness. National and international scholars will be invited to discuss various aspects of forgiveness. All Jains, firmly believe in Forgiveness or . Svetambars consider the last day of Paryushan – Samvatsari – as a Kshamapana day. Samvatsari Pratikraman is considered so important that even less observing Jains look forward to participating in Samvatsari Pratikraman. Digambars celebrate Kshamapna on the first day of Das Lakshana – Uttam Kshama. It is inscribed in Tatvartha Sutra, chapter nine, sixth stanza. For Jains, Kshamapana is the essence of being a Jain. You might wonder about a three day discussion on Kshamapna. This article explains why JAINA is proposing a threeday conference. Let us start by understanding the depth and breadth of the concept of forgiveness in Jain literature, history and in our daily religious practices. There is plenty of Jain literature on . Uttarādhyana Sutra (29:17-18) states:
“By practicing prāyašcitta, the soul gets rid of sins, and commits no transgressions; he who correctly practices prāyašcitta gains the path and the reward of the path, he wins the reward of good conduct. By begging for forgiveness, he obtains happiness of mind; thereby he acquires a kind disposition towards all kinds of living beings, by this kind of disposition he obtains purity of character and freedom from fear.”
In our daily prayers and Samayika or Pratikraman, we recite the Iryavahi sutra seeking forgiveness from all while involved in routine activities.
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Jain teachings categorize Kshama into five categories which shows us how to contemplate about anger in various ways. 1) UPKAR Kshama – When someone like a parent or teacher get angry at us we have to realize that they are doing so for our own good. They don’t mean to do any harm to us and hence we need to forgive them with a feeling of gratitude. That is Upkar Kshama. 2) APKAR Kshama – “If I get angry at this person, he/she will retaliate with anger which will then cause me more harm”; such contemplation is Apkar Kshama. 3) VIPAK Kshama – When we contemplate upon the harmful effects of anger - physical, mental, and emotional – and then decide to forgive others, that is Vipak Kshama. 4) VACHAN Kshama – Forgiving others by contemplating upon the teachings of Tirthankars (Jinvachan) that we need to develop the virtue of forgiveness, is Vachan Kshama. 5) DHARMA Kshama – Forgiving others by remembering that forgiveness is an intrinsic virtue of the soul, is Dharma Kshama. Forgiveness is also described as the adoration of the brave. (Kshama Virasya Bhushanam). One of the reasons the 24th Tirthankara Vardhman is called “Mahavir” is not because he was victorious in battles, but he forgave those who transgressed towards him. He was an embodiment of Kshamapana. A famous Gujarati poem some of us might have read in primary school describes repentance as a stream from heaven that has landed on the earth wherein sinners can bathe and attain punya!
હા પ%તાવો િવ*ુલ ઝર/ું %વગ2થી ઉત6ુ7 છે ; ૂ ક? દઈને *ુCયશાળ? બને છે . પાપી તેમાં ;બ
