Mahavir & Hanuman Jayanti

Pujya Swamiji brought Bhagawan Mahavir and Shri Hanumanji together in His inspirational message on the auspicious occasion of Hanuman Jayanti by sharing, “We can learn from both Lord Mahavir and Shri Hanumanji by taking just two of their many divine qualities into our lives: one being, as Sadhviji shared, their single-minded devotion for the Divine. Through their devotion they exemplified the spirit of not ‘What for me?’ but rather ‘What through me?’ We also can learn their crucial and fundamental message of living a life of non-violence, a life free from cruelty to any living creature, including humans, animals and plants because Hinduism and Jainism don’t only talk about non-violence towards human beings but rather non-violence towards all living beings. That is an important message we need to translate into our own lives of how our choices, our decisions, our actions and our thoughts can be free from violence. We cannot continue to watch our rivers be contaminated, lament their polluted state and then go out and purchase leather shoes, belts and car seats. The same tanneries that are polluting Her waters with toxic chemicals are the ones feeding our incessant need for more and more. We have to reassess how in our lives we can truly live a life of non-violence.