Articles | Book Reviews | Education
Shrimad Rajchandra, Atmasiddhi, an English Translation with Commentary by Manu Doshi
Amrut Info Print Pvt. Ltd., 2003, 292 pages.
When I received the invitation to review this book my first inclination was to find someone familiar with the Jain religion to evaluate its contents. Fortunately, I did not take that course of action. I decided to review it myself in spite of my limited understanding of Jainism.
This provided me with the opportunity and challenge to gain a better understanding of Jain spirituality, and at the same time assess its value in terms of recommending it to a non-Jain reader. I consider the latter important since so many of our chaplains come from a Christian background and would not be familiar with the principles and values of this particular religion. At the same time they may be required to provide spiritual care for those belonging to this faith and it would be helpful to have a certain familiarity with their spiritual needs.
I found the task difficult at first. Whatever faith one belongs to it invariably has its own unique religious language. And until I became familiar with the terminology it was strange reading. Fortunately there is a considerable amount of repetition in the book and this made it easier for a non-Jain reader.
The book is basically a commentary on the writings of well-known Jain thinker Shrimand Rajchandra, and in particular his thoughts on Atmasiddhi (Self-Realization). At one point in the book, where it outlines the Fundamentals of Jainism, the commentator developed a question/answer approach. It imagines a pupil having certain questions and doubts about aspects of the faith, and this is immediately followed by an exposition from a respectable guru. I found this particular format very helpful in moving toward a better understanding of Jain spirituality.
But besides gaining a better understanding this does raise a significant point regarding multifaith dialogue. It would seem very important that we appreciate each other’s religious language. The title of the book Atmasiddhi is an example. In English it is translated as self-realization. For many people self-realization is simply a good psychological exercise, but for Jains it is a pivotal goal in one’s spiritual journey. One begins to wonder how much misunderstanding exists between faith groups simply because we do not appreciate each other’s language.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to become better acquainted with Jainism and also wants to enrich their own spiritual journey.
Paul Chidwick
OMNI Editor
Posted by editor on November 25, 2003 11:51 AM