So basically, I live in Uttar Pradesh. In our area, there are mainly two religious communities: Jains and Yadavs. I’m Jain, by the way.
In our town, there are a lot of Jains, and many of them are quite wealthy and deeply devoted to Jainism. They strongly follow a Jain monk named Acharya Sudha Sagar Ji Maharaj. They believe in almost everything he says and are willing to do pretty much anything for him.
In Jainism, during the monsoon season, monks traditionally stay in one place for around four months. The idea is to avoid travelling during the rainy season because walking on the roads could unintentionally kill small living organisms. You know, “Ahimsa Paramo Dharma” and all that.
So, this monk happened to stay in our town. There is a very famous temple here called Chhetrapaal, which, from what I understand, was also built at his encouragement and with donations from his followers. The people here are so devoted that they actually ended up donating crores of rupees to build it.
My family is also very devoted to him, but honestly, I don’t believe in this man at all. My family initially decided that we would donate around ₹20 lakh to the temple. So they went to meet him, and apparently, he started convincing them that ₹20 lakh was a very small amount and that they should donate much more—at least ₹2 crore.
After a lot of discussion and persuasion within the family, they ended up donating ₹1.5 crore. 🙂
Like, aren’t monks supposed to give up attachment to worldly possessions and moh-maya? Then why does money seem to matter so much? And during his pravachans, he often tells people to donate whatever they can to temples if they visit them regularly, because they use the temple’s facilities, water, etc. Like, seriously? 🙂🙏
Second, when this man came to our town, he apparently told people that he should receive a grand welcome—with a Royal Enfield rally, elephants, horses, bands, and all that. And our town’s people were so devoted that they arranged around 10 elephants, several horses, a rally of around 30 Royal Enfield bikes, 12 DJs, and bands from different states. 🙂🙂
And then I’m just sitting there thinking: where is the renunciation? Where is the detachment from worldly possessions and moh-maya?
Honestly, Jainism started feeling like such a double-faced religion to me. I eventually stopped following it, and now I feel much more peaceful living life on my own terms. I enjoy my life, experience different things, and don’t feel guilty about what I eat anymore. I even eat chicken and mutton. 😋❤️
\#TL;DR
I grew up in a deeply religious Jain community, but over time I started noticing contradictions that made me question it.
My family donated ₹1.5 crore to a temple after initially planning to donate ₹20 lakh, while the monk emphasized donating more.
At the same time, his grand welcome involved elephants, horses, Royal Enfield rallies, DJs, and bands.
To me, it felt contradictory to preach renunciation and moh-maya while being surrounded by such wealth and extravagance.
So I stopped following Jainism and now prefer living life on my own terms.
