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Dada Bhagwan Biography & Facts

Dada Bhagwan (7 November 1908 – 2 January 1988), also known as Dadashri, born Ambalal Muljibhai Patel, was an Indian spiritual leader from Gujarat who founded the Akram Vignan Movement. He was spiritually inclined from an early age. He worked as a contractor for a company maintaining dry docks in Bombay before attaining "self-realization" in 1958. He left business and focused on his spiritual goals. The movement around his teaching grew into the Akram Vignan movement gaining followers in western India and abroad. Ahimsa (non-violence) and vegetarianism are an important part of Dada's teachings. Biography Early life Ambalal Muljibhai Patel (A. M. Patel) was born on 7 November 1908 in Tarsali, a village near Baroda (now in Gujarat, India). His parents, Muljibhai and Jhaverba, were Vaishnava Patidars. He grew up in Bhadran, Kheda district in central Gujarat. A. M. Patel credited his mother for instilling an early appreciation of the values of nonviolence, empathy, selfless generosity, and spiritual penance within him. It is said that he was blessed by a saint when he was thirteen who told him that he would attain liberation. He married a local village girl named Hiraba in 1924. Their children (born in 1928 and 1931) died a few months after birth so they had no surviving children. During this period, he was also influenced by the writings of Shrimad Rajchandra, a Jain philosopher who was also the spiritual Guru of Mahatma Gandhi, and householder and religious teacher whose teaching inspired a new religious movement later. He began practising temporary celibacy and later vowed lifelong celibacy. He was a contractor by profession. He moved to Bombay where he worked successfully as a contractor for the company Patel & Co. The company used to maintain and construct dry docks in the Bombay harbour. Dada Bhagwan He claimed to have attained self-realisation in June 1958 at Surat railway station while sitting on a bench at platform number 3. It was about 6 pm and it lasted 48 minutes. However this was not revealed initially by him.After his experience, a close relative began to address him by the spiritual name of Dada (a Gujarati term for "Revered Grandfather") Bhagwan (Lord) became his spiritual name. The experience or self-realization is described as revelation or manifestation of the god within, or pure self, supreme self manifested through body; which he later called Dada Bhagwan. He had differentiated between self and his empirical self as Patel and Dada Bhagwan.He left his business to his partners to concentrate on his spiritual goals. He continued to live on the dividends of his shares of company. He continued his householder life as his teaching did not require renunciation or asceticism. Akram Vignan movement Dada Bhagwan formed a movement which he termed Akram Vignan Movement. Unlike the step-by-step purification according to Jain principles, Akram Vignan promises instant salvation through the grace of Simandhar Swami, for whom Dada Bhagwan serves as a medium. His followers believe that they will be reborn in two lives in Mahavideha, a mythical land described in Jain cosmology from where they can achieve Moksha (liberation) as they are in connection with Gnani (knower). Flügel regards the movement to be a form of Jain-Vaishnava syncretism, a development analogous to the Mahayana in Buddhism.Initially, he had not revealed his experiences to the public but his some close relatives and friends knew it. In 1962, during a conversation with him, a person named Chandrakant Patel from Uganda experienced sudden self-realization. Such experience is described in traditional Jainism as kshayak samkit which is only achieved in presence of Tirthankara. Kanubhai K. Patel was the second person, who was also his business partner, who received instant knowledge in 1963 from Dada Bhagwan. Expansion of movement Between 1962 and 1968, very few close people received "knowledge" through Dada Bhagwan. Following 1968, he bestowed "knowledge" who requested to be blessed. This is the foundation of the movement. He said that he was initially reluctant due to fear of public opinion as in case of Shrimad Rajchandra but after his visit to a Rishabha temple in Khambhat he decided to public performance of Gnanvidhi, a practice to transfer of "knowledge" for self-realisation. In 1968, the first Gnanvidhi was held at Bombay. Over the years, the Gnanvidhi became more elaborate and achieved its present form in 1983. He continued to give spiritual discourses all over the world. He emphasized contact of "knower" (Gnani) to gain knowledge over scriptural or ritual knowledge. His followers were initially spread in his hometown Vadodara and Bombay. The movement expanded in the 1960s and 1970s to southern Gujarat and Maharashtra and in Gujarati diaspora in East Africa, North America and UK. In 1983, he had reportedly around 50,000 followers.When he died on 2 January 1988, his funeral was attended by about 60000 followers. Vegetarianism As part of advocating Ahimsa (non-violence), a strict lacto-vegetarian diet based on Sattvic principles was important to Bhagwan. He argued for cow protection and against the consumption of meat, eggs and root vegetables on ethical and spiritual grounds. Bhagwan stated that "you should never eat meat or eggs. You should not eat potatoes, onions, and garlic, even when you have no choice. This is because onions and garlic are considered items that instigate violence; they induce anger in a person, and when one gets angry, it hurts the other person. You can eat any other vegetables you wish to eat."Bhagwan opposed the consumption of eggs but stated that dairy products can be consumed freely as long as the cows are well nourished and their calves are not starved. Succession Soon after the death of Dada Bhagwan, the movement split into two factions. One led by Kanubhai Patel and backed by Jay Sachchidannad Sangh and other led by Niruben Amin. Niruben claimed that she was instructed and trained in Gnanvidhi by Dada Bhagwan. Niruben formed her own organisations; Dada Bhagwan Foundation Trust and Simandhar Swami Aradhana Trust in Ahmedabad and Mahavideh Foundation in Mumbai. She became a popular leader of the movement and was addressed as Niruma by her followers from 1999. After death of Niruben in 2006, she was succeeded by Deepakbhai Desai. Recognition In 2012, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation named a stretch of road between Visat crossroads and Sabarmati crossroads as Pujya Dada Bhagwan Road and the Zundal circle as Dada Bhagwan circle. In popular culture Dada Bhagwan was portrayed by Gulshan Grover in a 2012 independent film Desperate Endeavors directed by French-Algerian director Salim Khassa. Selected publications Dada Bhagwan authored the following books now translated in English: Who Am I ?; ISBN 978-81-89725-10-5 Generation Gap; ISBN 978-81-89725-18-1 Harmony In Marriage; ISBN 978-81-89725-15-0 Life Without Conflict; ISBN 978-81-89725-21-1 Anger; ISBN 978-81-89725-04.... Discover the Dada Bhagwan popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Dada Bhagwan books.

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  • O Atual Tirthankara Vivo Shree Simandhar Swami synopsis, comments

    O Atual Tirthankara Vivo Shree Simandhar Swami

    Dada Bhagwan

    Para quem quer saber o que é iluminação espiritual, é essencial conhecer os 24 Tirthankaras do passado e do presente. Na era anterior, era possível alcançar a iluminação instantâne...

  • Harmony In Marriage synopsis, comments

    Harmony In Marriage

    Dr. Niruben Amin

    EDITORIAL  Men and women have been around forever. They meet each other, get married, and leave each other, life after life, resulting in complex, worldly interactions between...

  • Amor Puro synopsis, comments

    Amor Puro

    Dada Bhagwan

    Para aqueles que se perguntam como levar uma vida espiritual, o Amor Puro emerge como um valor essencial. Naturalmente se começa a indagar sobre o significado maior do amor, do ver...

  • Anger synopsis, comments

    Anger

    Dada Bhagwan

    Anger management is a popular and necessary topic in today’s world. In dealing with difficult people, in our family relationships, or in facing marriage problems, we simply do not ...

  • Aptavani-14 Part-1 synopsis, comments

    Aptavani-14 Part-1

    Dada Bhagwan

    The book presented here reveals the properties of the Self and identifies the problems because of which we are unable to realize the Self. The book is divided into two subparts:Par...

  • Morte Antes, Durante e Depois synopsis, comments

    Morte Antes, Durante e Depois

    Dada Bhagwan

    No livro “Morte: Antes, Durante e Depois”, o Gnani Purush (personificação do autoconhecimento) Dada Bhagwan aborda questões antigas e sem resposta relacionadas à morte e ao process...

  • Simple and Effective Science for Self-realization synopsis, comments

    Simple and Effective Science for Self-realization

    Deepakbhai Desai

    Vision: "May the World attain ultimate peace and may some attain ultimate liberation " Dada Bhagwan Values: Purity Kashay free interactions Submission to the living Gyani Inte...

  • Whatever Has Happened Is Justice synopsis, comments

    Whatever Has Happened Is Justice

    Dada Bhagwan & Dr. Niruben Amin

    There are times in life when we must endure suffering due to no fault on our part – or so it seems. Life circumstances can appear terribly unjust. Naturally we question, “Why me? A...

  • Aptavani-1 synopsis, comments

    Aptavani-1

    Dada Bhagwan & Dr. Niruben Amin

    "Aptavani 1” is the first in a series of spiritual books titled “Aptavani”. In this series, Gnani Purush (embodiment of Self knowledge) Dada Bhagwan addresses ageold unanswered que...

  • The Science Of Karma synopsis, comments

    The Science Of Karma

    Dada Bhagwan & Dr. Niruben Amin

    Over the course of life, many people become puzzled by circumstances beyond their control – both their own and those of others. While investigating the principle of karma, one may ...

  • The Hidden Meaning of Truth and Untruth synopsis, comments

    The Hidden Meaning of Truth and Untruth

    Dada Bhagwan

    A lot of people struggle to understand what the truth is, what is right and what is wrong. There is perpetual dilemma to distinguish between right and wrong. According to Dada Bha...

  • Aptavani-14 Part-2 synopsis, comments

    Aptavani-14 Part-2

    Dada Bhagwan

    The book presented here reveals the properties of the Self and identifies the problems because of which we are unable to realize the Self. The book is divided into two subparts: Pa...