Arun Jethalal Zaveri - meditation teacher

Arun Zaveri

Arun Jethalal Zaveri. Arun bhai (brother) is expert faculty, teaching Preksha meditation. .

Arun Zaveri was born in Bombay, India, in 1940. After completing his Inter-Science, he attended the Munich University, Munich, Germany, for higher studies in Science and Engineering. He returned to India after spending more than 5 years in Germany. He worked as an engineer in a Chemical Plant, and later established his own business in plastics and polymers, and silver refining. Arun's elder brother, Jain Muni Mahendra Kumarji, after finishing his undergraduate degree in Science, renounced the worldly life and became a Jain ascetic in 1957. In 1977 he invited Arun to attend a 10-day spiritual camp in Rajasthan, and introduced to him the system of Preksha Meditation under the auspices of Acharya Shri Mahapragya, the leader of the Terapanth sect of Jains and the developer of PM. After just the third day at the camp, Arun quit his 15-year old smoking habit for good. The experience literally changed his life in more ways than he had expected. Impressed by his results, his father, Mr. Jethalal Zaveri, also decided to learn the technique.

Mr. Jethalal Zaveri was also an engineer and a highly successful businessman. After retiring, he devoted the rest of his life to teaching PM and researching it with the help of modern scientific and medical knowledge. He has written several books on comparing modern science with Jain Philosophy, and Preksha Meditation. In 1997, at the age of 84, he demonstrated the ultimate test of his will-power by renouncing his physical body. He embarked upon a unique Jain tradition of Santhara, which loosely translates into fast-unto-death. The fast lasted 42 days when he finally passed away in November.

In 1989 Arun had an opportunity to assist his father in teaching PM on a professional basis. In 1990 he retired from his regular business and focused his time and energy on teaching PM, and assisting his father in conducting research on the scientific aspects of PM. He also spent a significant amount of time studying the elements of Jain Philosophy, and conducted a comparative study with other philosophies and modern science.

Arun served as the director of Jain Center of Leicester, United Kingdom, during 1993-1994. He has been a visiting faculty at Jain Vishwa Bharati Institute, India, since 1994, and was elected as a member of the Education Committee of Jain Academies International Federation on January 1, 1999.

Mayuri, wife of Arun, was born in Bombay, India, in 1946. She earned a B. A. (Economics) from the University of Bombay in 1966. She too began learning PM since the early 1980s, and has been regularly practicing it since then. She assists Arun in organizing and conducting PM workshops and seminars, and also conducts independent programs for “women only” groups.

Mr. and Mrs. Zaveri have applied the techniques of Preksha Meditation for use in one’s daily life, and have developed a program for leading a “Healthy and Happy Life” which includes the following topics:

Stress Management
Achieving and Maintaining Good Physical and Mental Fitness.
Increasing Operational Efficiency - good for IT people.
Setting and Achieving Goals
Personality and Character Development
They also conduct courses on scientific understanding and practice of Jain Philosophy
Preliminary Course - Nine Fundamentals
Advanced Course - Basic Principles
Soul purification methods – Samayika, Kausagga and Loggassa.
Navkar Mantra Sadhana.
Pratikraman

An interview of Arun Zaveri published in LEICESTER MERCURY on, April 6, 1994, Leicester, United Kingdom.

Businessman Gave Up Wealth For Health. A former industrialist from India who gave up his wealthy lifestyle to save his life is in Leicester to teach local people about the benefits of therapeutic thinking. For about 25 years Mr. Arun Zaveri ran factories in Bombay manufacturing silver jewelry, plastics and electrical components. He said: "I led an unhealthy lifestyle, smoking up to 60 cigarettes a day because of the stress of work, and suffered from constant aches and pains before taking up meditation". Then his brother, a Jain monk, changed Arun's perspective on life. "My brother explained the benefits of therapeutic thinking through the practice of meditation and was fascinated. I began practicing it in 1977 and haven't suffered from any ailments since." A science graduate, Arun wanted to probe deeper into the subject and find out why therapeutic thinking was beneficial. He said: "I was taught the concept by monk at the Jain Vishwa Bharati, a recognized University of meditation in Rajasthan." "Being a student of science I applied modern scientific methods to understand therapeutic thinking by applying biology, neurology, endocrinology and psychology and also made the monks understand the application of scientific method." Having learned the basics of meditation and grasping the therapeutic thinking concept, Arun felt it necessary to pass on the knowledge to other people. "As I was getting more involved with meditation I decided to sell what I had built up over the years and concentrate on teaching other people the knowledge and the benefits I had gained from Therapeutic Thinking."