CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION of the KEVALAJÑĀNAVINAYATĀPASYA-SAṄGHA
KEVALAJÑĀNAVINAYATĀPASYA-SAṄGHA THE UNIVERSAL JAIN SAṄGHA (RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY) [72 of 78]
APPENDIX VI [28 of 28]
18. JAINA SYMBOLISM [6 of 6]
Forehead Mark
All the different sects and communities of India have different marks on their foreheads. They make those marks with some kind of paste that is fragrant. The Jainas use sandal wood. They make forms which represent different ideas. Very few people understand the original meaning of these marks. The mark the Jainas make on the forehead is of the form of the heart. It is made just between the two eyebrows, in the centre. Our physiology tells us there is a centre of nerves there, a plexus, which becomes a source of light, or inner sight. When we go through a course of discipline, moral and spiritual, we see many things through this centre which we cannot see by the ordinary vision. When we make that sign, we mean it is through this centre we are going to have great power of light. Our object in worshiping in the temple is not to acquire wealth, but to acquire that power by the aid of which we can see and know more. We want spiritual progress.
Virchand R. Gandhi, Religion and Philosophy of the Jainas, Lalit C. Shah, Ahmedabad 1993, pp. 94-95.
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