Banārsīdās

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Banārsīdās (1586–1643). Jain layperson and reformer, who maintained that spiritual development and experience are not a specialist preserve. He made a record of progress in Ardhkathanak, his Half a Story, so-called because it is an autobiography of his first fifty-five years, half the ideal life-span. It is a remarkable and vivid record, ranking with the spiritual autobiographies of Augustine and al-Ghaz(z)ali.