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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. MASTERS THESIS 13-10,919 6UNARATANA, Henepola A STUDY OF JAIN AND UPANISADIC MEDITATION FROM SELECTED TEXTS. The American University, M.A., 1977 Religion, history
University Microfilms International^ Ann Arbor, Michigan48ioe
0 Copyright by
HENEPOLA GUNARATANA
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1 9 7 7
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. A STUDY OF JAIN AND UPANISADIC MEDITATION
FROM SELECTED TEXTS
by
Henepola Gunaratana
Submitted to the
Faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences
of The American University
in partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree
of
Master of Arts
in
History of Religion
Signatures of Committee :
Chairman; ~0/
Dean of the College
1977
The American University Washington, D. C. 20016
THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LILRIH.Y 5 ‘'I S 'b
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...... 1
part I . UPANISADS
Chapter I. The Religious Problem in the Upanisads and the Need for Release ...... 3
I I . M editation ...... 17
III. The Threefold Method ...... 28
PART I I . JAINISM
IV. The Religious Problem in Jainism and the Need for Release ...... 41
V. Meditation in the Jaina Sutras...... 60
VI. Meditation in Yogabindu ...... 51
part I I I .
VII. Conclusion...... 104
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION
To say anything about meditation in a comprehensive manner is
almost impossible. In the various traditions of meditation certain
metaphysical and phenomenological frameworks differ. There are also
linguistic and terminological differences. One common term used in
Indian meditation is yoga. It is used indiscriminately by all
Indian meditation systems. Yoga, on the one hand, means to bind
together and on the other, to liberate. It is in this second sense
that I use the word. Both the Upanisads and Jainism equally share
the belief that yoga is important to gain concentration, to destroy
obsessions and to acquire supernormal powers. Interpretations of
yoga, however, differ from religion to religion depending on
doctrinal differences in each religion. The different ways in which
liberation is gained constitute different yogas.
This thesis is a study of the contribution of the meditation
traditions of several major Upanisads and several Jaina texts. Both
traditions have contributed to a huge volume of experiential
accounts of meditation. However, I restrict my thesis to the Jaina
Sutras and the Yogabindu of Haribhadrasuri of Jainism and Brhadlranyaka,
Chandogya, Aitareya, T aittiriya, and Katha Upanisads. I narrow my
field further to the theory and practice of the Jaina and Upanisadic
traditions rather than to their historical development.
The thesis has been divided into three parts. The first part
contains three chapters on the Upanisads. The first chapter is The
1
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Religious Problem in the Upanisads and the Need for Release.
The second chapter is Meditation, and the third is The Threefold
Method. Part two consists of three chapters on Jainism. Chapter
four is The Religious Problem in Jainism and the for Release;
chapter five is Meditation in the Jaina Sutras and chapter six
is Meditation in Yogabindu. Part three, chapter seven, is the
Conclusion.
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UPANSADS
CHAPTER I
The Religious Problem in the Upanisads
And the Need fo r R elease
The main Upanisadic problem is the problem of discrimination
of nirguna Brahman from saguna Brahman, jivitman from paramitman, maya
from Reality and advaita from dvaita. In addition, man must find his
place in this whole complexity of the Upanisadic view of the universe.
He also needs to discover a way to communicate with Brahma or Brahman,
Atman or atman, miyi or Reality. In this chapter I will bring out in
some detail how selected Upanisads have answered these questions from
a religious point of view. From these answers we will see that man
cannot solve the basic problems by anything other than release from
mâyâ, the individual soul, and karma which bind him to samsara. The
knowledge of Reality liberates him from mâyâ; the knowledge of nirguna
Brahman liberates him from the attachment to saguna Brahma; and the
knowledge of paramatman liberates him from j ivitman and karma. I will
concentrate on five Upanisads chat are relevant to the topic. These
five Upanisads are the Brhadaranyaka, Chandogya, Aitareya, T aittiriya,
and Katha. Occasionally, though, I will make a brief reference to the
M aitri, Mundaka, ^vetisvatara and Kena Upanisads.
3
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In the Upanisadic view Brahman has two aspects, manifested and
unmanifested (saguna Brahman and nirguna Brahman); the soul has two
aspects, such as individual soul and universal Soul (jIvatman and
paramitman); reality has another apect which is illusion (mâyâ). The
Upanisads have been interpreted in two ways, dualistic and non
dualist ic. The main problem lies in this Upanisadic dichotomy.
Brahman
Nirguna Brahman means that original Reality which is without
qualifying attributes or characteristics. It is also called Supreme
Brahma (Para-Brahma). This means that Brahman is indescribable in
any language because it has no personality, characteristic marks or
attributes of any kind. Qualities or conditions limit a thing. As
Brahman is unlimited no qualification can apply to Brahman.
You could not see the seer of seeing. You could not hear the hearer of hearing. You could not think the thinker of thinking. You could not understand the understander of understanding. He is your soul which is in all things.
He (Yâjnavâlkya) said: That, 0 Gargi, Brahman call the imperishable (aksara). It is not coarse, not fine, not short, not long,’not glowing (like fire), not adhesive (like water), without shadow and without darkness, without air and without space, without stickiness (intangible), odorless, tasteless, without eye, without ear, without voice, without mind, without energy, without breath, without mouth, (without personal or family name, unaging, undying, without fear, immortal, stainless, not uncovered, not covered), without measure, without inside and without outside. It consumes nothing so ever, no one soever consumes i t .^
^Robert Ernest Hume, Trans. & ed., The Thirteen Principal Upanishads [sic], second edition, revised (Oxford University Press, London, Oxford, New York, 1975). First published 1921. Brhadaranyaka 3.4.2. 2ibid., 3,8.8.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Verily, 0 Gârgi, that Imperishable is the unseen Seer, the unheard Hearer, the unthought Thinker, the ununder stood Understander.3
These passages and other similar statements referring to
Brahman a re not only d e s c rip tio n s of the in d esc rib a b le Brahman but
the nature of the final goal of the Upanisads. Nirguna Brahma is
indescribable. Any attempt to describe it is a waste of words and
tim e. In ste a d , i t i s much b e tte r i f one rem ains s ile n t when someone
asks to explain who nirguna Brahma is. The other alternative answer
to such questions is to answer negatively because all the questions
people ask about nirguna Brahman are related to what they know from
their sensory experience and nirguna Brahman is beyond all experiential
realms. What they know from their sensory data are either qualitative
or quantitative. Naturally if Brahman is without qualities or quantities
one can only answer the qualitative or quantitative questions negatively.
All one may say is that Brahman exists. If one were to use any
gender to explain Brahman, he contradicts himself in terms. However,
in order to make a reference to Brahman sometimes "He" is used;
sometimes, "it" is used. But "She" is never used. This does not mean
Brahman has attributes. It only means that the writers use a pronoun
and the only two terms they use for this purpose are either "He" or
"It". Maitri Upanisad says: "For him east and other directions
exist not, nor across nor below, nor above (He is) unlimited."^ The
Katha Upanisad has described the indescribable nirguna Brahman in
similar negative terms, such as, "what is soundless, touchless.
^Ibid., 3.9.11 "^Ibid,, Maitri 6.17.
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formless, imperishable, likewise tasteless, constant, odorless,
without beginning, without end, higher than the g r e a t . Mundaka
Upanisad finds another way of expressing the same idea. "That which
is invisible, ungraspable, without family, without caste, without
sight or hearing is It, without hand or foot,eternal."He is
apart from all moral, causal, or temporalrelations."The u ltim a te
is void of any mark (alinga) whatever,"without q u a litie s
(nirguna ) T h a t which is real is completely negative in our sense
of the word. The most positively existing Brahman is presented in the
most negative terms. Only explaining nirguna Brahman negatively brings
out its indescribable nature.
His form is not to be beheld, no one soever sees Him with the eye. They who know Him with heart and mind as abiding in the heart, become i m m o r t a l . 10
But the Kenopanisad denies that even the mind can know Brahman. "There
the eye goes not, speech goes not, nor the mind; we know not, we
understand not. How one would teach it?"^^ "Not by speech, not by
mind, not by sight can He be apprehended; how can He be comprehended
otherwise than by saying 'He is'?"l^ No matter what one does to express
anything about Brahman one fails in language. But the Kena Upanisad
says, "It is conceived of by him by whom It is not conceived of. He
by whom It is conceived of, knows it not. It is not understood by
those who understand it. It is understood by those who understand it 1 3 not." These tautological and paradoxical statements are scattered
through the Upanisads.
^Ibid., Katha 3.15 ^Ibid., Mund. 1. 1. 6. ^Ibid., Katha 2.13.14. 8lbid., Katha 6.8. ^Ibid., ^vet. 6.11. lOibid., Mund. 2.2.11; Br. 1.4.7. lllbid., Katha 3.15; Kena 3., Tait. 2.4.9. *Ibid., Katha 6.12. U l b i d . , Kena 11.
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Non-dualists may say nothing but Brahman exists. They call It
sometimes the "Absolute Brahman" and sometimes "Pure Consciousness"!^
The supreme reality is beyond all other realities such as space, time
and causation which are subject to conditional or unconditional change.1^
But nirguna Brahman simply exists. It does not change.
The theory that the universe came into being from non-being seems
to have given rise to the concept of nirguna Brahman and belief that
the world was created by Brahman seems to have given birth to the
concept of saguna Brahm an.In other words, the anthropomorphized
Brahma is called saguna Brahman. According to the Upanisads, the
u n lim ite d , i n v is ib le , im personal, o r ig in a l Brahma under the in flu en ce
of mâyâ became the visible, personified, secondary, inferior B r a h m a . 1^
The original Brahma manifests itself in a personified form as Cod. Uc
takes the form of a creating Brahman, a preserving Visnu and a
/ destructive Siva. Saguna Brahman is not a different type of Brahman.
The only difference, if any, is that the nirguna Brahman is unmanifested
and the saguna Brahman is manifested. 1 8 The manifested Brahman is seen
in three forms.
It is this manifested form of Brahman that is an object of
meditation. Nirguna Brahman cannot be the object of prayer or medi
tation.From the Upanisadic description one would not be able to
l^Swâni Nikhilânanda, The Upanishads [sic], (Harper Torchbooks, Harper & Row, Publishers, New York and Evanston, 1 9 6 4 ) O rig in al edition, George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1 9 6 3 ; p. 3 4 . l^Ibid. p. 3 4 * Ibphe Thirteen Principal Upanishads, pp. 1 0 - 2 3 . l^The Upanishads, p. 39^ l^Ibid., p. 3 9 - 19lbid., p. 4 0 ,
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. identify which of these Brahmas is meant by a particular description 20 because of the confusion of gender. There are more than twelve
definitions of Brahman in the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad alone but none
of them encompasses everything that we want to say of Brahman.
Atman
The conversation between AjStasatru and Gârgi ends in "as a
spider might come out with his thread, as small sparks come forth
from the fire, even so from this Soul come forth all vital energies,
all worlds, all gods, all beings. The mystic meaning of Upanisad
therefore is"the Real of the real,"^! This conclusion leads to the
next question. That is, how can the universal Soul, paramatman, be
separated from the individual soul, j ivatman? Nirguna Brahman as
described in the Brhadaranyaka, Chandogya, T aittiriya, Katha, and
Aitareya Upanisads is synonymous with paramatman. These are the
epithets used to describe Brahman and Atman together;
My child, in the beginning it was existence only, one alone without the second;22 Here one sees nothing elsc.;23 All this is but the Self;24 in the beginning all this was but the one Self.25 All this is verily Brahman;26 the self devoid of sin; The Brahman that is immediate and direct;23 That which is beyond hunger and th irst;29 Hot this, not this;30 neither gross nor subtle;^! This Self is not this;32 It is the Seer Itself unseen;13 Knowledge, Bliss;14 Existence, Knowledge, Infinite;15 Imperceptible, Bodiless;l^ That great unborn Self;17 I t is verily beyond what is known and what is unknown;11 I t is neither born nor dies.^^
20ibid., p. 41, 21%b@ Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Brh. 2 .1 .2 0 . 22ibid., Chan. 6 .2 .1 . 2llbid., 7 .2 4 .1 . 24ibid. 7. 25.2. 25ibid., Ait. 1, 1. 1. 26ibid., Chan. 3.14.1. 27ibid., 8.7.1. 28lbid., Brh. 3,4.1. 29lbid., 3.5.1. 30ibid., 2.3.6. lllbid. 3.88. 32ibid., 3.5.1. l^Ibid., 3.8.11. 3.9.27, ISlbid., Tait. 2. 1. 36ibid., 2.7. l^Ibid., Brh. 4.4.22. l^lbid., 2.4.12. 19lbid., 2.15.19.
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If the descriptions used for Brahman correspond to the Atman, and if
Atman can re p la c e Brahman a t any tim e, then Brahman and Âtman a re the
same. There are no differences and this is logically true from the
above epithets about Brahman and Âtman.
The Brhadaranyaka Upanisad refers to Brahman as "that great
unborn Self but in the ^ tM Upanisad we find "He who was born of
old from the waters, who stands entered into the secret place (of the
heart), who looked forth throughbeings.This âtman of the Katha
refers to the individual soul because it is the individual soul that
is supposed to have been born from the waters. This in fact is the
oldest theory of the origin of life. In the same Upanisad even the
size of the soul is determined. "A person of the measure of a thumb
stands in the midst of one's self (âtman) , Lord of what has been and of
what is to be; one does not shrink away from H im ."'=2 "A person of the
measure of a thumb, like a light without a smoke. Lord of what has been
and what is to be. He alone is today tomorrow, too.
These descriptions of Âtman and âtman contradict the previous
descriptions. However, we find yet another description of the soul
differing from the preceeding one. The Chândogya Upanisad, for
example, has the following description;
This Soul of mine within the heart is smaller than a grain of rice or a barley-corn, or a mustard-seed or a grain of millet; this Soul of mine within the heart is greater than the earth, greater than the atmosphere, greater than the sky, greater than these w o r l d s . "^4
4 0 lb id ., 4 . 4 . 2 2 . Katha 4 . 6 . 4 2 ib id . 4 . 1 2 angustha mâtrah puruso - madhya âtmani tisthati isanô'bhüta bhavyasya - na tato vijigupsate. 4 3 lb id . 4 . 1 3 . 44ibid., Chan. 3 . 1 4 . 3 -
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In another place in the same Upanisad, the size of the soul is
compared to the invisible part of a fig seed: "Verily, my dear, that
finest essence which you do not perceive - verily, my dear, from that
finest essence this great Nyagrodha tree thus arises."
The same Soul has been described as th e u ltim a te b asis of th e
m anifold w o r l d . The Soul is the inner controller that controls the
earth, the waters, the fire, the atmosphere, the wind, the sky, the sun,
the quarters of heaven, the moon and stars, the space, the darkness, the
light, all the things, the breath, the speech, the eye, the ear, the
mind, the skin, the understanding and the semen. He is your Soul,
the Inner controller, the Immortal.4 7 Atman is imminent in all things
and yet invisible. Atman also is devoid of all ethical distinction.
"Apart from the right (dharma) , and apart from the unright (adharma),
apart from both what has been done and what has not been done here;
apart from what has been and what is to be, what thou seest as that,
speak that."^^ However, this "knowing self is never born: nor does he
die at any time. He sprang from nothing and nothing sprang from him.
He is unborn, eternal, abiding and primeval. He is not slain when the
body is slain. If the slayer thinks that he slays or if the slain
thinks that he is slain, both of them do not understand. He neither
slays nor is he slain.There is no way to know the self. "This
self cannot be attained by instruction, nor by intellectual power, nor
even through much hearing. He is to be attained only by the one whom
the self chooses. To such a one the self reveals his own nature.
45lbid., 5.12.1.2- Brh. 1.4.1. 3.2.23. 48ibid., Katha 2 . 1 4 . 4 9 ib id .; 1.2.18-19- ^ °Ib id . 1 . 2 . 2 3 -
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Therefore, the thought of slaying and slain is mere illusion (miyi) .
However, this statement seems contradicted by another statement which
is; "The self, though hidden in all beings, does not shine forth but
can be seen by chose subtle seers, through their sharp subtle
intelligence."^^
The description of the individual self seems to be no different
from the universal soul. "He is the swan (sun) in the sky, the
pervader in the space, the priest at the altar, the guest at the
sacrificial jar (house). He dwells in men, in gods, in the right and
in the sky. He is born of water, sprung from the earth, born of right,
born of mountain. He is the true and the great.It is this inner
soul that controls man's inhaling and exhaling breath. It uses this
body in which to dwell and when the body is old it leaves and enters
another body. When it leaves this body it enters into any physical
body, not necessarily an animate body but any body and . makes it alive.
''Some souls enter into a womb for embodiment; other enter stationary
objects according to their deeds and according to their thoughts."53
Once it enters a body, it takes the shape of that body into which it
enters like fire and air; it changes its shape according to the object
it enters.54 However, by the fact that it dwells in different bodies
it does not get soiled through the sensory experiences.^5 in other
words, it is not affected by empirical changes because it remains
unchanged.
^Hbid. 1,3.13. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upanis&da, ed. with introduction, text, translation and notes (London, George Alien and Unwin, Ltd., New York: Humanities Press, Inc., 1969) p. 636. Katha, II.2.2. •^■^Ibid., I I . 2 .7 . 5 4 ib id ., I I . 2.9-10. ^S x^id., I I . 2.11.
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The individual soul should be united with the Universal Soul.
"If a person knew the Soul with the thought 'I am He' with what desire,
for love of what could he cling unto theb o d y ? " 5 6 Man's awakening to 57 Reality is to awaken to this Supreme Soul. What is real is this
Soul, nothing else. All is in it, and it is in all. "From this Soul
come forth all vital energies, all worlds, all gods, all beings, the
mystic meaning thereof is the Real of the Real. Vital energies (prana)
CO verily, are the Real. He is their Real." Like the description of
Brahma, the description of the Soul is always presented either in
negative terms or highly contradictory terms. We read elsewhere that
the Soul is imperceptible and unknowable. But in the Brhadaranyaka
Upanisad another passage is just the opposite of what we have already
seen; "Lo, verily, it is the Soul (Atman) that should be seen that
should be hearkened to, that should be thought on, that should be
pondered on, 0 Maitreyi. Lo, verily, with the seeing of, with the
hearkening to, with the thinking of and with the understanding of the
Soul this world, all is k n o w n , "59 Sometimes we read in the Upanisads
that there is no size, shape, color, weight, taste and odor of the
Atman. Sometimes we read it has these qualities and many more. We
have already cited two contradictory accounts related to its size.
Another description is given in Chandogya Upanisad. The following is
/ a conversation between Svetaketu Aruneya and his father,
"Bring hither a fig from thither." "Here it is. Sir." "Divide it." "It is divided, Sir,"
56ibid., Brh. 4.4.12. ,4.4.13. ^S^bid. , 2 . 1 . 2 0 . 59ibid., 2 : 4 , 5 .
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"What do you see th ere?" "These rather fine seeds, Sir." "Of these, please, divide one." "It is divided, Sir." "What do you see th ere?" "Nothing at all, Sir." "Verily, my dear, that finest essence which you do not perceive, verily, my dear, from that finest essence this great Nyagrodha tree thus arises. Believe me my dear, that which is the finest essence this whole world has that as its soul. That is Reality. That is Âtman (soul). That art thou."GO
In the passage which preceded this one we read that soul is
perceivable. In this passage we are told that it is imperceptible.
R e a lity
This discussion, however, brings us to the next point. That is
the difference between what is Real and what is real. The real is
that which is gross, apparent, perceivable and tangible by the senses.
The Real on the other hand, is that which is just the opposite. When
we apply this distinction to saguna Brahman and nirguna Brahman, the
former is the manifestation of the latter, and therefore real and the
latter is the Real. In the final analysis, the Real is the ultimate
essence of all. By the same token we can say âtman is real and Atman
is Real. Again we can conclude by saying that saguna Brahman, âtman,
the real, are mâyâ; and nirguna Brahman and Atman are Real. Thus
everything that we can think of can be categorised under mâyâ and
Reality, the former is obvious and the latter obscure. As Brahman has
two aspects, the aspect of form and formlessness, what is knowable is
the aspect with form. Therefore, we tend to believe that which is
perceptible is real and do not go beyond what is perceptible in the
empirical world.
GOlbid., Chan. 6.12.1-2; 8.7; 11.3; 12.3.
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Him they see not, for (as seen) he is incomplete. When Breathing, he becomes breath (prana) by name; when speaking, voice; when seeing the eye; when hearing, the ear; when thinking,the mind; these are merely the names of his acts. Whoever worships one or another of these, he knows not; for he is incomplete with one or another of these. One should worship with the thought that he is just one's self (âtman), for therein alJ these become one. S elf i s th e tra c e of t h is A ll, fo r by i t one knows this A ll.61
We do not understand the Real as Real because of mâyâ which is
the creation of the Real itself. According to this Upanisadic view,
we are at the mercy of the Real. We do not have any power within
ourselves to avert this situation. On the one hand, both name and
form are real; on the other hand only name is Real and form is un-Real,6 2
The original no-form later became the many-formed.63 What a l l th is
means is that Reality, nirguna Brahman and paramatman are True and
Real and saguna Brahman, j ivatman and karma are unreal. They are real
in the sense that they are the manifestations of the Real and unreal
because they do not remain the same as the Real does. One is conven
tional truth and the other is eternal truth. Man in this view is both
real and unreal. Mâyâ and karma seem to fall into one category; it is
because of mâyâ th a t a being commits karma. Karma has been m is in te r
preted by many people as the result of a certain action. Karma in
fact is not the result but action itself. The result is called phala.
Karma and karm a-phala, however, should go to g e th e r.
The discussion between Yâjnavâlkya and Artabhâga brings out the
Upanisadic view about what happens to a person after death.
"Yâjnavâlkya," said he, "when the voice of a dead man goes into fire, his bre_th into wind, his eye into the sun, his
61lbid., Brh. 1.4.7, 1.6.3. 63ibid., Kàtha 5 . 1 2 ; B rh . , 2 . 5 . 1 9 .
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mind into moon, his hearing into the quarters of heaven, his body into the earth, his soul into space, the hairs of his head into plants, the hairs of his body into trees, and his blood and semen in water, what then becomes of his person?" ...The two went away and deliberated. What they say was karma (action), what they praised was karma. Verily, one becomes good by action, bad by a c t i o n . 64
Action has no meaning if one does not worhip Atman or Brahman.
Karma is not an entity existing by itself. It is related to Âtman.
The firm belief in Atman makes karma profitably productive.
Verily, even if one performs a great and holy work, but without knowing this (that is the whole world is Brahma or the Self, and that I am Brahma or the Self), that work of his merely perishes in the end. One should worship the Self alone as his world. The work of him who worships the Self alone his (true) world does not p e r i s h . 65
In Chandogya Upanisad the Self and Reality have been presented
as identical entities. "The Self which is free from evil, ageless,
deathless, sorrowless, hungerless, thirstless, whose desire is the
Real, whose concept is the Real."^^ There are three conditions of the
Soul according to Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, such as, the condition of
being in this world, the condition of being in another world, and the
condition of being in s l e e p . 67 The waking life is but a bad dream.6^
One can grasp the absolute unity and reality in ecstatic meditation
which is compared to dreamless s l e e p . 69 The Self is also compared to
that state when one is sound asleep, composed, serene and knows no
dream. That state is the Self.^® In the state of deep sleep the
soul is self-illuminated.^^ When a person is totally merged with the
soul, he knows nothing within or without; "As a man, when in the
o^Tbid., Brh 3.2.13. "^Ibid., 1.4.15. 66ibid., CfiSn. 8 .7 .1 . 67ibid., Brh. 4.3.9. "*Ibid., 4 .3.18, 69ibid., Chin. 8.11.8. 70xbid., Brh. 4.3.14. 71lbid,, 4 .3 .2 1 .
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embrace of a beloved wife, knows nothing within or without, so this
person, when in the embrace of the intelligent Soul knows nothing
within or without." The state where he is totally embraced by the
soul is similar to dreamless sleep. The Soul has been described in
th e Kath a Upanisad in th e follow ing term s: "What is soundless,
touchless, formless, imperishable, tasteless, constant, odorless,
without beginning, without end, higher than the great, stable, by
discerning that, one liberates from the mouth of death."73 By the
power of Soul one can recognize the waking state and the sleeping
state?4 The universal Soul is identical with individual s o u l . ^5 This
means that the individual soul is a part of the universal Soul.
In the Upanisads the real problem of duality exists in non
duality. Atman, Brahman and Reality have been used in the Upanisads
synonymously. Therefore one who accepts one term would automatically
accept others. The ultimate reality, i m the Upanisadic point of
view, has to be realized through faith, devotion and knowledge.
Reality is not a subject of meditation, but reality is. As man is a
part of both Reality and mâyâ he is capable of attaining to moksa
through realization of the absolute Atman. His karma has to be freed
from all kinds of motivations. In other words he should not expect
any result. He has to perform his duties, leaving the responsibility
of producing due result to the paramâtman. If he oversteps his
boundaries of karma or duties, he retards his attainment of moksa.
All he is supposed to do is to surrender completely to the universal
Soul. Then he will be free from sagsara.
72lbid., Katha 3,15. ^^Ibid., 4.4. 4.5, 75lbid., 4.6.
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MEDITATION'
In the preceding chapter I pointed out that a man, following
a selected Upanisadic view, can attain moksa by surrendering himself
to the Supreme Self and by performing his duties without expecting
the results therefrom. In this chapter I will examine how this is
done.
The object of meditation, as it were, is only one but it can
have many forms. In this chapter I shall point out how Brahman and
Atman are indiscriminately used as the objects of meditation. I shall
point out also how difficult it is to concentrate on either of them
because neither is grasped by the senses. Because of the difficulty
to grasp the individual self, meditators are advised to concentrate on
objects such as the sound of the breath, and images of the deities.
The purpose of meditation is to liberate the individual self from mâyâ
and karma, and to conjoin it with the universal self. Because of this
goal it is important for a meditator to realize the unity in diverse
factors of the universe. The knowledge of unity in diversity is
brought about by an understanding of Atman or Brahman. When a
meditator becomes one with Atman or Brahman, the power of unity
delivers him from suffering into peace and happiness.
1 7
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OM
The Self is Brahma who is present in the three dimensions of time.
The way to realize this is meditation. One way of practising meditation,
according to the Mindukya Upanisad, is to know OM^ in its four different
states, such as the waking state, the dreaming state, the deep sleep
state and the state which is unperceived, unrelated, incomprehensible,
uninferable, unthinkable, and indescribable. This latter state is the
consciousness manifesting itself as the Self. This is the state where
the Self is in itself, in bliss, in peace, and in fulfillment. This is
the state the meditator wants eventually to attain in this life. The
Mândukya Upanisad extends the explanation of and breaks it down to
its root syllables. The waking state is said to represent the vowel
the sleeping state by the deep sleep state by m, and the indes
cribable fourth state by OM, which is a combination of all the three
syllables.2 Those who meditate on this all encompassing sound will
see the power of the Self hidden in his own qualities.^ Since Âtman or
Brahman a re not o b je c ts of mind th e re has to be a way to know Atman
because the goal of meditation is to know. The Upanisads have selected
either the sound of OM or breath (Prana) as the object of meditation
because both of them are considered to be the perceptible and tangible
manifestation of Self. A common image of the mystic syllable OM is the
bow; the arrow is the Self; Brahma is the mark.^ This mystic syllable
is also associated with the essence of the earth, water, plants, person,
speech, the hymn (%.) , and the loud singing (Udgita) .5 Meditation on
l l b i d . , Mând. 1-7. ^ Ib id ., 9.12. ^ I b id ., Svet. 1.3. 4lbid., Mundaka. 2.2.4. ^ibid. , Chand. 1.1.2.
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OM is not silent meditation. One, on the contrary, is supposed to say
it loudly, sing it loudly and concentrate on the echo of this so u n d .^
Not only saying it loudly hut listening to it wards off the effect of
evil.2 OM is considered to be so powerful that even gods aflicted with
fear recite OM at the end of the recitation of the three Vedas, and they
become then not only free from fear but immortal,® OM is this whole
world. 9 It is the Brahma himself who praised it. 1 0 When it is said
that it is the sound of Brahma, the natural implication is that it also
i s th e sound of Atman, fo r both Atman and Brahman a re used synonymously.
This has been explicitly mentioned in the Maitri Upanisad. Namely, OM
is the sound-form of Atman. In addition to its sound-form it also has
a sex-form, a light-form in fire, wind and sun, a lordship-form in
Brahma, Rudra, and visnu, a mouth-form in the Garhapatya, the sacri
ficial fire, the Daksinagni sacrifice, and the Ahavaniya sacrificial
fire, an understanding-form in the Rg-veda, Ya.jur-veda and Sama veda,
a world-form in the earth, atmosphere, and sky, a time-form in the
past, present and future, a swelling-form in food, water and moon, an
intelligence-form in intellect, mind and egoism, a breath-form in the
Prana-breath, apSna-breath, vyana-breath and finally in the higher and
lower Brahma. ^3-
Prasna Upanisad suggests that one should meditate on OM until the 12 end of his life, if he does not attain moksa in this life. If someone
break CM into its basic syllables, and takes each separately, meditation
on it will have different results. "If he meditates on one element
® Ibid., 1 . 2 . 5 - 9 . ^ I b id ., 1 . 2 . 2 - 7 . ® Ibid., 1 . 4 . 3 - 4 . 9 lb id ,, 2 , 2 3 . 3 ; T a i t t . 1.8. lOlbid., 1.3. l^Ibid., Maitri, 6 . 5 . ; Katha 2. 1 5 - 1 7 - l^Ibid., Prasna 5 . 2 .
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(namely) having been instructed by that alone he quickly comes into
the earth (after death). The Rg-veda verses lead him to the world of
men. There, united with austerity, chastity, and faith he experiences
greatness."^® Likewise, if he meditates on two syllables, namely a and
li, he will be reborn in the moon; the Yajur-veda guides him, and he
experiences greatness there and advances from there. If he meditates
on the whole ^ with Purusa he will be "united with the brilliance in
the sun. As a snake is freed from its skin, even so, verily, is he
freed from sin. He is led by the Sama-veda chants to the world of
Brahma.
Apart from the previous division of Brahma now in the Maitri
Upanisad, it has been mentioned that there are two Brahmas : sound
Brahma and non-sound Brahma. Non-sound Brahma is revealed by sound-
Brahma. This sound-Brahma is none other than OM. Ascending by it
one comes to an end in the non-sound. So one says: "This, indeed, is
the way. This is immortality. This is complete union and also
peacefulness. 15 OM is the means by which a meditator attains indepen
dence, Sound Brahma also means the sound that one hears within oneself
when one closes his ears with his thumbs. He may hear a sound "like
rivers, a bell, a brazen vessel, a wheel, the croaking of frog, rain,
as when one speaks in a sheltered place."I® Through this sound he
can reach the same non-sound, the unmanifested Brahma.Sometimes
sound Brahma means, as pointed out earlier, the Trimurti, and sometimes
i t i s in te r p re te d to mean Visnu,. "The Sound Brahma i s the s y lla b le
OM. That which is its acme is tranquil, soundless, fearless, sorrowless.
l®Ibid., Pras. 5.3. 5.3-5. Maitri 6.22. IGlbid., 6.22. l^Ibid., Maitri 6.22.
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blissful, satisfied, steadfast, immovable, immortal, unshaken, 1 8 enduring, named Visnu. ' Complete knowledge of OM brings whatever
one wishes. It is the supreme sound, the best support, and it brings
one to the Brahma world.1^ The body and the sound of OM should be
used as friction-sticks in order to practise the friction of meditation 20 to see Brahma directly. The nature of ether within the space of the
heart is considered the same as the syllable OM. With this in mind the
meditator should breath in and out. "Verily, therein is a perpetual
support for meditation upon Brahman." The mind of the meditator who
uses this supremely powerful syllable is like water to salt or heat
to melted butter. As pointed out in Chapter One, the form-Brahma is
unreal and the formless Brahma is real. Similarly the form ^ is unreal
and the formless OM is real,^^ "By means of OM the whole world is 23 woven, warp and woof, across Him." One should even meditate that the
sun is OM.
Breath
Breath has been recommended in the Upanisads as an object of
meditation. Breath is believed so powerful that even the devils are
afraid of it. When devils challenge deities the latter sing the
Udgita for breath. Then all the devils run a w a y . 24 The food we eat
is to sustain the b r e a t h . 25 Gods enter the breath from all sides.
"Therefore, from whatever limb the breath departs, that indeed dries
up, for it is verily the essence of the limb. "Therefore whatever
~ ® I b i d . 6.23. - ' I b i d . , Katha 2.15. ^ ^ I b i d , , Svet. 1 . 1 4 . 2 1 l b i d . , Maitri 7.11. 2 2 x b i d , 6 .3 . 2 3 x b i d . , 6 .3 . 2 4 i b i d . , Brh. 1.3.1-8. 2 5 x b i d . , 1.3.17. 2 6 % b i d . 1 .3 .1 8 .
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food one eats by this breath these are satisfied by it,” Breath is
also Brihaspati. Brihati is speech. "He is her lord and is therefore,
Brihaspati, B r e a t h i s th e lo rd of p ra y e r, Brahmana s p a t i .^9
Brihati is another name for Rgveda. In the Maitri Upanisad we find
breath is used as an epithet for the slma-veda. "And it is also the
Sama Veda. The chant, Siman, verily, is sp e e c h .Sima means equal.
oâman is the one who is equal with the speech. One who meditates upon
the breath becomes equal to that veda or in union with the Saman. 3 1
Since the whole world is upheld by breath, the meditation upon it makes
the meditator equal with that force. The breath has been divided into
five: "the in-breath, the out-breath, the diffused breath, the up-
breath, and middle b r e a t h . Âtman is in all breath and mind and
speech. What this implies is that if one meditates on breath he
meditates on Atman because one is inversely related to the other.
Therefore, one who meditates on Âtman, automatically meditates on
Brahman as well. No matter what object of meditation one selects, one
finds it related to Brahman or Âtman. The only difference is that one
is manifested and the other is not. When one meditates on breath
either consciously or unconsciously he meditates on the three worlds.
They are the speech world, the mind or atmospheric world and the breath-
world.^^ Meditation on breath is also related to the three vedas and
to father, mother, and offspring. Whatever is known is a form of speech;
whatever i s to be known is a form of breath.Breath is born from
the sexual union of fire and sun. Death cannot take possession of one
^^Ibid,, 1.3.19. 1.3.20. 2^Ibid., 1,3.21. 3 0 ib id ., 1.3.22. 3}lbid., 1.3.22. '^‘^Ibid. 1.5.3. 33lbid., 1.5.22. ^^Ibid., 1.5.4-13.
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who has middle b r e a t h . ^5 "Breath holds the central position among the
vital breaths." When a baby is born, breath is born in him to 37 . — protect him. The in—breath (prana) is called an introductory hymn of
udgita; out-breath (apana) is the accompanying hymn; and the diffused- — 38 breath (yyâna) is the benediction. Breath is an apprehender; it is
seized by the out-breath.Yajnavalkya says: "Breath, they call him
Brahma."Brahma, indeed, is the breath of life."^^ Breath remains
in a man when he is free from desire. This means, as long as man has
desire, his breath departs from him. The knowledge of breath liberates
man from sam sara. "They who know the b rea th in g of th e b r e a th , have
recognized the ancient, primeval Brahma.Breath is some*:lmes
considered as the body. "He who consists of mind, whose body is life
(prana). One takes refuge in breath saying, "I take refuge in
breath with this one, with this one, with this one."^^ Visu is
connected with breath. Vital breaths are the Vasus for th^y cause
everything to continue. "Ye vital breaths, ye Vâsus, let this morning 45 libation of mine continue over to the midday libation." Breath is
also addressed as Rudra and Âditya.^^ Breath is also called indes
tructible, imperishable and unshaken.Breath is one of the four
quarters, one quarter of Brahma.When one sleeps, speech goes to 49 breath, the eye to breath, the ear to breath, the mind to breath.
There are two snatchers-unto-themselves; the wind among the gods,
b re a th among th e v i t a l b r e a th s .^0
Ibid., 1.5.22. 3 Ibid., 1.5.22. Ibid. 2.2.1, 38ibid., 2.2.10 Ibid.2.2.2. '^^Ibid., 3.9,9. “^^Ibid., 4.1.3. 42lbid., 4.4,18. ;^Ibid., Chin. 3.14.2. '^^Ibid. , 3.15.3. 45lbid., 3.16.2. 3.16.3-4. 47ibid., 3.17.3-6 48ibid., 3,18.3-4. 49ibid., 4.3.3. ^^Ibid. , 4.3.4.
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Although we read that breath is Brahma himself, the Chindogya
Upanisad says:
One sixteenth of him is breath.Breath, verily, is the chief and the best. Once vital breath went to Father Prajapati, and said, "Sir, which of us is the most superior?" "The one" he said, "of you after whose going off the body appears as if it were the very worst off - he is the most superior of you."52
The speech, the eye, the ear and the mind, one after another, went
away and each having spent a year away returned and asked the body how
it felt. The body said that without speech it was dumb, without the
eye blind, without the ear deaf and without the mind just mindless but
still breathing. When the breath’s turn came to leave "as a fine
horse might tear out the pegs of his foot tethers all together, thus
did it tear out the other Breaths all together. They all came to it
and said: "Sir, remain. You are the most superior of us. Do not go
off."53 Thus:
VJhen in-breath is satisfied, the eye, the sun, the heaven and all that sun and the heaven rule over were satisfied. Once th e d iffu se d b re a th i s s a t i s f i e d , th e e a r, th e moon, all quarters else are s a t i s f i e d . 54 When saman breath is satisfied, the mind, the rain-god, lightning is satisfied. When out-breath is satisfied, the speech, fire, the earth, and everything on earth are satisfied.5& When up-breath is satisfied, wind, space and all that these two affect are satisfied.37
As a result of satisfying these five types of breaths, the sacrificer
is satisfied with offspring, with cattle, with food, with the glow of
wealth and with eminence of knowledge, "The breath is the finest of
the fine."58
5 1 l b i d . , 4 .8 .3 . I b i d . , Chlnd. 5.6-7- 5.1-12. 54ibid., 5.20.2. 55ibid,, 5.21.1-2. 5 6 , 5.21.1-2. 5 7 l b i d . , 5.22.1-2. 6.5.1-2.
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The way in which voice is connected with the breath is
interesting, "His voice goes into his mind; mind into his breath;
breath into heat; the heat into the highest divinity. That which is
the finest essence this whole world has that as its soul."5 9 The
breath is also used in meditation in order to keep the mind in one
place. This, of course, is also the most common practice in other
meditation traditions. The Chandogya Upanisad specifies it:
As a bird fastened with a string, after flying in this direction and in that without finding an abode elsewhere, rests down just upon its fastening even so, my dear, the mind after flying in this direction and in that without finding an abode elsewhere, rests down just upon breath; for the mind my dear, has breath as its f a s t e n i n g . 80
The vital breath is like one's parents, brothers and sisters, teachers
and Brahmin.
He who understands such other things arising from the soul such
as hope, memory, space, heat, water, appearance and disappearance, food,
strength, understanding, meditation, thought conception, mind, speech.
Name, Mantra, karma, and the whole w o r l d .
The five kinds of breath are made greater by food.^^ Each of the
five-fold breaths has its own area of control, such as in-breath
controls sight and skin; diffused-breath hearing and flesh; out-breath
controls mind and muscle; up-breath controls speech and bone; equal
breath controls tongue and m a r r o w . 84 Breath is called life of all and,
therefore, is B r a h m a . After practice of severe austerities Varuna...
understood that Brahma is breath. For truly, indeed, beings, here are born from breath, when born they live by breath and deceasing they enter into breath.
59lbid., 6.8.6. ^°Ibid., 6.8.2. Gllbid., 7.15.1. 8 2 lb id ., 7 . 2 6 . 1 83ibid.,, Taitt. 1.4.5. °4xbid. 1.7, 85ibid., 2.3. 3.1.
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The body is established on breath, breath is established on the b o d y . ^7
Breath consists of self.^® when a person is deceased, he goes to the fiQ moon and during the earlier half it thrives on their breathing spirit.
The breathing spirit is B r a h m a . ^0
Concluding Remarks
From the above material on breath and ^ as objects of meditation,
it is clear that both are equally emphasized because both are the
m anifestation of Brahma in perceptible forms. This form-Brahma being
concentrated upon leads the meditator to unite himself with the
invisible, intangible, indescribable, and unqualified Brahman. This,
in fact, is the goal of meditation. Using words as objects of meditation,
however, has been discouraged except whatever OM and breath imply,
"He should not meditate upon many words, for that is a weariness of
s p e e c h . "^3 However, non-verbal meditation is infrequently mentioned in
the Upanisads. What happens in the m editator’s mind whether he uses
the sound OM or breath or mantra is that the meaning of these objects
begin to settle in his mind. These meanings are the interpretations
of the objects given by various Upanisadic teachers. For example, as
we saw earlier, the sound of Πhas been interpreted as the Trimurti
of Hinduism. This is one of the many meanings ot this sound. When a
person meditates upon it, keeping this meaning in mind, the mind
eventually is filled with the concept or idea of Brahma the most
benevolent god who is full of compassion, love, equanimity, and justice;
or the mind is filled with the idea of Visnu with his attributes or
Rudra with his fearful or peaceful attributes. It depends on what the
G^Ibid., 3.7. GGlbid., 3,10.5. ^^Thxd., Kaus., 1.2.; 1.5. 70ibid., 2.1-2. 71lbid., Brh., 4.4.21.
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person believes. These attributes are the saguna Brahman. When the
meditator advances in his repetition of the sound ^ concentrating on
these attributes, the mind is not able to grasp a being with the
highest qualities. At that point the mind is filled with nirguna,
unqualified Brahman. He goes from the manifested to the unmanifested,
from the known to the unknown. Only at this point shall he be able to
distinguish the meaning of saguna Brahman from that of nirguna Brahman.
In other words by the knowledge of discrim ination, the mind moves from
one state of existence to another at the climax of meditation.
Any object of meditation can unite a meditator with the ultimate
goal or the Supreme Being. If a meditator were to choose an object
unconnected with the Supreme Being, he would not meditate because
there is no object unconnected with the Supreme Being. Therefore, no
matter what object one chooses, it is connected with the Supreme Being.
The meditator must know this connection before he starts meditation.
This point is most conspicuous in the Upanisads.
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THE THREEFOLD METHOD
In this chapter I shall discuss sravana (listening to the
Vedic dictum), manana (reflection on what is heard) and nididhyasana
(repeated concentration upon what is reflected). I want to investi
gate how this type of Upanisadic reflection is meaningful as a
practice of meditation.
SRUTI
Etymologically sruti (revealed scriptures)^ derives from / 2 / sru to hear. The word sruti is a synonym for the Vedas.
The Veda is called sruti or the rhythm of the infinite heard by the soul. The words ^rst^ which are the Vedic expressions, point out how the Vedic knowledge is not a matter of logical demonstration, but intuitive insight. The poet's soul hears or has revealed to it the truth in it's inspired condition, when the mind is lifted above the narrow plane of the discursive consciousness. According to the Vedic seers the contents of the hymns are inspired and revelatory only in this s e n s e . 3
^Sarvapalli Râdhâkrishnan and Charles A. Moor, ed.Indian Philosophy, (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1967), p.383» 2 Sir Monier Monier W illiams, A Sanskrit English Dictionary, (Oxford, At the Clarenden Press, 1960), p .1100; William Dwight Whitney, The Roots, Verb-forms-and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language, Supplement to his Sanskrit Grammar, (M otilal Banarasidas, Delhi, Varanasi, Patna,1963) p.179.
Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy Vol.I, (London, George Allen and Unwin L td., Ruskin House, 40 Museum Street, W .C.l., 1929) p.128.
28
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/ Sruti or the Vedas were handed down orally from teacher to pupil
because it was feared that writing them would be sacrilegious or
more likely to result in sacrilege. Sruti should be accepted by
the student of meditation. "To accept sruti is to accept the witness
of the saints and sages. To ignore ^ruti is to ignore the most
vital part of the experience of human race."^
One who has understood the sruti correctly is called Rsi^
or Guru who can tell other people the meaning of Aruti.
A student of meditation should have very strong faith in the
sruti and the Guru. Just as sensory data can be defective because
of the defect of the senses, sruti is ineffective if the student
does not have faith in it.
The sruti embodies the truths of spirit which have satisfied the spiritual instincts of a large portion of humanity. It contains the traditional convictions of the race which embody not so much thought as the life of spirit, and for those of us who do not share the life these recorded experiences are of great value.5
The effectiveness of the transmission of true knowledge of
sruti could be varied by the strength of student's faith in the
Guru. An ordinary person who has no access to the knowledge of
éruti, therefore, should cultivate deep faith in the Guru and the
éruti and this faith in sruti and the Guru makes his understanding
of sruti easy. The student who has faith in the sruti and the
^Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Indian PhiioAophyiVol.II, ed. J.H. Muirhead, (London George Allen and Unwin Ltd., New York, the Macmillan Company, 1931), p .516.
5lbid. p. 517.
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teacher can actively participate in sruti. This active participation
of ^ruti is called sravana (understanding). This means the pupil
of meditation should listen to the ^ruti very attentively and try
to understand the meaning of what he heard.
The pupil listens to the instruction of his teacher who has direct realization of the nature of Brahman and whose words are, therefore, pregnant with his concrete experience. He tries to understand the import and meaning of the instruction of his teacher which is technically called Sravana. This is indeed different from the ordinary accepted meaning of the Sravana in the Sankara literature where it is used in the sense of listening to the Upanisadic texts.8
Since ^ruti is an accumulation of the divine revelation of the
truth, its quantity and quality is so enormous that a beginner of
meditation finds it extremely difficult to understand even given by
an experienced teacher unless it is given in brief. Therefore, the
Vedic teachers have summarized the sruti in four great sentences
(mahivikyas), namely: "Consciousness is Brahman";^ "I am Brahman"; 9 10 "Thou art That"; "This Atman is Brahman".
When the student of meditation listens to these four great
sentences very carefully he begins to understand that what he really
listens to is the Self :
Surendranath Dasgupta, A History of Indian Philosophy, Vol. Ill (Dambridge, At the University Press, 1955) p. 405. 7The Principal Upanisads, Prajnanam brahma. Ait. U. 3.1.3 p. 523. 8Ibid., Aham brahmasmiti. Brh.U. 1.4.10. p. 168* ^Ibid., Tat tvam asi. Ch.U.*6.8.7. p. 458* lO lbid., Ayam âtma brahma. Mand.U. 2. p. 695.
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Verily, my dear M aitreyi, it is the Self that should be realized, should be heard of, reflected on, and meditated upon. By the realization of the Self, my dear- through hearing, reflection, and meditation- all this is k n o w n .
MANANA
The next step is called manana -the process of organizing one's thoughts so as to facilitate a favourable mental approach towards the truth communicated by the teacher in order to rouse the growing faith in it.^2
Manana derives from man to t h i n k . ^3 One can refute faulty
statements when one thinks carefully. According to this method
reasoning is an aid to meditation. The reason for this triple
method is to remove the listener's ignorance and self-attachment
both of which are hindrances to moksa. Reason leads to conviction.
Once he is convinced that what he heard was indisputable truth, he
can practise meditation very successfully. "Those who recite the
Vedas without understanding their meaning are compared by Sayana
to lifeless pillars which bear the weight of the roof"^^ Direct
knowledge of Brahman comes from m editation on what is reasoned upon
and manana, therefore, is the mediate or indirect cause of this
know ledge.
In matters of physical science we accept what the greatest investigators in those departments declare for truth, in music we attend to what the accredited great composers have w ritten, and endeavour thereby to improve our natural appreciation of musical beauty. In matters of religious truth we should listen with respect to what the great religious geniuses, who strove by faith and devotion to
attain their spiritual eminence, have given o u t . ^5
llfbid. Br.U. 4.5.6. p.283. S.Dasgupta, A History of Indian Philosophy, Vol.5,p.405. l^W.D.Whitney, Roots, Verb-forms,p.119; M.M.Williams, A Sanskrit English Dictionary, p .783% l^g.Râdhâ- krishnan. The PrincipaliUpanisads, p ..1 9 6 , g.Râdhâkrishnan, Indian Philosophy, Vol. 2, p.516.
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In his reflection (manana) he should be able to see the highest and
indescribable happiness. "How now, shall I understand 'this'? Does it
shine (of Itself) or does i t shine in reflection?
NIDIDHYÂSANA
Nididhyasana derives from ni + dhyâ to think.3-7 in this context
this means repeated and profound meditation.
Nididhyasana is the process by which intellectual consciousness is transformed into a vital one. We give up the pride of learning and concentrate on the t r u t h . 3-8 Faith becomes reality in us by the steady concentration of mind on the real.3-^
Contemplation is not the same as worship which is an aid to
contemplation. "In worship there is the distinction between the
worshipping self and the worshipped object, but in contemplation
this distinction is held in suspense."20
Meditation is a mental operation helping to fix the mind on the
Self. Having understood what he has heard the pupil meditates on what
he understood. In his meditation he sees that the Atman and Brahman
are one. "This Âtman is B r a h m a n . "33- Nididhyasana "can come only as
3^The Thirteen Principal Upanishads. Kat. U. 5.14. p.358. 3-7ni + dhyâ ni-hdH-dhyâ ni-rdidhyâ-4-sa-fna=nididhyasana (desire for contemplation). This is the desiderative reduplicated abstract noun, formed by reduplicating the initial dha into ^ and changing it into di. Sibilant ^ implies the profound desire for meditation. Pali équivalant is upanijjhânacchanda. 3-8yihiya sarva-sastrani yat satyam tad upasyatam (Uttara Giti). Quoted from The Principal Upanisads, p .134. 3-9Nididhÿâsanam sad-edartha-vrtti-pravaham. The Principal Upanisads,p.135 20lbid. p. 135. 23-See p.3. above.
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a result of the first two (sravana and manana) for meditation involves
direct realization which is not possible without the performance of
sravana and manana. It is only through the purification of mind
by the above process that God is p l e a s e d . .."22 "Not by sight is It
grasped, not even by speech,/ not by any other sense organs, austerity
or work./ By the peace of knowledge one's nature [is] purified/ In that 2 3 way, however, by meditating, one does behold Him who is without parts."
The subtle Self is to be known by thought. The whole of man's thinking
influences the senses. "When that is purified, the Soul shines forth"^^
"Those who followed after meditation and contemplation saw the Self
pow er o f th e D iv in e h id d e n i n i t s own q u a l i t i e s . He i s th e One who
rules over all these causes from time to the s o u l . "25 Maya has to be
overcome by meditation alone. "By meditation on Him, by union with
Him, and by reflecting on His being more and more, there is complete
cessation from the illusion of thew o r l d . "28
PROPER USE OF THE THREEFOLD METHOD
Although listening and thinking, along with meditation, have
been stressed in the threefold method, the Chandogya Upanisad tells us
that meditation is something more than thought or reason.
Meditation, assuredly, is more than thought. The earth meditates, as it were. Water meditates, as it were. Mountains meditate, as it were. Gods meditate, as it were. Therefore, whoever, among men here attain greatness they have, as it were, a part of the reward of m editation.... Understanding, assuredly, is more than m editation... He who reverences understanding as
32Anya-rtha-visayah-puro brahmakara dhiyam sada/ nididhyasana sabdi-rtho jayate suddhiyam hi sah (Sruti Siddhanta Sangraha 11-13) A History of Indian Philosophy, p.442. The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Mund. U. 3.1.8. p.375. Ibid. 3.1.9. p.375. 25fhe Principal Upanisads. Svet. U. 1.3. p.710. 26ibid. 1.10. P.715.
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Brahma, he verily, attains the worlds of Understanding and of Knowledge. As far as understanding goes, so far he has unlimited freedom, he who reverencesunderstanding as Brahma, Strength, assuredly, is more than understanding.. . He who reverences strength as Brahma... has unlimited f r e e d o m . . . 37
At the end of this long conversation, nevertheless, both Sanatkumira
and Nirada returned to understanding and Nârada says "That one must
desire to understand the truth. Understanding, Thought, Faith, Growing
Faith, Activity, Pleasure and Plenuml'38 What comes from this conver
sation is that understanding of truth is the key to release from samsara.
The proper sound eliminates obstacles to understanding, such as
doubts and wrong notions in the seeker's m i n d . 29 In this view, the
sound helps the mind to concentrate on Brahman. Otherwise the mind
cannot concentrate. Sound seems to help the meditator cultivate
discrim inating knowledge ( viveka buddhi or vivekakhyati)38 All agree
that the threefold method should be repeatedly practised by seekers 31 after Brahman. The method should be repeated as many times as necessary,
There are some extraordinary individuals who attain Self-realization
suddenly only by hearing one or all of the mahâvâkyas. But even they
are said to have acknowledged the fact that they had practised the
whole triple method in their previous lives. This means nobody can
attain Self-knowledge without completing the triple method.3 2
Those who have purely academic interest should not bother about
the triple method because they w ill not find sufficient material in
it for their intellectual exercise. As a matter of fact, in any
The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Ch.U. 7.6.7. p .254. 28ibid. Ch.U.7.16-23. 29g^âmi Satprakâshânanda, Methods of Knowledge. According to Advaita Vedanta, (The Indian Press Pvt. Ltd. 93 A Lenin Sarani, Calcutta, 700-012, 1974) p.261. 30j|^^^^ p.338. 31ibid. p.261. 32ibid. p.262.
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academic discipline, there are these three steps with different
emphasis. However, this method is to be practised only by the seekers
of the Self as Brahman. Nididhyasana is real concentration on the
Self as Brahman. One should have only this goal in mind when he
O O undertakes the triple method. Intellectual understanding of Brahman
is different from the m editator's understanding of Brahman. The
latter has direct knowledge whereas the former has indirect knowledge.
Intellectual understanding of Brahman is incomplete because it lacks
direct experience of B r a h m a n . 34 Infrequent practice with half-hearted
ness does not produce the expected result. The meditator using the
triple method should devote himself totally to this self discipline.
"By the efficacy of his austerity and by the grace of God the wise
Svetasvatara in proper manner declared Brahman unto the ascetics of
the most advanced stage as the Supreme means of purification."35
The repeated practice of the threefold method enhances the practice of
other m^ral obligations, such as charity, worship of God, association
with spiritual persons, performance of duties with equanimity, the
cultivation of dispassion, and the study of Vedic texts.38 "The
Brahmans desire to know (the Soul) by repetition of the Vedas, by
sacrifices, by offerings, by penance and by fasting on knowing Him,
in truth, one becomes an ascetic."3^ The meditator should have good
physical and mental strength, for this is a vigorous practice that a
weak person cannot withstand.
^ 33%bid. p.262. 34ibid. 262. 35'jbe Principal Upanisads, Svet. 6.21. p.411. 36Metbods of Knowledge, P.264. 37ihe Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Br. U. 4.4.22. p.143.
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The student of meditation must be a skillful person who is con-
aant with his practice. He should be intelligent and wise. He should
have the special ability to apprehend "that Cause, attainable by
discrimination and abstraction."38
RELATIONSHIP TO GURU
The skillful student should also be able to seek a skillful
Guru who is capable of instructing him and guiding him in the proper
direction. A Guru is well versed in the sruti. A competent Guru is
a one who has been initiated in the path by another Guru equally
competent. In other words there must be an unbroken Guru-Sisya tra
dition, in order to make the triple method successful.39 a s tu d e n t
may be very intelligent and skillful and may feel that he does not
need a Guru. Even he must not follow an independent path to realize
Brahma.
Having scrutinized the worlds that are built up by work, a Brahman should arrive at indifference. The world that was not made is not won by what is done. For the sake of this knowledge let him go, fuel in hand, to a spiritual teacher (Guru) who is learned in the scriptures and established on B rahm a.40
His studies should not be limited to what he learns from the Guru.
He should also learn from the scriptures. "Verily, 0 M aitreyi,
it is the Self that should be seen, heard of, reflected on and
meditated upon. Verily by the seeing, by the hearing o^ by the thinking
of, by the understanding of the Self, all this is known.
38ibid. Svet. 6.13. p. 411. 39Methods of Knowledge, p.265. 40The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Mund. U. 1.2.12. p.369 43ihe Principal Upanisads, Br. U. 2.4.5. p.197.
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A competent teacher is capable of teaching him the secret of
Brahma nistha (settled in Brahma). Since this tradition depends on
hearing properly and verbal communication between the teacher and the
disciple, the former should be able to articulate verbally the
knowledge he has and transmit it to the disciple exactly as he
understands it. Mere knowledge of Brahman does not make one a competent
Guru. His method of teaching should be such that even the dullest
student is able to grasp the meaning of what he teaches. "He who
cannot even be heard of by many, whom many, even hearing, do not
know, wonderful is he who can teach and skillful is he who finds
(him) and wonderful is he who knows, even when instructed by the
w i s e . "42 The aid of a teacher is most essential in practicing
meditation because meditation is not scientifically testable. Nor
are there any logical, mathematical calculations to f o l l o w . 43 To
receive direct knowledge there must be a direct contact with the
teacher. No matter how lucid the written page is, disciples may still
have questionsrelated to their practice. They are variable from
p e rs o n to p e r s o n . 44 Even though there may be a competent teacher and
a skillfully potential disciple, if the letter's approach is incorrect,
success is not guaranteed.45
Such a knowing (teacher) unto one who has approached properly, whose thought is tranquilized, who has reached peace, teaches in its very truth that knowledge of Brahma whereby one knows the Imperishable, the Person (purusa) the t r u t h . 4o
42The Principal Upanisads, Katha. U. 1.2.7. Knowledge, p.265. 44%bid. 266. 45jbid. p.267. 48The Thirteen Principal Upanishads. Mund. 1.2.13. p.369-
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In other words the disciple should, when approaching the Guru, be
humble, obedient, polite, with good manners- compassionate and patient.
There is another factor that makes the triple method more
successful. That is the relationship between teacher and student.
"While the disciple should be humble, obedient, reverent, and willing
to render personal services, the teacher should be compassionate,
tolerant, and unsparingly bénéficiant. "47 Moral and spiritual inspira
tion of the Guru is more important than instruction. Not that instruc
tion is unimportant, but instruction is more effective if the Guru
is a noble and superior person in moral and spiritual behavior.
Instruction cannot be imparted to the student mechanically. All must
be personal. When a student associates with the Guru, the former
should feel spiritually uplifted by the Guru. He cannot acquire
spiritual upliftment from any other m e a n s . "Only the knowledge
which has been learned from a teacher best helps one to attain his e n d . "49
"He who has a teacher can know Brahman."50
The teacher imparts his knowledge through the mahâvâkyas.
Once the suitable disciple finds a suitable teacher and establishes
a Guru-sisya (teacher-pupil) relationship, the teacher instructs the
disciple through the mahâvâkyas which is the only way to direct
knowledge of the unqualified Brahman.53 The disciple realizes the
meaning of "Thou Art That"58r "Being-Consciousness-BlissV^O He
47Methods of Knowledge, p.267. 48^^id. p, 268. 49The Principal Upanisads, Chand. U. p.412. 50ibid. 6.14.2. p.464. 53Methods of Knowledge, p.269. 52%be Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Tat tvam asi. p.249. 53g^|. anandam (not found in the Principal Upanisads ),,
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experiences the indentity of the Jiva with Brahman. All differences,
dualities, and distinctions disappear. He experiences all as Supreme
Being. He comes to realize the truth of
Only by the mind is It to be perceived. In it there is no diversity. He goes from death to death, who sees in it, as it were diversity. This indemonstrable and constant being can be realised as one only. The self is taintless, beyond space, unborn, great and constant.54
CONCLUDING REMARKS
In this chapter I have described how hearing (sravana), reason
ing (manana), and concentration (nididhyasana) gradually leads a
meditator to a point where he realizes unity in diversity and where all
differences disappear. I have pointed out that the meditator who
follows the threefold method should assume at the beginning that this
is the only method to realize Self. He should believe that only the
mahâvâkyas can give the whole truth because they summarize the four
Vedas. He should accept the authority of the Upanisads . Although
there are several different interpretations of the triple method, all
of them convey sim ilar meaning. The student of meditation who desires
to follow the triple method should possess the ability to discriminate
the Real from the non-real, should have dispassion, control of the
mind, control of the senses, withrawal of the mind from the senses,
fortitude, faith in the words of the preceptor, and concentration.
There must be a competent teacher whom the disciple must approach in
a proper manner. The teacher and the disciple must establish a good
54The Principal Upanisads, Br. U.4.4.19-20 pp.277-278 The same idea in different words is in Kath.U. 2.1.11.
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relationship. The teacher should use the mahâvâkyas to instruct his
disciple and explain the meaning of them; the disciple should listen
to them carefully, reflect upon them and concentrate on them. Both
the teacher and disciple should repeat this method until the latter
attains realization of Brahman.
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JAINISM
CHAPTER IV
The Religious Problem in Jainism
And th e Need f o r R e le a se
THE RATANA-TRAYA
This chapter deals with the means a Jaina meditator uses for
meditation, These means are called the three jewels (ratana-traya).
They are: Right View, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct. The Jain
should have a deep faith in them and follow the path shown by them
in order to attain liberation from samsara. From the Jain view, no
meditation could be successful without this aspect. In fact the
cultivation of faith in ratana-traya itself is a major part of
meditation.^ Since non-action or non-commiting of karma leads one
to final liberation, Jain meditation, as we see in the Jaina sutras,
depends entirely on love and compassion for living beings:
All breathing, existing, living, sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor driven a w a y .2
3-Hermann Jacobi, Jaina Sutras, (Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1969) Part I, p . 36. 2lbid. p . 36.
41
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RIGHT VIEW
Right view has been interpreted by some Digambaras as "faith in
the path to final liberation'.'^ There is no unanimity among the Digam
baras in the interpretation of right view (samyaktva). There are some
Digambaras who believe it to be faith in the Jina, the scriptures
and the dogmas, while other Digambaras understand it in a negative
sense, for example to abstain from certain things. The Svetambaras,
on the other hand, believe samyaktva to be faith in the truths enunciated
by the Tirthamkara. Hemacandra calls it "faith in the right deva,
the right Guru, and the right dharma.4
All Jaina yogic traditions seem to believe samyaktva is character
ised by spiritual craving (samvega) , tranquility (sama-upasama),
disgust (nirveda) , devotion (bhakti) , compassion (anukampa) , remorse
(nindà), repentance (garhâ) , and loving kindness (vatsalya). Each
characteristic is discussed below.
Samvega
A man, realizing the endless cycle of rebirth, has a great
fear of it and desires moksa. A meditator, despite the natural
psychological impulses and instincts, (namely desire for sex, food,
water, procreation and self protection) should cultivate desire to
overcome them. Victory over these instincts promotes understanding
and helps to overcome the false notion that the body is pure. It is
believed that samsara brings about sickness, sorrow and sudden calamity.
3r .William s, Jaina Yoga,(Oxford University Press, London Oriental Series, Vol. 14. New York, Toronto, 1963) p.41. 4lbid. p.38.
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One realizes that the pleasure of gods and men are unsatisfactory
because they do not last for ever. One diverts one's attention and
devotes one's time and energy to gods, teachers, and the teaching of
the Jina. Freedom from fear of this world and the next world,
freedom from sickness and death, freedom from being without protection,
without defence are goals of the meditator.^
Sama-upasama
Tranquility is the result of stillness of mind which is free
from defilements and free from desire for pleasure. A true Jain
meditator is supposed to have freed his mind from the craving for
pleasure either in this life or in a subsequent life.^
N irv ed a
A Jain meditator should have the love of virtue. He, at the
same time, should not be disgusted with the body because the body,
though impure by nature, is sanctified by the presence of ratana-
t r a y a .^
B h a k ti
Devotion or unswerving orthodoxy is the refusal to approve in
thoughts, words or deeds the path of wrong belief. A m editator's
success depends to a great extent on the degree of his devotion to what
O he believes.
Anukampi
Compassion has not been confined to mere thought or a
Camunda Raya, C âritrasâra, Manikacandra Digambara Jaina Granthamâlâ, No, 9, Bombay, 1917) p.2. Candra, Yogasastra, (Bibliothica Indica. No.172, Calcutta, 1907-21),p.180: Jaina Yoga, p.42. ^Samanta Bhadra, Ratnakaranda Srivakâcâra. (Manikacandra Digambara Granthamala, No.24, Bombay, 1926,)Vol.II.p.76. ^ypgasastra, p.180.
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certain mental state but behavior in action. Therefore it has also
been interpreted as good work. Certainly a Jain meditator is supposed
to be good in action in order to spread the Jain faith and increase
the consideration in which it is held. This could take the form of
almsgiving, celebration of festivals, setting up images or building
temples. All this is designed to remove ignorance. Compassion may
also include preaching the Jain doctrine, telling religious stories,
debating, practicing religious asceticism, firmness in belief and
visiting the holy places.^
N indâ
Remorse is the removal of any criticism levelled at the Jain
by people unable to follow the vows. This includes the cultivation
of forebearance and concealment of the faults committed by other
J a i n s . 3-8
G arhâ
Repentance of faults is equally essential for strengthening
practice and faith. One falls back due to natural weaknesses, and
at such times a Jain meditator is supposed to repent and rectify
h im s e lf .3-3-
V a ts a ly a
Loving kindness is the unfeigned and wholehearted assistance to
members of the community. It is called unfeigned affection for the
^Yogasâstra, p. 182. 3-ügrâvakâcâra, p.76. 3-libid. p.77.
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Karma
Jiva (life) 5 absolutely different from a.jiva (non-life).
It is karma which i.thholds jiva from liberation. As jiva exists
everywhere, man’s task is more difficult because on the one hand he is
struggling to liberate himself from karmic bondage, and on the other
he has to practice extreme non-violence in his thoughts, words, and
deeds. No matter what he does he is bound to destroy some jiva.
He should believe that his extreme love, compassion, rejoicing in
other’s happiness, and equanimity bring about a way for him to liberate
his soul from samsara. He should bear in mind that he can liberate
himself through complete devotion to the faith and tirthamkaras
(liberated ones). While liberating himself from samsara, he should
protect the lives of others.
In Jainism the whole universe, including even its infrahuman stratification is comprised in the divine anthropomorphic organism, beasts and plants-which are devoid of man's higher faculties of love, wisdom and spirituality, and also inorganic matter and mute e l e m e n t s . 3-8
In the Jain view every thought, word and deed is oriented and
influenced by karma. To live means to be active. To be active means to
commit fresh karma. As long as man continues to commit karma, he is
not going to liberate himself from samsara because every moment,
whether consciously or unconsciously, he commits karma for future
births. Karma can be eliminated by meditation. "When by meditation,
all the karmas are burnt, the self becomes p u r i f i e d .
Ratnakaranda Sravakacara. p.17. Ibid. 245. Heinrich Zimmer, Philosophies of India, ed. Joseph Campbell, (Meridian Books,Inc. New York, 1959), p. 241.
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A Jain, having lived an ordinary household life following a
comparatively relaxed mode of living, should renounce everything and
begin a life of severe austerity and the practice of special worship
becoming an ascetic expecting final liberation. 3-5 it seems that
Jainism, is good for a monastic life. Lay people may find it
impossible to attain final liberation. Jains believe that the senses
are camouflaged by the delusion of the world and by following a
monastic life delusion is brought to an end. As long as one lives a
household life, impediments increase and one never attains kaivalya
or isolation. The senses are incapable of seeing things as they are
except by proper guidance and discipline. It is believed that all
beings expect to be omniscient, omnipotent, unlimited and unfettered.
All of us have inexplicable potentiality within ourselves and that
poterntiality is always trying to manifest itself. But karmic force
keeps suppressing this. This is why man kind is always in conflict.
The Jaina philosophy is characterized by a strictly mechanical materialism with respect to the subtle substantiality of the life-monad and the karmic influx, as well as with respect to the release.
When a Jain monk collects food from lay people, for instance,
someone without knowing his dietary rules may put meat into his begging
bowl. Without knowing that it is meat, he might swallow it with other
food. According to the strict dietary rules of Jain monks, whether he
ate it intentionally or unintentionally, the fact that he swallowed
meat makes him automatically unholy. As Jains look at living organisms,
the problem of release is more difficult:
^^indian Philosophies, p.254. ^^Ibid. p.254.
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Life is mixed with karma like water with milk or like fire with iron in a red hot, glowing iron ball. This karmic matter communicates colors to the life.^^
Black represents the color of cruelty, dark-blue of greed, dove
grey of recklessness, or thoughtlessness, fiery red of prudence and
honesty, yellow of compassion, consideration, unselfishness, non
violence and self-control, white of a dispassionate, absolutely 1 ft disinterested and im partial nature.
Karmic forces continue to flow into the minds of people, like
water to a pond. The karmic force is called asrava (that which flows).
"Influx (asrava) of every type has to be blocked if nirvana is to be
attained, and this arrestment of life can be effected only by good
or bad’.’^^ This is done by accepting yogic asceticism and self-
abnegation. Then to bring life "to its proper perspective, every door
through which new karmic substance might enter into must be tightly
closed and kept that way, so that the process of the automatic influx
of six colors w ill be blocked. To close the gates means to abstain
from action, action of every sort." As life continues to exist the
past karmic forces remain active, producing their due results in pain
and suffering. What one experiences, therefore,is the consequence of
past karma. When one does not commit fresh karma and lets the past
expiate itself, then the possibility of continuity in samsara ceases
to exist. The fact, though, that one does not commit fresh karma
has to be true because it is only good karma that takes one across
samsara. Inactivity itself is an action which can be termed silent
karma. Whether one moves the body or hand or mouth or mind.
l^ibid. p. 229. Ibid. 231. ^^Ibid. p. 256. 2°Ibid. 256.
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he commits karma. This is the automatic influx of karma. Intention
is not given any particular emphasis. Whether one intends or not,
as long as one has an active mind and active body, karmic influx takes
p la c e .
This is why kaivalya is attained only at the moment of death.
The fact that one is inactive is assumed t j be good karma. Only good
karma puts an end to suffering. Even good karma is not free from the
potential of producing pain and suffering. Not that the one who commits
it desires suffering, but it is inevitable because all actions or
even non-actions are painful. Even during the time the Jain
ascetic practices penance, there is a great deal of s u f f e r i n g .
Thus on the one hand one should expiate previous karma and
on the other one should abstain from committing fresh karma. This
means that both getting rid of old karma and not committing new
karma should be good. However, even if one might be able to get
rid of old karma one would not be able to prevent oneself from fresh
karmic influx, simply because one's mere existence itself produces
karma whether or not one does something intentionally. Therefore,
while moving the body, for example, one destroys many living beings.
To be living is to be changing and moving and an absolute"inaction"
is never a reality in life.
The Jain monk may not respond at all to any situation whether
it affects him or the society or another person. He sacrifices all
his time and energy to ascetic aloofness and becomes indifferent to
pleasure and pain. However, he continues to practice his cleansing
^^Jaina Yoga, pp.166-172.
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process. He practices severe internal discipline and maintains
concentration which burns up whatever karma is within him. He commits
good karma which nullifies the bad karma. He is not visibly active
because he is not participating in social, political, economic, domestic
or sexual activities. He is withdrawn from all of these activities. He 22 is considered inactive for all practical purposes.
At the stage where he is totally free, he is said to be in 23 kaivalya, absolute isolation, completeness through intergration. By
complete annihilation of even the possibility of any future karmic
commitment, cessation of existence is brought about. He has no desire
whatsoever for any rebirth in any form. All life is renewal of karmic
process. He, therefore, does not want to be a part of it at all. Pain
results from action. Pain is in all living beings and it can be subdued
by inactivity. Those who know with certainty what this means, renounce
all activities.
Thus thoroughly knowing karma, observing the commandment, wise, unattached (to the world), recognising thyself as one, subdue the body, chastise thyself, weaken thyself: "just as fire consumes old wood." Thus with a composed mind, unattached, unhesitatingly avoid wrath. Consider the shortness of life, know pain, or what w ill come; one shall feel the several feelings; and perceive the world suffering under them.
Right Knowledge
Right knowledge is the knowledge of the teaching of Jaina
Mahavira. It includes ordinary cognition (m ati), scriptural knowledge
(^ruti), extraordinary knowledge (avadhi), mental knowledge (manah-
paryaya), and perfect knowledge (kevala). The first of these five
kinds of knowledge is mediate and the other three are immediate.
O') Jaina Y o g a , pp. 93-99- 23zimmer, Indian Philosophies, p. 257. 24jaina Sutras, p. 39. 25lbid., p. 3 9 .
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One who has right knowledge should have a knowledge of the
self (iiva) whose characteristic is attention. Selves are either
liberated or unliberated. Unliberated selves also are either with
mind and body or without mind and body. They are either movable or
immovable. The immovable bodies are earth-bodies, water-bodies,
fire-bodies, air-bodies and vegetable-bodies. The movable bodies are
either with two senses, three senses, four or five senses. Vegtables
have only the sense of touch. Worms, ants, bumblebees and men have
two, three, four and five senses each respectively. Bodies also are
of five kinds, such as physical, fluid, assim ilative, splendid and
karmic. The most subtle of all of them are karmic bodies. However,
karmic bodies are beginningless and not subject to destruction. They
continue to create themselves no matter what we do. AH worldly selves
have these karmic bodies.
Motion exists because of non-living bodies (ajiva) through which
other bodies move. They are called substances (dravya) which are
motion (dharma), rest (adharma), space (akasa) and matter (pudgala).
These five substances are eternal and without touch, taste, smell and — 27 color. They exist in time (kala). However, matter is qualitative
and has touch, taste, smell, color, space and motion. There are
countless units of space occupied by an atom of matter and this unit is
c a lle d pradesa.T h e r e are countless pradesas of dharma, adharma and
self. The function of dharma is motion and that of adharma is rest.
^%mâsvâmin, Tattvartha Sutra with Sarvartha Siddhi of Pujyapada (Jnanapitha Murtidevi Jaina Granthamâlâ No. 13, Benares, 1955), pp. 252-253. 27jaina Sutra, Part I., pp. 3-14. 28ibid., Part II, pp. 153, n 1, d,; 154, wpu n3.
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The function of space is to give place to another substance to occupy.
The function of matter is to form the basis of bodies, speech, mind 29 and breath and to make possible wordly enjoyment, pain, life and death.
The selves' function is to give support to each other. The function
of time is existence in the present, change, movement, and long or
short duration. Matter possesses touch, taste, smell and color and is 30 constituted by atoms and molecules.
Yoga, in the view of the Tatvârthâdhigama Sutra, is the
activity of body, speech and mind. This means all activities are called
yoga which bind a being to samsara. Liberation comes from non-yoga,
(not from yoga like other traditions) or non-activity. In other words,
yoga is used synonymously with karma. To say karma-yoga, according to 32 this view, is tautologous. Karma-yoga is a word used in Jainism to
mean the flow of karmic matter into the soul. When the soul is affected
by passions, the karmic influx is mundane and harmful and when the soul
is free from obsessions the influx is transcendental. When the mind is
influenced by compassion for all living beings, compassion for those
who have taken vows, charity, self-control without attachment, contem
plation, forgiveness, and contentment, the karmic influx contains
pleasure-bearing matter.Right belief can be deluded by karmic
influx such as defaming the omniscient one, the scriptures, the brother
hood, the sangha, the religion and the celestial beings.
29ibid., p. 159. ^^Ibid,. p. 159. ^^Ibid., pp. 153, 175. 32ibid., p. 49, n. 1. ^Ibid. , p. 244, n. 4; p. 343, n. 2. 34ibid., p. 175.
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Right Conduct
Right conduct is the conduct controlled by strict disciplinary
rules advocated by the scriptures so that one who has such conduct w ill
be able to liberate himself from the cycle of samsara. There are many
r u le s o f conduct.Right conduct can be camouflaged by intense thought
activity and by the rise of the p a s s i o n s . An e v i l body can be
caused by the deceitful working of the mind, body and speech. The
opposite of this is caused by good-body-making karma. Good-body-making
karma is meditation.
Meditation cannot be done without controlling the mind, which is overpowered by krodha (anger), mina (vanity and pride), mâyâ (insincerity and the tendency to dupe others) and lobha (greed).
Without purifying the mind attainment of liberation is impossible.
Without control of the mind no one can proceed in the path of Yoga. All over acts become controlled when the mind is controlled, so those who seek emancipation should make every effort to control the mind. No kind of asceticism (tapas) can be of any good until the mind is purified. All attachment and antipathy (ragadvesa) can be removed only by the purification of the mind. It is by attachment and antipathy that man loses his independence. It is thus necessary for the yogin (sage) that he should be free from them and become independent in the real sense of the term. When a man learns to look upon all being with equality (samatva) he can effect such a conquest over riga and dvesa. 88
In order to overcome passions, we are advised by Jainism to
meditate upon the transitoriness (anityati) of all things. This
means that everything is subject to change. The meditation on the
t*-^“-itoriness of all things is called asaranabhâvanâ (meditation on
Ibid. pp.179,225. 3^^^bid%^p.l57. 37^ History of Indian Philosophy, Vol. I. p.201. p.201.
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helplessness). We should meditate on the fact that we are different
from one a n o th e r . A lth o u g h karm a i s th e common f a c t o r o f a l l l i v e s ,
we are different from one another by our surrounding, karma, our
separate bodies and by all other gifts that each of us have separately.
This meditation is called ekatvabhavanâ and anyatva bhâvanâ (meditation
on unity and meditation on diversity respectively). We, according to
Jainism, are supposed to practice meditation of the impurities of
the body (asucibhâvanâ) and cultivate universal friendship and
compassion. If we do not practice this meditation our minds can be
overcome by passions. Meditation on this possibility is called
asravabhavani (meditation on the befalling of evil). Overcoming
of karmic influx (samvara) leads to the destruction of karma nirjara.
Five Vows and Five M editations
The five vows are to abstain from injury, falsehood, theft,
unchastity, and worldly attachment. There are five meditations for
each vow. The one who follows the five precepts in Jainism also should
practice five types of meditation to make the practice of the five
precepts meaningful. The five types of ahiysa are to be practised along
with noninjury-meditation. They are to be mindful of speech, the mind,
walking, lifting and laying things down, and to be mindful of what
one eats. He should be meticulously mindful of what he eats and
drinks and how he receives food. In practising the truthfulness
a meditator should give up anger, greed, cowardice and frivolity
and speak only according to scriptural injunctions. The meditation
on non-theft includes residing in a solitary place or deserted place,
purity of alms, and not disputing with the brother disciples over material
or psychological things saying "this is mine". He who meditates
on chastity should renounce the world, he should meditate on renuncia-
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tion of hearing stories inciting attachment to women, renunciation of
seeing their beautiful bodies, renunciation of memories of past
enjoyment with them, renunciation of aphrodisiacs, and renunciation of
beautifying one's own body?9 Meditating on five worldly attachments
he should be mindful of giving up love and hatred for objects of
five senses. His meditation should include compassion for all 40 living beings. A good Jain should, in addition to the five
precepts, follow all the basic qualities (mulagunas), qualities of
discipline (siksagunas) and qualities of higher training (uttaragunas)^^-
the thirteen vratas^^ and follow strictly all the minute rules. There
are many complicated rules for monks to follow, although the rules
prescribed for lay people are comparatively moderate. All these rules
aim at nonviolence. Laymen in conducting daily business should avoid
intentional killing; whereas the monks should avoid all destruction of
life whether intentional or unintentional. A layman may observe some
of the rigorous rules periodically.48
Most of the rules of conduct for a layman are intended apparently
to make them participate, in a measure and for sometime, in the
merits and benefits of monastic life without obliging them to renounce
the world altogether. The rule, for voluntary death has a similar
implication.^^ Lay people, however, are not precluded from the whole
system of Jain life. Even though their regulations are much relaxed,
their part in the continuation of the religion is essential. The
^Indian Philosophy, p.258. Ibid. p. 258. Ibid. p.259. 42gee yratas in Chapter V following. Ibid, ch. V. 44ggg Sallekhana vrata in chapter V. fo llo w in g .
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state of a layman is preliminary and, in many cases, preparatory to
the state of a monk.^^ However, once a layman enters the order of novice
monks, he must observe more rigid rules than when he was a lay person.
He should avoid all possible karmic inflow. Therefore it is necessary
to practise discipline (samvara) in order to prevent the karmic flow.
One must keep his body, speech and mind under strict control. Before
one refrains from all karmas, good and bad, he must abstain from bad
karmas of the mind, speech and the body. Even in performing his
monastic duties as a monk, his body can commit inadvertently sinful
and guilty actions. Therefore,he must be more cautious than a lay
person and observe the five precepts in walking, speaking, collecting
alms, taking up or putting down things and defecation. He must avoid
anger, pride, delusion, greed and cultivate forbearance, indulgence,
straightfowardness, purity, veracity, restraint, austerity, freedom
from attachment to anything, poverty, and chastity.He must bear
cheerfully with all that may cause him trouble or annoyance. The
conduct of the monk is regulated by the purpose of denying him every
form of comfort and of merely keeping him alive. However, the risk
of hurting living beings is much greater than the comfort he might
enjoy, and the consequences thereof may be more dangerous than the
pain and discomfort he might undergo.His conduct consists of
control of his senses and the mind. On the lowest level all sinful
activities are avoided, and on the highest level, it leads to annihila-',
tfon of all karmas. At the last stage of penance, he not only prevents
^^A.L.Basham, The Wonder That Was India,(Grove Press, Inc., New York,1959). p.292. Sutras, Part II.pp.25,ff, 60ff.75ff.363. 4 7 l b i d . p p . 398 f f .
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the formation of new karmas but purges all the old karmas.48 However,
this has to be done in the right way and with the right intention.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
From the above account of the three jewels, it is obvious that
one must believe in the doctrine of Jainism. He should have complete
knowledge of the tenets and should tread the path laid down by the
doctrine of Jainism. If one follows the rules without complete under
standing he would not be following Jainism in the true sense of the
t e r m . 49 What is most essential is the combined use of the three jewels.
Without right knowldge of the rules on the one hand, one would not
know what is right or what is wrong in a given context.50 Insulting
the doctrine through ignorance causes a most heinous karmic influx.
To have faith and right knowledge is one thing but to put these two
aspects together as a whole is another. This is the role of right
conduct. To complete the Jaina religious life, therefore, one must
have all three aspects complete.5^
Nevertheless, the problem is that right knowledge, right faith
and right conduct are the achievement of the final stage of enlightenment.
In other words, when a person with all his weaknesses completes his
knowledge, faith and conduct, then only w ill he have perfect under^ .
standing. As long as he remains imperfect, he is liable to result-
producing karma. He could accumulate an unaccountable amount of
karma, and one life time may not suffice for him to expiate all of it,
even though he ceases all new karma formation.52 He would not know
48lbid.pp.398. 49ibid.pp.25,69ff. 50xbid.pp.i58ff. 51lbid. p.l84ff. 52ibid.pp.249-257.
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how much karma he has or how many more lives he w ill have to spend
to complete expiation of his karmas. A man faced with this uncertain
situation may not be able to make a correct d e c i s i o n . 58 on the other
hand no matter what he does, he gives into karmic influx. Whether a
person does something or remains idle, karmic influx continues incessantly.
One has no control whatever over karmic i n f l o w .54 One has to assume
that not doing something is good. From the Jain code of ethics any
deed whether good or bad, once committed by someone w ill produce its
corresponding results in due course of time. One does not necessarily
commit an action intentionally; mere action is sufficient for it to be
karma. A monk, for example, may attend to his monastic obligations
and commit karma without his knowledge. Physical movement is almost
inevitable. The mind always holds onto something. Long before one
becomes mindful of what happens in his mind, the mind wanders and
holds to something. By the time one becomes aware of what has happened,
the mind has already stocked a great deal of karmic influx, and
according to the Jain karma theory such karmic influx produces its
corresponding r e s u l t s . 55 a Jain ascetic may be. aware of the things
that happen to him when he is awake. But the things that happen to him
without his awareness may be greater than the things he is aware of.
However, both things that happen with his awareness and things that
happen without his awareness, produce results which may not be of
equal degree. There is no way to stop this. No matter how severe
are the austerities he practises, the karmic influx continues unchecked
in its own way and pace.5^
58ibid.pp. 2 6 2 ff. 54ibid.p.l92ff. 552bid,p,i92ff. 56ibid. p. 2 4 9 f f.
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Therefore, verbal and physical inactivity is not sufficient.
One has to be mindful of what happens in the mind. The mental discipline,
in other words, is more important than physical and verbal discipline. 57
"If a monk who abstains from actions, suffers pain (for acts done)
through ignorance then karma w ill be annihilated through control."
"Those who are not subdued by the wicked (pleasures), know meditation
to be their duty."5® Although this aspect is not explicit in Jain
religious literature, it is more than conspicuous in the monks' discipline.
The sole purpose of such discipline is to train the mind in mindfulness
of the existence of other beings. Although there are numerous things
one could do mindfully in order to liberate the soul without hurting
others, the Jain tradition emphasizes the extreme ahimsa (non-violence)
even at the risk of life.
The inevitable question is how could one fast unto death penance — 59 (sallekhana vrata) and at the same time practise extreme ahimsa.
When one m ortifies the body without taking food, many organisms in the
body die. They believe that there are millions of single-self bodies
in the human body and they could be killed if food is not taken regularly.
On the one hand the Jain is extremely cautious about not killing the
tiniest living organisms in the world, and on the other he allows
himself to die by depriving himself of food. This is the greatest
dilemma in Jainism-namely that the extreme practice of ahimsa (self-
starvation) violates ahimsa by killing the subject practicing it
and any organisms his body is host to. Non-Jains may not be in a right
position to justify this belief and commitment to it. However, my
5^Ibid.p.257. 58%bij_ p. 256. 59gee Chapter V. fo llo w in g .
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Intention is not to solve it nor to complicate it but to point
out that there is a problem.
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MEDITATION IN JAINA SUTRAS
In this chapter I w ill Investigate the ways,in Jain view , a
meditator conducts his behavior so that it becomes a maj or part of
meditation. M editation, contrary to what many of us have thought,is
not something that we can separate from the mainstream of our daily
life. Rather, while living and doing regular daily activities meditation
should be going on. The Jain meditation tradition insists that a person
can, along with his daily activities, observe special rules of conduct
leading to his liberation from samsara. In this chapter I am going
to explain thirteen vratas^or vows and eleven stages called pratimas.
VRATAS
Ahimsa Vrata
Jainism is unique among the world's religious traditions for its
vratas (penances), the most rigid and important of which is ahimsa
vrata or non-violence. The Jain is supposed to abstain from killing
any living being, whatever the purpose, whether for sacrifice to the
gods or for food. Killing destructive animals is as unacceptable as
killing of any other animal. The principle of non-killing exludes even
mercy killing because the Jain believes that suffering animals
In fact, there are only twelve vratas. But including sallekhana vrata which is meant to be practiced prim arily by the monks, there are thirteen vratas.
60
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when killed, could be reborn in a life worse than their present life,
not because of the mercy killing alone but because their own karma
must be allowed to expiate itself. Killing then perpetuates the problem
since it deprives the animal of the process of expiation in this life.
Jain precepts prohibit subtle violence and gross viulence. This means
no violence in any form. Under no circumstance is a man permitted to
k ill any living being. Thus the Jaina Sutras preclude keeping animals
in captivity, beating, m utilating, over loading, and depriving them
O of food and drink. This rule is to be strictly observed by a meditator.
Likewise each Jain is a pure vegetarian and this non-killing is not
something negative but is an active compassion. "Killing horifies
because all beings wish to live and not to die."3
Satva vrata
Satya generally means truth. But in Jainism it is more than
that. It is "the abstention from untruth spoken out of passion or hate
and from truth, too, if it provokes the destruction of a living being.
The Jain meditator is expected to abstain from numerous categories of
untruth. One category includes all false statements made in reference
to human beings, animals, or inanimate objects.
Another category of untruth deals with logic. Because of the
peculiar nature of this category of untruth I include its principal
divisions here. First, the Jaina Sutras prohibit the denial of what
is; for example, there is no âtman: there no sin; there no merit;
^Tattvartha Sutra, vii. 8. p. 64; Jaina Yoga, pp.66-67. 8sawe jiva vi icchanti/ jivium na marijjium / tamha pini vaham ghoram/ nigganthi vajjayantinam. (Dasa Vaikalika Sutra, Gatha 219) ^Tattvartha Sutra, vii. 8. p.11.
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or Devadatta is not here when in fact he is present. Secondly, they
prohibit the assertion of what is not: for example, the âtman is
eminent or the âtman is the size of a grain of rice, or the pot is
there when in fact it is not there. A third prohibition is the
representation of something in a form other than its real form: for
example, describing a cow as a horse or saying that the atman is
non-eternal or that it is eternal. A fourth prohibition is reprehensible
speech which includes speech that is recklessly hurtful, speech that is
insulting or inspired by malice or mockery, or speech in which
encouragement to harmful actions is given. A Jain meditator is, for
example, not supposed to ask anybody even to till the land for culti
vation. ^ Jain categorization of truth and falsehood proceeds in this
manner with minute details thought out meticulously.^
Asteya Vrata
Asteya is to abstain from what is not given. A Jain is not
supposed to possess or accept that which is not formally given to him
by its owner, by a living creature, by the Tirthamkara or that which
first was not given to the monks. In fact only the first of these
categories falls under asteya vrata. Steva in a very rigid sense is
taking with the intent to steal objects, even such things as blades
of grass which are in the possession of others and not given by them
as one would expect, receiving stolen goods, transgressing the lim it
of a hostile state, using false weight and measures and the substituting
^Jaina Yoga, p.72. ^xbid. p. 83.
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inferior commodities fall under the category of stealing.^ A Jaina
meditator is supposed to abstain from every kind of stealing. The
Digambara sect avoids it by not accepting property of others, whether
pledged or abandoned, unless it has been specifically given. The
Digambaras extend this principle to include not buying a valuable
article at a low price, being content with small profit, not appropriating
something that has been forgotten, and not taking the property of others
through anger or greed. ® If one is not sure of the ownership of an
object, one should abstain from it:
Nothing that has not been given is to be appropriated with the exception of property from the succession of a dead relative and of such things as the water of a river or the grass of a meadow which are common property. For example, if a buried hoard is found it must be left alone since, as treasure trove, it is without an owner but belongs to the ruler of the state.
Brahma Vrata
Brahma vrata is to abstain from sexual intercourse with any
female whether celestial or terrestrial. This is a very important
precept in Jainism. Only lawful sexual intercourse is permitted to
lay people and unlawful sexual intercourse is permitted to no one. This
vrata has a double meaning. One aspect is negative and the other is
positive. The negative aspect is to abstain from sexual acts out of
wedlock and the positive aspect is to permit sexual acts within w e d l o c k .
Among several detailed accounts given under this vrata the
following are worth noticing. One must avoid intercourse with a
woman temporarily taken to wife, an unmarried woman, in love-play.
Umasvati, Sravaka Prajnapti,(Bombay, 1905) p .265; Haribhadra, Avasyaka Sutra , with Commentary of Haribhadra, (Âgamodaya Samity Siddhanta Sangraha, No.l, Bombay, 1916), p.822; Jaina Yoga, p. 79. Bjaina Yoga, p.84; ^Ibid. p.84. ^Olbid. p.86.
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in match-making, and finally one must avoid excessive predilection for
the pleasure of the senses. In addition all kinds of sexual intercourse
have been prohibited to the Jain meditator. They are animate and inani
mate. Whau falls under the category of animate is sexual union of a man
with a female (celestial, human and animal), with another man or with
an androgyne. This includes masturbation, homosexuality and masturbat
ion by a woman. What comes under the inanimate category is sexual
union of a man with the statue of a woman (celestial, human or animal),
with other inanimate objects such as the current of a stream, an
inanimate phallus of wood or with other artificialdevices.Inter
course with a woman temporarily taken to wife, in the Jain Sutras,
refers to a prostitute who is taken by another man for a limited period
of time. So long as she is with this man she is no longer public
property. Once she is free from him, she becomes ownerless again.
But a woman who has lost her husband is not public property unless she
chooses to be so."1 9
Generally speaking all sexual intercourse is condemned. At
best, a lay man may be permitted marital sexuality if he cannot resist
the sex urge. He should, however, be mindful of the karmic consequence
of such acts. If he fails to be convinced that meditation and not
copulation is the remedy for the disease of lu st, he may seek such
satisfaction. "The fever of concupiscence is not more quenched by
satisfaction, says Hemacandra, then fire is extinguished by oblations r . 13 o f g h ee.
^^Tattvartha Sutra, vii. pp.11,78. ^^Ibid. p.108. Yoga Sastra, p.81.
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Sexual intercourse with women is prohibited to the meditators
and monks for two reasons. One is that in a moral sense the calm
of the soul is disturbed by the increase of passion, and the other
is that in a physical sense the sexual act is always accompanied by
violence. The second reason seems to be much in accordance with the
central concept of Jainism, namely the highest dharma is non-violence
(ahimsa paramo dharmo). "It is held that there are always present in the
navel, armpits, and pudenda of a woman myriads of minute living creatures
of which large numbers perish during every act of c o i t u s . ^4
Amrtacandra compares the sexual act to the introduction of
a heated iron bar into a tube containing grains of sesamum because
sexual intercourse has sim ilar e f f e c t . ^5 Hemacandra, accepting Vatsya-
yana's Kama Sutra, says that tiny worms generated in the blood are found
in a woman's sexual organs where they produce an itching.
Here, too, we find the enjoyment of male, female, or celestial
beings in mind, word or action and a single excitment of sense organs
under the stimulons of desire is prohibited in Jainism. A man should
avoid by all means "the delusive sight of the bodies of women.In
other words a man should never stare at, or touch the sexual organ of
a woman or vice versa. It is forbidden to stimulate a cow to urinate 18 by rubbing its vagina.
Aparigraha Vrata
Aparigraha vrata is to refrain from being attached to property.
3-4jaina Yoga, p.91. Amrta Candra, Purusartha Sidhya Upaya, (Rayacandra Jaina Sastr,amala, Bombay, 1905), pIlOS. laYoga Sastra,ii, p.80. ^^Sravaka Prajnapti, p.274. l^Haribbadra, Sravaka dharma Pancasaka, (ed.with trans. L.Suali, Bombay, 1924), p .72.
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people, and one’s body. It even includes emotional feelings that one
has. As Jain meditation is meant for both laymen and clergymen, the
requirements are prescribed for both. However, the aparigraha vrata
(the vow of non-attachment) is not a mahâ vrata (great penance), which
is prescribed for monks, but a minor vow. One who undertakes this
vow is supposed to be content and not attached to anything animate
or inanimate, internal or external.
Excessive hoarding, excessive use and earning of anything is
against this precept. Out of greed of gain, driving oxen or other
beasts of burden for a greater distance than they can comfortably
go, hoarding of grain or other commodities in the hope of making a very
high profit, extreme disappointment at having sold something at a
price involving a loss, excessive greed in wishing for a higher
price when a good price has been obtained, and overloading of beasts
of burden through greed are all prohibited in J a i n i s m . 19 However, if
a man, observing these rules of aparigraha, receives a house or field
as a gift from somebody, he may not break the letter of the law by
accepting and using it. He certainly would have committed the offence
of exceeding the lim it. If he receives gold or silver in a similar
way and gives it to his wife for a limited period and gets it back
from her, he still breaks the law of exceeding the lim it. Anything
he possesses in excess of what is necessary and sufficient causes
him to break the law.^®
D ig V ra ta
This is the vow one undertakes to restrict oneself to one area
l^Tattvartha Sutra, p.24. Sastra, iii. p.96.
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rather than moving around freely. This vow has been introduced in
order to prevent the meditator from committing wrong acts, and when
found out, from running away to another place. On the other hand, if
they stay in one place, they w ill be very well known to the people
in that area, and therefore they may not commit offensive acts for
fear of public criticism . They may be bored to stay in one area
or they may develop attachment to the area and people in that area.
But the rule is meant to protect the Jains from scandal. Moreover, when
they move around in an unlimited way, they may k ill more and more
insects by trampling on them when they are walking, eating, sleeping
or working. This is one way of curtailing greed which is against
non-attachment.21
Bhoga Vrata
This vow deals with what is to be eaten and not to be eaten.
There are lists of things that a Jain generally should and should not
eat. These lists reflect sectarian differences as well as individual
preferences. Food is categorized and prohibited under many headings:
food derived directly from sentient beings; food derived indirectly
from sentient beings; unripe medicinal food; improperly ripened
medicinal food; medicinal food of base quality; food containing ingred
ients from sentient beings; fermented f o o d ; 22 tubers; roots; ripe fruits
which are attached to a tree; grains and pulses; half cooked grains
or uncooked grains; flowers or sesamum seeds; food into which small
living creatures such as ants have fallen; wine or spirits produced
3^Jaina Yoga, p.100. ^^Sravaka Dharma Pancasaka, p .21.
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by ferm entation.28
Under the same subject the type of jobs one can do. At least
fifteen trades are forbidden to a Jain?^ All these forbidden occupations
are involved in either killing or harming some living beings directly
or indirectly. I-Jhat this vrata really means, therefore, is not only
the avoidance of eating certain foods that might have some connection
directly or indirectly with killing or hurting living beings but also
avoidance of such occupations as could directly or indirectly involve
killing or hurting living beings.
Anarthadanda Vrata
This vrata seems to overlap with the previous vratas. The
literal meaning of the anarthadanda vrata is to abstain from harmful
activities that serve no useful purpose.
Sâmâvika Vrata
Sâmâyika vrata etymologically means the attainment of equanimity 25 or tranquillity of mind. This is more directly related to meditation
28xattvartha Sutra,vii. p.30 24angara karman (livelihood from charcoal); vana karman (destroying plants); sakaça karman (livelihood from carts); bhataka karman (livelihood from transport fees); sphota karman (livelihood from hewing and digging); danta vânijya (trade in animal byproducts); rasa vanijya (trade in alcohol and forbidden foodstuffs); Laksa vanijya (trade in lac in sim ilar substance); kesa vagijya (trade in men and animals); visa vsnijya (trade in destructive articles); yantra-pindana (work involving m illing); nirlinchana ( work involving m utilation); dâvigni-dâna (work involving the use of fire); sarah-sosaga (work involving the use of water); asati-posana (work involving breading and racing); Jaina Yoga, p .117. 25sima (tranquillity of mind) + âya (attainment) + ika (its nature).
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than some other vratas. A Jain commentator, Pujyapida, holds sâmâyika
to be the process of becoming one, the fusion of the activities of body,
mind and speech with the âtman, and the practice proposed to obtain this
r e s u l t . 28 According to Haribhadra, however, it means the cessation of
all activities harmful to all living beings and the concentration on
blameless activity.27
A ritual connected with the sâmâyika vrata has been prescribed
for a householder desirous of practising the right path. The samayika
ceremony is performed in his house by a Jain priest. This is done in
a special hall made for this purpose alone or in a place where other
activities are not going on. The particular individual who wants to
perform this ceremony should be free from fear, free from dispute
with anyone or indebtedness to anyone, and having no other cause for
anxiety to sway his mind in any direction. In other words he should
be able to concentrate on the ceremony whole-hearcedly without distrac
tions . He should, like a sadhu, observe the five samitis2^ objects of
mindfulness) and the three guptis ( c o n t r o l s )29 and avoid all harmful
speech, before picking up and setting down any object, he must not
28xattvartha Sutra, vii. p.16. ‘^’^’Rarlb'b.aàTa, Avasyaka Sutra, with commentary of Haribhadra, (Âgamodaya Samiti Siddhanta Sangraha, No.l, Bombay, 1916.) p.831 b. 28p£.^g samitis: i. irya-samiti (mindfulness in walking), ii. bhasa samity (mindfuliiess in speaking), iii. esana samity (mindfulness , in eating); iv. adana niksepa samity ( mindful ness in taking up and sitting down), and v. utsarga samity ( mindful ness in excreting). Jaina Yoga, p.32. ^'^Tbxea guptis: i.vag gupti (control of the activity of speech), ii. kaya gupti ( control of the activity of body) and iii..raano gupti (control of the activity of mind). Ibid. p.32.
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neglect pratllekhanâ and pramârjanâ. Pratxlekhani is the scanning of
the ground or any object for the presence of any living creatures, and
pramari ana is the removing of such living creatures by means of a soft
broom. Then he must pay homage to the sadhu and repeat three times :
For as long as I worship the sadhus I will abstain from committing harmful activities by word, deed and mind and also from encouraging others to commit such activities. I confess them lord and regret whatever I have done in the past
After repeating this formula three times he gets up and worships his
Guru in the order of seniority and his preceptor, and then sits down
to engage in study.
If the ritual takes place in one's own house or a hall built
for this purpose, then there are no special arrival form alities. But
if it is done somewhere else, then there is a formal ceremony to go
to that place. If he is a king or a rich man, he arrives at the place
in great pomp with procession of people, music, dancers, singers,
elephants, drums and conches. As he approaches the place, people
assembled there w ill welcome him crying "blessed is the sacred law".
He should take off his shoes and enter the celebration hall. Then
he does Jina Fuji ( offering to Jina) and Guru Vandana ( paying
homage to the teachers). After the ceremony he leaves on foot; for
as he is now initiated, he should be humble.31
During the whole ceremony, he lays aside his ornaments and
jewelry. It is believed that in sâmâyika a lay man becomes an ascetic.
The sâmâyika ceremony should be performed as often as possible as
3^^Karemi bhante sâmâiyam sivajjam jogam paccakkhami jave sâhü pajjuvasami duvihi tivihena manenam vâyâhe kâyenam na karemi karâvemi tassabhante padikkamami nindâmi garihâmi appânam vasirâmi. Jaina Yoga, p .132 31lbid. p.133.
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this state is not perpetual. Therefore, a sravaka who has undergone
sâmâyika ceremony is never treated equal with a sadhu. Haribhadra
likens this situation to a poet's comparison of a woman's face with
the moon. "Her face resembles the moon only in its roundness, affability,
and grace but differs from it in many other ways.32 Similarly a house
holder may be compared to an ascetic for at a certain time he purifies
his mind temporarily by concentrating on the Jina. He may then feel
that he could achieve perfect restraint and self-control. However,
since the karmas and influx of obsessions are still present in his
mind, his asceticism can be held to be used figuratively. Even though
a man's attachment to m aterial things remains the same, the ceremonial
initiation to asceticism reminds him of the absence of material wealth.
Therefore to repeat this ceremony is effective because one day he
may decide to devote all his time to the ascetic life. Each sâmâyika
vrata observation is a beginning of a new life. The householder
however, cannot commit himself, during the sâmâyika vrata, to the
mahavratas which are meant to be observed by the sâdhûs.38
The Svetambaras sometimes refer to a communal sâmâyika ceremony .
The Digambaras stress silence and solitude. There are differences
between these two sects in choosing a place for the ceremony. Both
setts agree on the rules of transgression of this vrata, and they
insist that the householder undergoing this ritual should avoid
misdirection of mind, speech and body, forgetfulness of the vrata
and instability in it.34
/ _ ^^Ava^yaka Sutra, p.833. 33&atna Karanda Srâvakâcara iv. p.12. 34Ava^yaka Sutra, p .832.
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The Jain Yogi living at home or in a monastery practising
samayika vrata should be able to concentrate on what he is doing
without distractions such as those mentioned earlier. Since this
vrata has been recommended to a lay man he should put aside his worries
about unfinished household duties. He should not let his weaknesses
take possession of him, and he should control his anger, deceit, pride,
avarice and envy. He should watch his tongue and should not speak
harsh language or harmful talk. He should not only clean the ground
and m aterial objects but also keep the hands and feet from moving.
He should be mindful and present minded. He should also remember when — 35 he is supposed to renew his sâmâyika vows.
Desivakasika Vrata
This vrata is considered as the restriction of place (des'a)
for a limited time set forth in the Dig vrata, since the freedom of
movement is restricted to a tiny part of the area previously measured
out. The purpose of this vrata and the Dig vrata is to remind the
meditator of his practice. He can be mindful of this practice
better when his area is lim ited. This is a precursor to the mahavratas
which are observed by the ascetic when the area of movement is unlimited.
Constant awareness of spatial lim its w ill result in added vigilence.
Dig vrata is broken by having something brought from outside, by
sending a servant for something from outside, by communication through
sounds,signs, and by throwing objects.
^ Sravaka Erajnapti, p. 313; Tattvirtha Sutra vii. p.28; Caritra Sira, p.11. ^^Avalyaka Sutra, p.83; Tattvartha Sutra, v i i . p . 31.
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Posadhopavâsa Vrata
The vow of weekly fasting as in several other religious traditions,
is given a significant place in Jainism. The Digambara texts mention
that fasting should begin from the noon of the day before the day
of fasting and continue till the noon of the day after it.^? The
Svetimbara texts mention that the practice should be done only one day
and n i g h t . 38 The fasting observance is one of the rungs of the ladder
leading to final liberation. This day is also called the day of tapas
(ascetic practices).
The posadopavasa vrata has been divided into four categories;
namely food, bodily-care, sexual intercourse and worldly occupation.
Each of them has again been divided into partial observance and complete
observance. In partial observance the observer abstains from these
four categories partially and in the other abstains completely.39 If he
takes food, he should make sure that he takes only rice and water or
tasteless or bland food. Although only four restraints are mentioned,
both Digambaras and Svetambaras agree that the yogi should guard
all his senses against any p l e a s u r e . ^0
The way he practises this vrata is that he temporarily gives
up all worldly occupation and goes to the place of his choice. If he
cannot find a sâdhû, he can choose a temporary teacher before whom
he begins his commitment. He should wear his mukhavastriki ( a mask
to prevent inhaling microscopic beings) while observing the vrata.
3^Yoga Sastra, iii. p. 85. ^^Tattvirtha Sutra, vii. p.92. 39ibid. 21. ^Qçâritra Sira, p.12.
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He should repeat, "pardom me sir," every time the teacher corrects his
mistakes. If he is at a temple he should make proper offering to the
Jain Tirthamkara. At meal time, if he is observing the partial absti
nence he may take a little food. However, he should not beg for food
like sadhus do. Either someone should bring his food to him or he
should have brought it with him before he begin his uposatha vrata.
The observer should follow five rules very strictly.Trans
gression of them could make his practice ineffective. The first
rule is not to excrete without examining and sweeping the spot.
According to this rule the yogi having selected a ground for defecat
ion, should examine and sweep it with a monk’s broom or with the flap
of one's garment before using it. He should do this most attentively
and mindfully. If he does this without mindfulness or total attention
he is said to have transgressed the rule. He should take all
precautions to avoid killing even unintentionally any living organism.
The second rule is not to pick up or lay down an object without
examining and sweeping the spot. This means that when he picks up
and lays down sticks, boards, stools and sim ilar objects, he should
examine the ground and make sure that there are no living beings on the
place where he is going to put these objects. The third rule is
not to make one's bed without examining and sweeping the spot. A yogi
should examine and clean the place where he spreads his bed, blanket,
kusa grass and mats. The fourth rule is not to be heedless in perform
ance. Failure to perform the necessary duties as prescribed is
considered to transgress the rule. His main concern is to follow rules
41jaina Yoga, p.145. ^2 pp.147-149.
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to their very letter and spirit. If, instead, he even tries to please
his senses, then he transgresses the rules. The fifth rule is that
he should not be forgetful. In other words he should be mindful all
the time. According to this precept one is to remember whether "one
has or has not performed the posadhopavâsa or whether one is or is not
to perform it."^3 The failure to remember this is fatal defect because
the attainment of moksa depends on and is rooted in mindfulness.
It also implies the total concentration of mind in the performance
of this duty. Although there are some minor sectarian differences in
details, all agree that these five rules are important in observing
the posadhopavâsa vrata.
D ina V ra ta
The vow of generosity ( dana vrata) is the most important
single factor that binds both laymen and clergymen together because
without dâna the monks cannot perform their religious duties as
devotedly as they can with it, and should.
Any giving, whether m aterial or immaterial, such as energy,
time, or intellectual sharing, is called dâna. In dâna is included
even giving away one's own daughter in marriage to someone or sharing
things with one's children, wife or husband, friends, and even non-
friends.^^ The highest giving is the gift given to a Jain sâdhû
who as a recipient is one who does not have a fixed place to live or
fixed time schedule to abide by. He is free to move anywhere and at
any time he likes. He possesses nothing. Hence he is not attached to
^^Tattvârtha Sutra, p.29. ^^Jaina Yoga, p.149.
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time, place or beings^^
In the practice of dâna vrata the desire to hoard or to possess
is not wholesome. But the desire to give is to be cultivated by practic
ing dâna. The idea is that giving reduces desire, whereas possessing
increases it. Desire to share with others what one has benefits
both the giver and the recipient. There are many different categories
of right or wrong recipients, givers, the gifts, manners of giving
and their corresponding results.The most important type of dâna
which is central to the whole of Jainism in particular and to all
religions in general is the gift of life and security (abhayadana).
Since the Jain axiom, ahimsa paramo dharmo, occupies the central
philosophy of Jainism, the vrata of dâna of life is the most important
p r i n c i p l e .
Sallekhana vrata
Sallekhana is the highest sacrifice one can make. It has been
interpreted as ritual suicide by fasting. Because of its nature, it
is not included in the main vratas. However, it is generally incorporated
into the twelve vratas. Some Svetambara writers believe that it is not
restricted only to ascetics.^7 Although there can be many modes of
suicide, this is the only one that the Jain is permitted to commit.
The prospective suicide should choose a suitable place to lie down.
The place can be his home, a temple, a forest, or cemetery. He should
be mindful of the conditions of choosing a place. It has to be free
from all living beings. He should clean the place and sweep with the
, 45Ratna Karanda ^ravakâcara, p.220. ‘^^Tattvartha Sutra, vii.p.39. 47sravaka Praj% apti, 382.
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monk’s broom before he lies down for the final time. He should
withdraw from food and drink slowly. He may begin taking one meal a
day progressing to one in two days, then one in three days, and so
forth until he withdraws from frood and drink completely. The canoni
cally approved method, however, is to withdraw from all solid food first
and then begin the fast by taking only liquids. He should confess his
faults and forgive all offences others committed against him. This
makes him fit to lie on his death bed and concentrate better on death.
His last moments on earth w ill then be spent in concentration on the
fivefold worship^B and on the fourfold refuge^^ and in meditation on
what he has learned.Also all this time he should remain mindful
of all his actions mental, verbal and physical.
Samantrabhadra, a Digambara w riter, is of the opinion that this
vrata should be undertaken by an individual overcome by calamity, famine,
old age or incurable disease. Sallekhana vrata has been emphasised
by the Digambaras because it is in this stage that even the Jaina
Mahavira or Vardhamana gave up clothing^^ Both men and women observing
^^The fivefold worship: i) with one limb (head); ii) with two limbs (the hands); iii) with three limbs (the head and hands); iv) with four limbs (the hands and knees) and v) with five limbs (the head, hands and knees). 49lhe fourfold refuge: i) the arahats; ii) the Siddhas; iii)the âcâryas and iv) the Sangha. SOAshadhara [sic], Sagara Dharmamrta, (Manikacandra Digambara Jaina Granthamâlâ, No.2, Bombay, 1917) V ollviii No.4. p .28. 3llbid. p.44. / 52Ratna Karanda Srâvakâcâra v. p.8.
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this mahâvrata should give up their desire for clothes.
One should be pure internally and externally when this vrata
is begun. Externally the bed, the monkish insignia, the food, conduct
and discipline should be right and pure. In hot weather or in a desert
or in the case of certain diseases the dying man is permitted to drink
water until his last breath. Then all those present w ill stand in
kayotsarga (the posture of a man standing with all limbs immovable, by
which one fortifies himself against sins).33 To promote the successful
outcome of this holy death, the guru w ill whisper in the dying man’s ear
a few last words of exhortation: "Vomit forth unbelief and imbibe
pure religion, make firm your faith in Jinas, have joy in the namaskara,
guard the mahâvrata, overcome the obsessions, tame the sense organs
and by yourself see yourself within yourself.However, the dying
person should have neither desire for a fortunate rebirth as a man, nor
desire for a fortunate rebirth as a divinity, nor desire for continuing
life, nor desire for death, nor desire for sensual pleasure, non
attachment to comfort, nor affection forf r i e n d s .
This vrata has been criticized by non--ui.,j as well as some
Jains themselves, as a form of escapism. However, those Jains who
believe this to be one of the holy ways of dying do not regard it as
suicide. To them it is not suicide because of the complete absence
of greed, hatred and delusion in what the dying person does. The Jain
meditator thus practises dharma which fulfils the desires of the necessari
ly perishing body:
33jaina Sutras, Part 1 p.55; Part II. p.159. Dharmâmrta, vii. pp.68-69. ^boevagupta, Navapada Prakarana with Laghu V rtti, (Devendra Lalabhai Jaina Pustakadhara, No. 68.,Bombay, 1926), p.l35.
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The body is recuperable in another incarnation but the dharma is very hard to recover. Sallekhana alone w ill enable a man in dying to take away with him all his stock of dharma.
If at the hour of death there is an offence against the dharma a lifetim e religious observance and meditation w ill be vain, but if the final meditation is pure even deeply encrusted sin w ill be eradicated.56
It is true that in old age the body and the mind are too weak
to maintain severe austerities. It is also moral and ethical to
maintain one's health by preventing and treating diseases. But
once the body does not respond to any medicine, it is better to
use that mind and body for a noble purpose, namely religious observ
ance. Hemacandra, however, maintains that in such circumstances it
is better to let the body waste away than to attempt to maintain a
religious life. Nevertheless, the Digambaras believe that this is
the best way to end one's life and this insures that the next life
w ill be much better,(even though one is not supposed to crave for a
better life.)^?
THE PRATIMÂS
Pratima literally means a statue, but in Jain tradition it is
used to denote stages of spiritual progress. Although the description
of,.these stages seems to be similar to the vratas, it is believed
that the pratimas are the vertical projection of the horizontally
conceived vratas. The pratimas are described as a ladder on each rung
of which the aspirant layman is to rest for a number of months before
he is fit to continue the practice of the succeeding rung.
^^Tattvartha Sutra, p .22- ^'^SS.^axa. D harm am rta. p . 1 6 .
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Dispite the fact that there is considerable disagreement
between the Svetambara and Digambara schools, both of them agree
in principle that there are eleven stages of pratima. They are as
follows : darsana, vrata, sâmâyika, pogadha, kayotsarga, abrahmavarjana,
sacitta tyâga, ârambha tyâga, presya tyâga, udigta tyâga, and sramana
b h ü ta .
The darsana pratimi is the purification of mind from misconcept
ions. It is the mind that has to be cultivated and purified. The mind
is purified by proper means and pcUnted by improper means. Therefore,
instead of wasting time trying to purify that which is impure, namely
the body, the darsana pratima emphazises the purification of mind from
wrong views. To purify the mind is to avoid the transgression of
rules once accepted. In addition, the observer of the rule should
have total devotion to Jina and guru.38 When the meditator is
spiritually mature, he may take up observances and avoid their
transgression. According to Samantabhadra, at this stage, the meditator
assumes observance of v i r t u e s ^ ^ and disciplinary observances.^^ These
vratas have been explained earlier.Out of the thirteen vratas
the first three, in the order they were described earlier, are minor
vows; the next four are guna vratas (observance of virtues), and
the rest are mahavratas. One who has followed these vratas
in this order is entitled to practise sânâyika vrata. Then he goes
on to the fasting stage. From there he goes to the stage of spend
ing the whole night in kayotsarga (the posture of a man standing
3&Ratnakaranda Sravakâcâra. p .16. ^^guna vrata. ^Ogiksa vrata . ^"^Jaina Yoga, p. 174.
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with his limbs immovable) posture, steadfast in heart and conscious
of his aim. At other times he should avoid sexual intercourse by
day and make only moderate use of his wife by night.^3 At this time
he should refrain also from eating at night. At the stage of absolute
continence, he should avoid talking about or associating with women,
thus rejecting all physical contact. He should not do anything to
please women, such as shaving, cleaning, dressing for that purpose
or using ornaments. This is the stage where, according to the
Digambaras, the meditator meditates on the impurity of the body,
and the inborn wickedness of women with the aim of extinguishing his
desire.At the stage of purity of nourishment, the meditator
should avoid eating four types of seeds, such as chick-peas, fried
stalks of wheat or barley, rice and sesamum. He also avoids using
betel and toothpick and drinking unboiled water and liquid containing
salt and he should further avoid taking any uncooked grains. The
Digambaras, more strict than the Svetimbaras, suggest that the yogi
should not take any kind of roots and tubers, green leaves and shoots,
and seeds and fruits in an uncooked state,At the stage of
abandonment of activities, he should give up all harmful activities.
The Digambaras say he should give up activities regardless of the
nature of these activities.At the stage of breaking the ties with
the household life, he gives up the possession of any p r o p e r t y . ^7
Until this stage he was able to get work done by servants. But at
Jaina Sutras. Vol. II. p. 55 G3ibid, p.175. G^Haribhadra, dramanopasaka Pratima Paneasaka, (ed. with trans. L.Suali Bombay, 1908. pp.11-12, 26. ^Jaina Yoga, pp.176-177. 66sagara Dhairmamrta. p .21. 67ggcause of the complexity of this stage Svetambara call this stage pratima and Digambaras parigraha tyâga pratimâ.
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this stage he should give up that, too, in order to practise
ahimsa in the truest sense of the word. If he were to get his
work done by others, he s till could cause pain and harm. However, he
hands all his responsibilities over to his children, brothers or
sisters who are willing to accept the responsibility of household
life. The Jain meditators in this respect excel other meditators .
They sacrifice everything they have. Without such sacrifice, however,
nobody can gain peace.^8 According to Âsidhara, a Digambara w riter,
the meditator at this stage should spend his time in a temple
meditating and carrying out his study. After midday worship he should
take his meal. He may go to his own house or to someone else's house
if invited, provided that no special food is prepared for him and he is
prepared to accept whatever is given to him. Although he may have
some attachment to clothing at this stage,he is not supposed to have
any opinion with regard to household a f f a i r s . ^9 At the stage of the
renunciation of the world,70 he avoids accepting food especially
prepared for him, and with shaven head, he goes from house to house
collecting food from people indifferent to him. The final stage is
known as the sramanabhuta stage in which he should pull his hair out.
This, according to tradition, is to be done by pulling five handfuls
of hair on the ordination day. He should carry the monk's requisites,
such as the broom, and the begging bowl. At this stage he is supposed
to touch the dharma with his body. He should wear only one piece of
cloth, eat only begged food from the bowl with hand or palm.
^^Jaina Yoga, p.177. ^9ibid. 178. 70uddista tyâga p ra tim a .
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and carry peacock-feathers for a broom.71 He should observe posadho
pavâsa vrata strictly. When he goes begging to a layman's house,
he should remain silent. Even if he does not get any food from some,
he should continue going to the same house without ever getting
dispirited. He should not collect more food than he can eat in one
meal time. The only drink he can have is boiled water. After the
meal he should go to his teacher to renew his precepts and to confess
of his faults. He may take a vow of receiving food every day from
one house, or of fasting.7%
If he is a monk, he should study the mysteries of the sacred
texts, engage in kâyotsarga the whole day, practise the asceticism
which consits of meditation on a hilltop in the hot season, under
a tree and during the rains, and by a river bank. All these are
prohibited to a layman. He should never be proud of his asceticism.
Such pride is severly p u n i s h e d . 74
NAMASKARA
The nam askara76 (paying homage to his teachers is to be repeated
three times a day.
Hail to the Jinas, to those who have attained moksa,to religious leaders, to religious teachers in the world. This fourfold salutation which destroys all sins is pre-eminent as the most auspicious of all auspicious t h i n g s . 75
Devendra calls it "This supreme prayer, this best object of
meditation." He treats it as a magic formula that brings about the
73sramanopasaka Pratima Pancasaka, p.32-33. Jaina Yoga, p.180, 73Kavotsarga is the posture of a man standing with all his limbs immovable, see. pp. 20 and 23 above; Jaina Sutras, Part II. p.159* 74gagara Dharmamrta, v ii. pp.49-50. 75uamo arihantânam, namo siddhanam, namo âyariyânam, namo uvaj jhâyânam, namo loe saw e sâhûnam eso panca namakkaro/ savva pâpappanâsano/ mangalânam ca sawesim/ padhamam havaimangalam (Jaina Yoga, p.185). 76^ Svetambara writer.
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expected results of meditation. v77
The whole namaskara can also be concentrated in the single syllable OM which is held to be a contraction of the mukhÿâksara mantra, Siddha being replaced by Aéarira and Sâdhû by muni to give a,a,a,u,m. Audibly muttered in an unending repetition these formulae play an important part in the Pâdastha-dhyâna (foundation of d h y a n a ) . 7 8
This mantra ia supposed to be repeated by counting the beads of the
rosary. They have such a great respect for this mantra that they call
it an invincible mantra. Accepting this mantra and believing in it
is the same as accepting and believing in the teaching of the whole
o f J a i n i s m . 79 Therefore, whoever meditates whether a layman or a monk
should repeat this as often as possible, particularly in the morning
and in the evening. When they meditate on it, it brings them protect
ion from evil spirits and inauspicious omens. "Whosoever remembers
this imperishable mantra will never be seized by râksasas ( demons)
or bitten by cobras. It should be associated with the veneration
of the image of Jina."®®
MEDITATION
Veneration of the image of Jina (the title for the founder
of Jainism, meaning victorious one) is an essential part of the
Jain meditation. This veneration has to be accompanied by two types
of pûjâ. One is offering material things to the Jina, and the
other is offering of hymns of praise and mental concentration.®^ The
meditator should visualize the Jina endowed with absolute knowledge.
/77 Devendra, Sraddha Dina Krtya, (hshabhadeva Kssarimali Jaina Svetamb^a Samstha, Ratlam, Bombay^ 1937) p.10. 78jaTna Yoga, p. 186. 79sravakacara, p. 466. 8®Sraddha Dina Krtya, p.2. ®^Sivakoti,^ Ratnamâlâ Siddhânta Sâradî Sangraha. (Manikacandra Digambara Grantham ala, No. 21. Bombay, 1922), p . 43.
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Those who attain to the final stage worship Jina in temple, but
they also should worship the names of the twenty four Jinas who have
appeared in this kalpa in India; Jina images in temples dedicated to
the eternity and non-eternity in the three worlds; the infinite
number of absent Jinas past and future; the holy writ; all those who
have attained to moksa; the last Jina, Mahavira; the twenty-second
Jina, Aristanemi, who entered into nirvana on mountain Ujjayanta;
other Jinas, who entered into nirvana on Mountain Astapada; and
those devas who gained the right knowledge.®2
Meditation (dhyana) itself has been divided into three
states. In the first state the meditator is like an ordinary person
but is stimulated by the images of the gods, the images of the voteries,
and by the sight of the Jina's hairless head.®® At the second state,
the kaivalya state, one attains infinite knowledge. It is in this
state that the foundation of dhyana, accompanied by miraculous
powers, is revealed to the Jina. Any meditator who follows Jain
meditation is believed to obtain this wonderful power at this stage.
In the third state, he attains nirvana. In this state, meditation on
things beyond physical forms, is practised by performing the
kayotsarga®4 in the lotus posture. This means that the meditator
has to combine two postures together - the kayotsarga and paryankasana.
He should remain gazing at the image without looking in any other
direction. He should never forget to clean the ground under his feet.
®^Jaina Yoga, p.187- ®®Ibid. p.190. ®^see pp.20,23, and 25 above.
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He should recite the words of the sutras without making any mistake in
pronunciation, omission or addition. He should reflect on the meaning
of the words he recites while recollecting the objects of adoration.
The meditator is supposed to have a final prayer.®®
TAPAS
Tapas ( penance) has an important place in Jainism. It has two
aspects; internal penance and external penance. Internal penance
includes confession to a guru, expression of respect to ascetics,
rendering of personal service to ascetics, studying, memorizing and
expounding the sacred lore, abandonment of the body and concentration
on one thought for a maximum time of a single moment. External
penance includes fasting; taking only a part of a full meal; limiting
food according to the range of choice or according to the time,
place and posture in which it is offered; abstention from luxury
food; avoiding all that can lead to temptation; and mortification
of the body by heat, cold and insect bites.®®
Dhyana or meditation has been defined as "the concentration
of thought on one single object for up to one single momentl'®^
The final prayer is threefold: i)from here I adore all such images as exist in the upper world and the middle world and the nether world; ii) I bow down to all those sadhus averse from evil in words in thoughts or in act who are to be found in Bharata, Airavata and Mahavideha; iii) Hail, Jina, preceptor of the world, through your grace, blessed lord, may I achieve these thing: disgust for the world, regular pursuit of the right path, attainment of desired results, abandonment of whatever is ill famed in the world respect for preceptors and parents, practice of help to others,attachment to a good guru, and full obedience to his words for all existence. (Jaina Yoga, pp.192,198). ®®Ibid. p . 238. ®7TattvSrtha Sutra, ix. p.27*
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There are four objects of dhyana; painful, harmful, moral and
refulgent. Under the painful objects one will find contact with what
is unpleasant and desire its removal. For example, one may concentrate
on hostile persons, material discomforts, harmful words and disagree
able emotion. One may concentrate on the thought of separation
from what is pleasant through the loss of loved ones or wealth or
desire. Or one may concentrate on the sensation of suffering, as
from an illness, and the desire to rid oneself of it. Or one may
concentrate on the thought of hankering for sensual pleasures. All
these are the objects of painful concentration.®® Under the group
of harmful objects are the infliction of hurt, falsehood, theft, and
the hoarding of wealth. Under moral objects one should concentrate
on the thought of the command of the Jina, the nature of what is
calamitous, consequences of karma, and the structure of the universe.
Under the category of refulgence one finds the consideration of
diversity, unity, subtle activity and complete destruction of
activity.®®
Out of these four states of dhyana the first two are considered
to be inauspicious and are called terrible. They are strictly
recommended to monks. In order to make meditation more successful
according to Amitagati, a Digambara writer, the meditator should be
pure at heart, the object of meditation should be pure, the technique
should be pure and the result obtained from all this should be pure.
These purities could be expected only from a monk. Amitagati also
recommends four objects of meditation in order to obtain the same
®®Tattvartha Sutra, ix. p.27. ®^Jaina Yoga, p.240.
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results: namely, meditation on the syllables of the sacred mantras,
on the group of magic powers possessed by the Jina, on the form of
the Jina materialized in the statue, and on the Jina as a disembodied 90 arhat. He also concentrates on the idea of respect for right
belief, right knowledge, right conduct, right ascetic practice and
respect for the guru.
ANUPREKSÂ AND BHÂVANÂ
Anupreksa and Bhavana are terms used by the two schools of
/ _ Jainism for meditation. The Svetambara school uses anupreksa while
Digambara calls it bhavana. Both mean the same thing. Neither term
seems to be different from dhyana for all practical purposes. However,
anupreksa and bhavana have been treated separately. As the Svetambaras
point out the meditator should concentrate on impermanence, helpless
ness, the cycle of transmigration, solitariness, the separateness
of the self and the body, the foulness of the body, the influx
of karma, the checking of karma, the elimination of karma, the universe,
the difficulty of enlightenment, and the preaching of the sacred law.
The Digambara School uses the term bhavana for another series
of mental attitudes. The Digambara teachers recommend that the
meditators should concentrate on purity of belief; perfection of
discipline; faultless observance of the vratas and morality;
continuous cultivation of knowledge; fear of the cycle of reincarnat
ion and its vicissitudes; the practice of the dâna; removal of
impediments to the practice of austerities by monks ; the tending of sick
ascetics, devotion to the Jinas, devotion to the gurus, devotion to
Jaina Yoga, pp.238-240* 9^Ibid. p. 241.
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those learned in holy writ, devotion to the sacred doctrine, zealous
performance of duties, glorification of the sacred doctrine, and
affection towards the expounders.
The material available in the Jaina Sutras provides us with
sufficient information about Jain meditation. The field of Jain
meditation encompasses everything in life. Although the technical
terms dhyana and bhavana have been used very often we may generally
be content to say that Jain meditation is the cultivation of mindful
ness in a most meticulous manner in order to prevent the destruction
of any life. The Jain should assume simply that the whole universe
is one living organism and he must do everything possible to let
all beings live as long as they can. This means that he must
practice complete non-violence in every sense of the term. This is
the first and the most important principle of Jain life and Jain
meditation. In other words the Jain’s love should pervade the
universe and include all living beings.
The next point in the Jaina Sutras is that concentration is
not something one should prolong in meditation. Concentration is
most ephemeral. It may last one momant. This momentary concentration
is called dhyana. Unlike the Upanisads or Buddhism where concentration
is supposed to be sustained for a long period of time, the Jaina
Sutras recommend one single moment of concentration. In fact it is
only this type of concentration that can be expected of a Jain meditator
who has innumerable ethical and moral rules to follow and has incalcul
able things to do in a meticulous way.
This leads us to the last point emerging from the Jaina Sutras.
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A meditator is one who is perpetually preparing himself for final
death in which all his karmic influx comes to an end. Until this
moment h is p re p a ra tio n does not cease. T h erefo re, th e p re p a ra tio n
itself is the major part of meditation. He cannot say that he
meditates at such and such time and at such and such time he does not
meditate. Whatever he does is his meditation. In Buddhist and Hindu
meditation traditions there is a time, place, posture and particular
subjects for meditation. The Jaina meditatas use any time, place,
posture and subject for meditation.
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MEDITATION IN YOGABINDU
Y0gabindu® is one of the major books on Jain meditation. In this
chapter I explain how a Jain meditator trains himself first to be always
mindful of the innumerable living beingp around him, and secondly, how
best he should avoid hurting them. I also will show how Haribhadrasuri,
the author of the book, unhesitatingly has incorporated non-Jain
disciplines relative to the point he is stressing in the Yogabindu.
A Jain should believe in the three Jewels (ratanartraya) in order
to be true follower of Jina. Jain ratana-traya (right belief, right
knowledge, and right conduct), demands that adherents should perfect
these three qualities in order to attain perfect knowledge. They are
necessary in Jainism for the control of thoughts, words, and deeds in
walking, speaking, accepting alms, moving things, and excreting. One
should maintain mindfulness always so that he does not hurt any living
being.
As part of mental and physical training the Jain should be
restrained with a fourfold restraint (catuyama samvara) relating to his
use of water, maintaining a present state free from evil, washing away
evil which was done, and holding evil at bay to prevent future defilement.
®Acarya Haribhadrasuri, Yogabindu, trans. K. K. Dixit (Lâlbhâi Dalphatbhai, Bharatiya Sanskrit Vidyamandira, Ahmedâbâd, 9. 1968). 3pâli Text Society, Sacred Books of the Buddhists, ed. various oriental scholars, trans. F. Max Muller (Luzac & Company, Ltd. 46, Great Russell Street, London W.C.l, 1956)p. 74. Pali Test Society, The Dighanikaya, Vol I, ed. T.W. Rhys Davids and J. Estlin Carpenter (Luzac & Company, Ltd., 46 Great Russell Street, London, W.C. 1, 1967) p. 57-
91
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A Jain monk is called nirgrantha because of this fourfold restraint (nir + 3 grantha = no knots of obsessions),
Nigantha Nâtha Putta has declared that one is omnipotent and
omniscient who has all-comprising knowledge and vision. He says: "Whether
I walk or stand or sleep or wake my knowledge and vision are always, and
without a break present before me I"4 This is called mindfulness. With
mindfulness Niganthas practice severe austerities:
Past deeds should be extirpated by severe austerities and fresh deeds should be avoided by inaction. By expelling through penance all past misdeeds and by not committing fresh misdeeds, the future becomes cleared. From the destruction of deeds results the destruction of dukkha; this leads to the destruction of vedana (feelings). Thus all the dukkha is exhausted and one passes beyond (the round of existence).
Jain yoga, according to Haribhadrasuri, leads one to moksa. The
path that leads one to moksa is comprised of right knowledge, right faith
and right conduct. Therefore, in any attempt to explain Jain yoga or
meditation, one should understand the threefold path. In Haribhadrasuri's
opinion, arguments on religious issues do not help the attainment of
the prescribed goal expected.® To know the scriptures is one thing, and
the use of knowledge to dispute or win an argument is another. One of
the three ways prescribed in Jainism to attain moksa is the knowledge of
the scripture. A Jain yogi, for Haribhadrasuri, is one who realizes the
the truth and avoids argument.
Those who are well conversant with the path of yoga and have washed off their sins with the help of penance have emphatically uttered the following words for the benefit of future yogins, words that are like a lamp for dispelling (the darkness of) ignorance. "Those who advance well
^Sanskrit English Dictionary, p. 541. 4Dictionary of Pali Proper Names : pp. 61-62 ^Yogabindu, p. 12- ®Ibid., p. 85, vs. 325-328
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devised arguments and counter arguments (against) each other do not succeed in realizing the ultimate nature of things, their behavior resembling that of the animal who is yoked to an oil presser and is making rounds after rounds (without forming any notion of the exact distance it has travelled).7
He indicates here that a yogi could see the truth as it is and gain direct
knowledge of it, if he follows a proper method of yoga. He does not have
to argue with anyone to find the truth. Ultimately the truth cannot be
found in logical argument. It should be realized directly and immediately.
Arguments can only mediate the truth and its realization.
Haribhadrasuri recommends certain preparatory practices or duties
for a yogin, such as worship of the elders and deities, gentlemanly
conduct, penance, and non-antipathy towards moksa. "By elders the cultured
people understand the following group of personages: mother, father, the
teacher of an art, the relatives of these (mothers, etc.), the aged ones,
Q the preachers of a religion.
Worship of the elders is understood as an act of bowing to the
elders thrice a day, in the morning, noon, and evening, and if that is
not possible, bowing to them after duly calling them to mind.^ Worship
consists in the act of rising done in the honor of the elders, in
sitting silently in their presence, in not uttering their names at an
improper place, and in not listening to the things said against them.
One should offer them the best clothes, undertake auspicious performances
that yield results in the world beyond, give up practices that are not
7lbid., p. 19, vs. 66-67 . Purva sevitu tantrajnair - gurudevadipujanam, sadâcâras tapo muktyadvesas ca prakirtita (Yogabindu, vs. 109)' ®Ibid., p. 31, vs. Ill .
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to their liking and undertake those that are. This attitude should be
kept within the bounds of propriety. One should avoid using their seating
material, should dedicate ones valuables to some pilgrimage center, set
up their images with the accompaniment of due ceremonies, and perform
their funeral rites appropriately.®^
A yogi should venerate deities by offering flowers, incense,
light, edibles, clothes, and beautiful hymns of praise. He should not
differentiate one deity from another when he makes these offerings. While
doing this indiscriminate offering, the yogi suppresses his neurotic
weaknesses, such as anger, tension and anxiety. He must give away things
to the poor and deserving ones. The sick and the disabled ones should
also be taken care of.®®
Gentlemanly conduct is a fear of public opinion, a desire to help
the needy, gratefulness, ever-readiness to help others, and a praiseful
attitude toward the noble ones. It is not being demoralized when in
misery, it is humility in prosperity, speaking at the opportune moment,
and not contradicting oneself. Further, it includes honoring words,
observing religious practices pertaining to family tradition, spending
wisely, not becoming spendthrift, abiding by prevalent customs, maintaining
proprieties in everything, and not indulging in reprehensible acts even
1 9 on the point of death.
Haribhadrasuri recommends four types of penance: Namely, candra-
yana (penance practiced according to the change in the faces of the moon),
krcchra (difficult), mrtyughna (death-preventive), and pâpasüdana (evil
®Olbid., vs. Ill, 115. ®®Ibid., p. 32, vs. 116-117 ®3lbid., pp. 34, 35, vs. 126-130.
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destroying).
To increase food by a morsel a day in the bright half of the month, to reduce it by one morsel a day in the dark half, and not to eat anything on the day of no-moon. This is called Candrayana penance.
Krcchra is a type of penance which literally means difficult. Those who
have practiced a great deal of penance should go to mrtyughna practice.
This, as the name itself suggests, is a death conquering penance. One
who practices it is supposed to fast for a month chanting mrtyunjaya.
The pâpasüdana tapas (penance) is characterized by a frequent chanting
of various chants corresponding to the sins to be expiated.®^
Haribhadra classifies yogins into three categories; apunarbandhaka
(one who is not bound again to rebirth), samyakdrsti (one who has right
knowledge) and caritrin (one who behaves according to the rules of noble
o n e s ) . ® 3 Defining yoga, Haribhadra quotes Gopendras:®® "That which
unites one with moksa is called yoga by the great sages."®7 It certainly
prevents the self from domination by prakrti. With unwavering faith and
devotion, to practice as an apunarbandhaka yogi, according to Haribhadra,
is to maintain this object. Although the way one enters into the
apunarbhandhaka stage is not given in this manual, Haribhadra goes into
great detail to point out how a yogi at this stage should behave, how
he should continue his practice and what he should and should not do. On
the one hand the meditator contemplates how to separate himself from
worldly pier sures and on the other on uniting his soul with moksa. He
maintains this position on this level of his practice because his mind
®3lbid., p. 135, vs. 132. ®‘^Ibid., p. 36, vs. 134. ®^Ibid., pp. 4, 47-65, vs. 178-251. ®®A. A lelesser s s e r known InIndian d ian ]yoga teacher. Ibid., p. 52, vs. 200 ■‘■^Ibid., p. 53, vs. 201.
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is bent upon the attainment of moksa liberating itself from the bondage
1 Q of prakrti.^ The reason for this possibility is that his mind is more
pure now than before. He should resolve to practice three things: 1)
pure ethico-religious activity, 2) dependence on right scriptural texts,
and 3) a proper feeling of ascertainment. Pure religious performance
includes a performance whose object is pure, the very performance itself
is pure, and it is conducive to an uninterrupted series of similar 19 performances. The second category includes restraints as refraining
from killing, lying, stealing, greed and sexual acts. The third category
is the same as the second except that it is accompanied by the right
understanding of things as they really are, a feeling of calm under all 20 circumstances, and freedom from anxiety. A yogi, for Haribhadra,
following the above discipline will gain knowledge that enables him to 91 discriminate the great from the small, the right from the wrong.
The use of the right spiritual text, on the other hand, increases
faith in practice. It is strongly believed that although a man can
acquire knowledge of various skills without reading scriptural material,
it is impossible for him to acquire knowledge of a religion without a
thorough understanding of scriptural texts. For this reason a yogi is
advised to hold to the scriptures reverentially, and he should take care 21 of them as medicine that cures sickness. No matter how much effort
in attaining moksa is put forth, one cannot gain it if he does not pay
great respect to the scriptures. He also should be filled with faith and
1 8 Prakrti: Haribhadra trying to incorporate Hindu and Buddhist meditations has used prakrti several places in his book. cf. vs. 102, 105 106, 107. t^Ibid., p. 55, vs. 210. ^^Ibid., p. 56, vs. 213-14. ^®Ibid., p. 57, vs. 217-220. ^Ibid., p. 58, vs. 221-224-
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respect for those who are worthy of respect. He should admire spiritual
values and be free from ego as recommended in the scriptures. He should
regard the scriptures as water that is used for purifying dirt.23
Under the category of the feeling of ascertainment, Haribhadra
suggests that this feeling of certainty derives from introspection, effective
statements of the preceptors and watching for an appropriate omen. The
feeling of ascertainment does not occur by itself. One must work to
produce it within oneself. The diligent seeking of this feeling is the
way to acquire it. It is "the messenger of successful operation or a 26 helping hand."
Samyagdrsti (one who possesses right knowledge) is characterised
by attachment to religious duties and worship of elders and deities. The
monk cultivates a high degree of devotion to religious practices and
worshipping the elders, teachers and deities. He devotes a great deal of
time to scripture and sermons. The monk believes that listening to
religious songs, sermons, reading or talks brings him closer to moksa. 25 At the same time, he should be attached to religious performance.
A samyagdrstin should also possess three types of karana (actions);
namely, yathapravrtta (continuation of the flow of practice), apürva
(action of an unprecedented event or phenomenon) and anivrati (uninter
rupted continuation). The first karana may be experienced by one who is
not free from granthi (the knot of ignorance), the second by the one who
has been able to cross over the knot of ignorance, and the third by the
one who has attained moksa. This means that one who is destined to attain
Z^Ibid., p. 59, vs. 237-238. ^'^Ibid., p. 61-62, vs. 237-238. 25lbid., pp. 66-68, vs. 253-259.
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moksa will experience all three karanas, and those who are not destined
to attain moksa will experience only the yathapravrtti. A bhinnagranthi
(one who has untied the knot), by virtue of the acquisition of the three
fold karana never commits such bondage, and therefore he is known as a
samyagdrsti (one who has right knowledge or more literally one who sees 27 correctly). As samyagdrsti is subject to change, one can become
mythyadrsti again if he does not maintain his attainment. The difference
between niyatamythyadrsti (one who has never attained samyagdrsti) and
mythyadrsti (one who has attained samyagdrsti and lost it) is that the 29 former binds by karmas that delude a person perpetually.
Haribhadra believes that the yogic nature is inherent in every
soul. Otherwise no matter how much one tries to attain moksa one would
not be able to attain it. However, even this latent potentiality would
not be brought about if one does not strive with great perserverance and
determination.
If a yogin, having gone this far in meditational practice, were to
think of attaining moksa for himself without considering others, he still
can become a shaven headed omniscient. Jains believe that a man becomes
omniscient on the eve of attaining moksa and it is possible for him to do
Yathapravrt i ; taking its own time. Yogabindu, p. 69, vs. 265. 27ibid.^ p. 70, vs. 256. 2&mohaniyakarma: the technical name for the eight types of most evil karmas described in Jainism, which measures seventy-crore oceans multiplied by one crore ocean whereas the non-mohaniyakarma measures not even one crore ocean. The author comparing samyagdrsti with Buddhist Bodhisattvas draws parallels between them and concludes both are the same in qualitative attainment. The reader of Yogabindu may be constantly reminded of this parallelism long before he comes to this point in the book. 29lbid.; p. 70, vs. 268.
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this without helping a n y o n e^0 . This seems contradictory to the principal
in Jaina yoga that a yogin should give service to all humanity. The
yogin is compared with the Buddhist bodhisattva who does not attain final
moksa until he has sent all beings to moksa. If the Jain samyagdrsti
is full of friendliness, compassion, altruistic joy and equanimity on the
one hand, and omniscience on the other, how could he at the same time
abstain from helping other beings? However, there are three types of Jain
saints: namely, one who has crossed over samsara (tirthankara) c h i e f
of a group (ganâdhara) , and a shaven-headed omniscient (mundakevalin).
The author of Yogabindu compares Jaina yoga to buddha or mukta. The
difference, he thinks, is in the usage of terminology and not in the
m e a n in g .^
When a yogi reaches the climax of his practice in the apunarbandha
state and samyagdrsti state, he is called caritrin, one whose dexterity
is far superior to anybody else. Here again Haribhadra mentions the
characteristics of caritrins rather than how to gain this state. The
characterizing marks are: to follow the path of righteousness, to have
faith, to have religious instructions, to be an admirer of spiritual merits,
to be highly persevering, to initiate acts that are noble and fall within
o n e 's c a p a c i t y . As he attains this stage he also is endowed with a
rational consideration of the essential nature of things because he
maintains propriety in conduct. Other endowments are daily progress in
repeated observance of the state of mind whose sole objects are things
auspicious, and in a sense of equality, and cessation of the mental states
30lbid., p. 76, vs. 290. p. 77, vs. 293. 32ibid., p. 77, vs. 294. ^^Ibid., pp. 71-72, vs. 271-274. 34ibid., pp. 92-93, vs. 353-355.
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caused by foreign e l e m e n t s . 33 The rational consideration of things
includes both the supreme self and the one who meditates upon it. But
Haribhadra uses it to mean a consideration based on scriptural authority
and marked by the overwhelming predominance of noble sentiments like
friendliness, compassion, joy and equanimity. It destroys evil karmas.
It is capable of a high capacity to perceive, a concentration of mind,
and a permanent enlightenment. This also enables introspection in an
objective manner.
Adhyitma leads to bhavani, which is the result of the repetition of
previous k n o w l e d g e . 37 Bhavaria restrains one from inauspicious commitment
and inclines one to commit auspicious acts which increases noble mental
s t a t e s . 38 Phyana, the next step, brings about subtle and penetrative
thinking, a capacity to win others, steadiness of mind and cessation of
worldly e x i s t e n c e . 39 SamatS produces the attitude conducive to right
comprehension. It balances the mind between intense likes and dislikes.
It produces non-utilization of the subtle type of karmas and a break in the
thread of expectations. 48 The cessation of mental states (vrttisamksaya)
is born at the last stage and enables one to destroy karma which is foreign
to the s o u l . 41 Karma, manas and body are regarded as physical realities
essentially foreign to the soul, and as long as they remain together the
soul cannot be liberated from karma. Vrttisamksaya alone leads to the state
characterized by a cessation of all mental, physical and vocal operation,
and the attainment of moksa.
33ibid., pp. 93-94, vs. 358-367. 36ibid., p. 95, vs. 364-366. 37fbid., p. 94, vs. 360. ^Sjbid., p. 94, vs. 361. 39ibid., p. 95, vs. 3 6 3 . 40%bid., p. 95, vs. 365- 41lbid., p. 95, vs. 366. 42ibid., p. 96, vs. 367.
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Japa has been recommended to novices in meditation as a form of
invocation of a deity whose favor is considered to be essential to a
beginner. Japa ought to be repeated in front of an image of a deity, or
in front of pure water or in a well-formed grove oft r e e s . ^3 At the time
of repeating japa, one should fix his eyes on the tip of his nose and rub
his right thumb on the right index finger or count the beads of a rosary
while concentrating on the japa. He concentrates on its words, meaning,
or the central subject matter. He should give up the japa if his mind
is disturbed, and once the disturbing object disappears from his mind
he should take up japa again. The purpose of giving up the japa at the
time the mind is disturbed is to avoid being hypocritical about japa.
He may simply waste his time. If he picks it up again when the mind is
free from disturbing elements, he is expected to have better confidence
in h is practice.The duration of the repetition of japa depends on how
long the meditator wants to repeat it. The degree of honor he receives
from o th er J a in monks depends on how long he vows to re p e a t j ap a, and
on how well he concentrates on his japa.
The meditator can assess his progress from time to time either by
yogic powers, the evaluations of people around him, or the signs laid down
in the scriptures. After the assessment of progress, the meditator should
undertake a religious observance.43 According to Haribhadrasuri, a
m ed itato r who makes self-a sse ssm e n t may d iscover th a t he has made some
progress in meditation by destroying some evil karmas, but then fear
arises in the mind. When fear arises in the mind, he should return to
43ibid., p. 101, vs. 383 . 44ibid_^ pp. 100-102, vs. 380-387. 43xhis has not been specified, p. 103, vs. 393-395.
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his teacher whose presence will destroy the evil karmas causing it.
Self-assessment, religious observance, and returning to one's preceptor
to destroy evil karma is adhyitma.
To make meditation more successful the meditator should seek
effective help. Haribhadra believes this help is threefold; namely, the
help that comes from the scriptural texts, intuition, and repeated practice
of meditation itself.Severing the connection with karma or uniting with
it depends on this threefold help.^^ Using this threefold help, the
meditator abides by the law of non-function. The various types of
functions produce all kinds of evil karma that prolong existence in
samsara. One cannot get rid of karmic bondage if he continues to act
because actions produce reaction and reaction in turn produces more actions.
This is the law of action and reaction^^ This vicious circle can never come
to an end unless actions are stopped deliberately.
Because the meditator undertakes various activities, the stage where
he is one step beyond sreni-arohana (stepping up a la d d e r),is c a lle d
samprajnata samadhi. One who attains sreni-irohana is bound to reach
the next step called mundakevalin (clean shaven monk who is supposed to
/ ^ have attained perfection). Sreni-arohana consists of fourteen steps each
4^Ibid., p. 104, vs. 396. p, log, vs. 412. 48ibid., p. 109, vs. 413. 49n,id^^ pp. 109-110, vs. 415-419, ^^There are 14 mystic steps which are unique to Jainism. 33-Term used by Patanjali yoga school. Samprajnata samadhi; When samadhi is obtained with the help of an object or idea (that is by fixing one's thought on a point in space on an idea), the stasis is called sam- prajnata samadhi ("enstasis with support," or "differentiated enstasis"). Asamprajnata samadhi; When on the other hand, samadhi is obtained apart from any "relation" (whether external or mental) - that is, when one obtains a "conjunction" into which no "Otherness" enters, but which is simply a full comprehension of being - one has realized asamprajnata samadhi ("undifferentiated stasis"), Mircea Eliade, Yoga, Immortality and Freedom, trans. Willard R. Trask (Bollingen series, Princeton University Press, 1973), pp. 78-79.
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of which is called a place of ^guna-virtue.Each of them seems to have a
specific magical significance because they do not seem to have the same
degree of efficacy upon the meditator.^3
I have pointed out as briefly as possible what Yogabindu is and how
Haribhadrasuri has accomplished his goal. Haribhadrasuri has stressed in
his book the practice of rules laid down for meditators rather than discus
sing them. We have already seen that a Jain meditator is one who does
something and is always mindful. His sole purpose of meditation, in
fact the whole of life, is to refrain from killing or hurting living beings.
In other words Jain meditation is the constant awareness of one's own
behavior so that one does not commit physical or verbal acts that would
cause harm to others—including microscopic beings. Extreme non-violence
is the path, as Haribhadrasuri has suggested, to attain moksa.
In Haribhadra's opinion, any yoga practice—whether Hindu, Buddhist
or Jaina—should include the most rigid disciplinary measures and the
yogin should restrict himself to these principles. Attainment of the
eternal bliss is the goal of all religions, and yoga, according to Yoga
Bindu. is the only way to accomplish this goal. Therefore, all the
religious perfections should be included in the term yoga. Haribhadra has
incorporated much from other Indian religious traditions into his
explanation and definition of yoga.
Yoga Bindu, pp. 110-111, v s. 420. 33The sreni-arohana has been divided into two. One is from one to eleven and the other is from 8, 9, 10 and 12, skipping the eleventh. One who goes to the eleventh gunasthana is bound to suffer spiritual degener ation and return to a lower gunasthana. How much lower one goes depends on how much practice one has done. One who has reached the 12th gunas thana is bound to reach moksa in chis very life. Then he will attain the 13th gunasthana where he becomes omniscient and in the 14th gunasthana all his menéal, physical and vocal functions cease and he will be in trance or samadhi. When he arises from this stage he is said to be in asamprajnâta- samadhi for at this stage he gives up 11 activities and the soul assumes real samadhi.
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CHAPTER VII
CONCLUSION
In Chapter One we saw the Upanisadic problem of dealing with various
terms such as the unqualified Brahman and the qualified Brahman, reality
and illusion, the individual self and universal Self, and karma and
non-actions. The original unqualified Brahman, reality, universal self
and non-karma later manifested themselves in the form of qualified Brahman,
mâyâ, individual self and karma. Once non-duality became duality all other
problems arose from it. There are more negative responses than positive
responses to these problems because of the nature of the questions we ask.
The language we use to ask those questions is usually totally irrelevant
to the ultimate solution. If, for example, we were to ask why mâyâ was
created by Brahman, none of the answers is going to be indisputable
because our answers originate in minds filled with maya. In other words
as long as we are under the spell of mâyâ, no answer will satisfy questions
related to mâyâ. Therefore, we should eliminate maÿâ first.
This presents another dilemma. How can one get out of mâyâ, if he cannot
find an answer to the question he asks about maÿâ? Man has to surrender
himself to the will of Brahma, and with devotion and faith continue the
search. At the same time he establishes non-verbal communication with
Brahman through meditation.
Non-verbal communication is given in the Upanisadic meditations
which endow the meditator with true knowledge of Brahman. Thus faith
104
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leads to meditation which in turn leads to knowledge of Brahman and final
liberation from samsara. One should have faith in either the individual
self, universal Self, Brahman or Reality. It does not matter in which
of these he has faith because all of them mean the same thing. All of
them are different manifestations of the same unqualified Brahman.
One who has faith in Brahman should choose an object for meditation.
This object may be either the sound ^ or breath. Whichever it is he
should repeatedly concentrate on the selected object in search of self.
It may be easy to concentrate on the manifested form of Brahman, as a
deity, which leads to the universal Self which is imperceptible. However,
since the individual self is within the meditator himself he discovers
the self through the selected object. He should concentrate on the
object intensely until he realizes the self. The meditator should under
stand the connection between himself and the universal Self. At the
moment he experiences the link connecting the individual self with the
universal Self, he will realize Brahman and gain wisdom.
The purpose of such meditation is liberation from samsara and mâyâ
and union with the non-dualistic unqualified Brahman. Only when the self
is liberated is it free from repeated birth and death. Although the
individual self is unaffected by worldly functions such as karmas, the
self continues to leave one physical body and enters another until all
the potentialities of samsaric existence are dissipated from the mind.
Although the self is autonomous, it cannot be free from a mind-body
existence as long as the mind is not free from obsessions. As unqualified
Brahman is free from all obsessions, the self that unites with the pure
Brahman is free from obsessions. For the purpose of attaining this state,
the meditator uses an object. In this attainment, he nullifies all
karmic influence.
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This process has been enhanced by the threefold method which
comprises hearing, reflection and intense concentration. Hearing the
Vedic dictum means listening to the recitation of the four Vedas which
are believed to be true wisdom. It is believed that ancient Rsis
possessed this truth, and the student of meditation consequently must
find a suitable teacher from whom to hear this truth. A suitable
teacher is one who is initiated by another teacher. Only such teachers
in the line of teachers can initiate a disciple into listening to the
great axioms. To be a suitable disciple is another necessity. Although
it is the disciple who should look for a suitable teacher and not the
other way round, once a qualified teacher is found, both of them should
establish a proper relationship. The teacher should instruct the disciple
in the great axioms, while the latter should listen attentively with
devotion to the teacher and the vedic dictums he expresses. The student
thus instructed should reflect upon what he has learned from the teacher.
As he understands, he should meditate. This should be repeated by both
the teacher and disciple until the latter establishes himself in the
perfect knowledge of the Self which transcends mâyâ and duality. The
student's success depends on his firm belief in and commitment to the
triple method. He should believe that the triple method is the only
method that leads to self realization. He should accept the authority of
the Vedas, the Upanisads and the teacher and surrender himself to the will
of Brahma for his success. In other words the Upanisadic meditator
listens to instructions, reflects on the meaning of what he has learned, and
concentrates on the meaning of the instructions without expecting any results.
In section two we saw a different system of meditation, the Jain
meditation tradition in both the Jaina Sutras and Yogabindu is built
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upon the extreme observance of non-violence. Non-violence is the heart
of Jainism. The Jain meditator is advised to be mindful always of the
fact that there are countless living being around him. He, however, is
faced with the problem of abiding by the ratna-traya and living according
to it, yet by merely living he kills many beings at any given moment. He
must stop all life activities in order to end the killing of these living
beings. At the same time there are many duties he must perform through
which, however, beings can be killed. Inactivity alone can restrain him
from killing. In order to eventually make himself inactive, a Jain
meditator has to practice thirteen severe austerities. Inactivity will
eventually be achieved even though in practising austerities living beings
are killed. Finally, the meditator can resort to the last austere
practice called sallekhana, a method of fasting unto death. All this, if
done mindfully and taking every minute precautionary measure into account,
could liberate him from suffering and lead to moksa.
Yogabindu has prescribed a series of disciplinary rules for a Jain
meditator to follow. Practicing numerous religious rituals and incorpor
ating any meditation method is strongly recommended in Yogabindu. The
author of Yogabindu contends that no religion is void of yoga and no yoga
is void of religious characteristics. He arrives at this conclusion based
on the presupposition that yoga, by his own definition, is any activity
that leads to the attainment of liberation from activities which cause
suffering. Undoubtedly all religions advocate ways of liberating mankind
from suffering. He believes, therefore, that all these activities that
lead one to the attainment of freedom from activities and suffering are
yoga.
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Both the Jaina Sutras and Yogabindu have developed a system of
of meditation based on infinite love for finite living beings. One cannot
be a good meditator if one is not mindful always of loving all living
beings. One who is aware of all living beings and their suffering can
cultivate universal love, compassion, altruistic joy, happiness and
equanimity even at the cost of one’s own life. Therefore, the foundation
of Jain meditation is extreme non-violence, not only at a particular
moment of one’s life but at every waking moment. Because of the constant
awareness of every mental, verbal and physical deed, it would seem that
Jain meditation is itself a preparation for meditation. This is true
because there is ultimately no difference between the preparation for
meditation and meditation itself. However this is true not only in that
both aim to avoid killing, but also in that, problematically, both involve
activities that can kill living beings.
Finally,"the Jain meditator is advised to think of self control,
truthfulness, purity, chastity, absolute want of greed, asceticism,
forbearance, patience, mildness, sincerity, and freedom or emancipation of
all evils. He should not forget that the world in general has an effect
on his life. The meditation on this is called Lokabhâvanâ (meditation
on th e world).In his meditation he should constantly think of promoting
the good side of his life, cultivate indifference to people who commit
evils, and ultimately pay no attention to them whatsoever. "The Jaina
Jhana consists in concentrating the mind on the syllables of the Jaina
prayer phrases. The dhvana however, as we have seen is only practiced
as an aid to making the mind steady and perfectly equal and undisturbed
towards all things. Emancipation comes only as the result of the final
^Dasgupta, A History of Indian Philosophy, Vol. 1, p. 203.
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extinction of the karma materials. Jaina yoga is thus a complete course of
moral discipline which leads to the purification of the mind and is hence
different from the traditional Hindu Yoga of Patanjali or even the
meditation of the Buddhists.
It is obvious from the above discussion that it is extremely difficult
for the Jains to practice Jainism in modern society. On the one hand, Jain
religious principles remain uncompromisingly rigid and on the other the
society intent on modern technological development is more and more destruc
tive to and inconsiderate of non-human life forms. This paradoxical
situation may be the reason for there being very few Jain sâdhüs and lay
people today practicing these rituals and meditations.
In conclusion, Upanisadic meditation is founded on self-surrendering
to Brahman, whereas Jain meditation is founded on self-surrendering to all
living beings. In other words the former is sacrifice to Brahma and the
latter is sacrifice to living beings. Or, a Hindu might speak of sacrifice
to the creator and the Jain to creation. Finally, Upanisadic meditation
is psychological in outlook whereas Jain meditation is ethical and
materially bound by karma.
^Ibid., p. 203'
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