INTRODUCTION

To comprehend and to practice meditation is obligatory for every man in

modern­day world. Meditation is the wonderful method of realizing dharma in human

life. In fact, it will be more apt to say that meditation is an aspect of religion

connected with breathing. Meditation is a form of religion. In modern times we find

religion and its different aspects being hotly debated and discussed, but there has been

no discussion, no discourse on the form of religion, on its spiritual aspect. Several

so­called religious people have turned religion into a subject of controversy and

polemic. They seem to have forgotten that religion is not a subject for polemic or

controversy, rather it is a subject of spiritual dialogue, spiritual purification, soul

discovery and spiritual karma.

Meditation is spiritual or self­purification and self­ discovery. Meditation helps

such flowers blossom on earth as will give out spiritual fragrance. Therefore, I

request, I exhort the entire world that it should get itself introduced with the fragrance

of religion through the medium of meditation.

Shri Shirish Muni and Shri Sailesh²the former an ascetic and the latter a

believing Jain²are deeply involved in trying to realize my dream in the field of

meditation. Their right and proper efforts deserve my blessings. The responsibility of

getting the original Hindi version of this book published was taken over by Shri

Vinod Sharma : I wish him spiritually all the best. Dr. Dharam Singh of Punjabi

University, Patiala, accepted our request to make time to render it into English: he

will ever be an object of my blessing for the labour he has put in to make this English

translation possible as well as for what he has been doing to help various members of

the Jain Sraman Sangh in the perusal of their academic studies. Our thanks are also

due to Mr. Ravinder Jain and Purshottam Jain of Malerkotla and Dr. Rajesh Ranjan

and Dr. Paryudumna Shah Singh of Punjabi University who helped in a variety of

ways in the publication of this book.

The series of meditation camps we have been holding is an exercise aimed at the

universal weal, the welfare of all. At this auspicious hour I welcome all those

dedicated young men and others to join and make a joint endeavour to bring about a

beautiful, clean and healthy social set­up through the medium of meditation.

SHIV MUNI

CHAPTER I

MEDITATION :

WAY TO INNER­PURIFICATION

Introduction

Welcome to all the seekers of the path to meditation and discipline. The Hindi

equivalent of the word ‘welcome’ is ‘swÈgat’. The word ‘swÈgat’ literally means

coming (Ègat) to self (swai). Thus, one’s return to the self is called ‘swÈgat’.

There are certain things and desires in this world which sprout quite easily. For

example, one such thing is the food. It is quite easy for one’s mind to get attracted

towards food. Suppose you have just finished with your food and all of a sudden some

eatable of your liking and choice comes to your sight. A thought flashes through the

mind²‘let me taste a little bit of it.’ It is thus easy for the mind to get attracted to food.

And for this, one need not make a resolution that one will go for the food today. One

never knows when the mind is tempted by the good food. You sit on an upper floor

and the sweet smell of some dishes being prepared downstairs reaches your nostrils,

mind in a flash reaches downstairs to find out what is being cooked. It is somewhat

natural.

The second example is that of sleep. You enjoy a good 8­hour sleep at night. Still

if you find nothing to be done during the day, what happens then? The mind favours

having some rest and finally some sleep. It is also quite easy for mind to go for rest

and sleep. You do not have to force your mind to have a sleep. Of course, sometimes

more than one attempts have to be made to wake you up. But while going for rest or

sleep, no effort is needed; sleep comes of its own.

The third such example comprises the different objects and entertainment of our

senses. Music sounds good to the ear, sweet smell is good to nose, beauty appeals to

the eye, taste tempts the tongue and touch soothes the skin. These are five different

object of our five senses. Our mind is prone to go to any of these quite easily. If and

when a melodious music reaches the ear, no conscious effort is required to make the

ear listen to it. The mind concentrates on it of its own. And, if there happens to be a

sweet smell, no effort is required to make the nose smell it: our mind reaches the place

of that smell in a flash.

So, these are the three things to which our mind is attracted quite easily and of its

own. First is the food, the second sleep and rest, and the third our different

inclinations (say, for tasty food), entertainment (say, listening to music), and other

objects appealing to mind. However, to get away from these, to think of returning to

oneself, one will have to make efforts in this behalf: accomplishment of it is no doubt

a great achievement. There will be numerous people who might have thought of

meditating, observe silence for a while, and attend the camp at least once or twice.

There will only be very few among those who thought of this but then made a strong

resolution to do that. Of course, this thought came to many people, but what was the

thought actually? ‘O.K., shall do it sometime. There is still time. We shall do.’

They failed to take the final decision. They remained confused or in dilemma.

Some people resolved that they would do it and then they did get their names

enrolled, but even amongst them there were quite a few who failed to put that

resolution to practice­maybe something at home prevented them or maybe their

resolution was not strong enough and their mind wavered. In case of those who got

prevented because of some important or unavoidable work at home, it is somewhat

understandable. The main thing is that mind wavered at one or the other stage. Thus,

even after getting their names enrolled, even after taking the decision, they failed to

put that resolution to practice. You are welcome for the reason that you are among

those resolute ones who took the decision and then sticking to it reached here.

Stages of Self­Purification

Now we shall see as to what we have to do during these three days. How shall

we live during these three days? What is the importance of living here? What have we

to do while being here? If we put into one word all those different activities, different

sorts of meditation and the different methods of working on our own selves during our

stay here for three days, the word obviously will be inner­purification or

self­purification. We shall work on this purification during our stay in the camp for

three days.

What is the meaning of inner­ or self­purification? How can we explain it? When

people generally listen to the word ‘inner- or self-purification’, they take it to be

purification of Ètman or soul. And, when they listen to the word ‘Ètman’, it seems to

them to be something different, something within the body yet different from it. This

is not the primary meaning of the word. When the word came into usage for the first

time around three thousand years ago, the word ‘Ètman’ meant ‘I’. That is why the

word ‘Ètmaj’ was used to convey the meaning of ‘my son’ or ‘my daughter’. If Ètman

or soul was something different from body, then whose son or daughter he/she would

be? It would belong to the inner consciousness, and the body would have had no

relation with it? Thus, son/daughter is related to your body and the Ètman also means

‘I’. In this sense, inner-purification means ‘my purification’ or purification of

whatever I am.

First of all, what are you? What is your first identifica- tion? When you say ‘I’,

then what is your first identification? How can one identify you? By name? There can

be several people by the same name. Then the first identification is your body.

Suppose there are three persons by the same name and you want to call one of them,

how will you do that? How will you identify one you want to call from the other two

by the same name? Obviously, by looking at their physical appearance, at their body.

All three have the same name, but they have different bodily appearance. So what is

the first mark of identification? The body. So the body forms the first stage of the self

we talk about.

First Step : Purification of Body

The first step in this direction is the purification of the body. This body of ours

needs be cleansed, purified. This first step is rather significant because we never give

serious attention to our body. And if we ever divert the attention, it happens only

when the body starts giving problems, i.e. when it becomes prone to disease and

decay. These teeth in our mouth seldom attract the serious attention they deserve: of

course, our attention goes to them but only when one of them gets painful. When a

tooth falls off or is pulled off, the tongue spontaneously reaches there time and again

to assure itself­or warn us?­that a tooth is gone. Maybe, otherwise we might not

bother to think as to how many teeth we have. We never divert our attention in this

direction. Similarly, we never consciously think that we have two ears. Again, we

remember and think of the ear only when it gets painful or becomes hard of hearing. It

is only after that that we think that there is something wrong with our ear. It is

thereafter that we begin to attend to the ear. The same happens with our body as a

whole. We never pay attention due to it. That is why our body falls prey to different

diseases.

What is a Disease?

Disease implies ‘give attention to me’. Suppose there is a small toddler and

nobody is paying any attention to it. What will it do? It will weep, wail and cry. Then

you give it a little of your attention, ask it what was wrong with it and why it was

weeping. On your attending to it, it will calm down a bit. It will ask for nothing, it

needs nothing except your attention. Similarly, you did not pay attention to your body.

Gradually with the passage of time one or the other disease takes roots. If you are

fortunate enough that no disease took roots, some impurity or disorder takes place.

The latter also implies lethargy. Today, if you are asked to sit straight for a while, you

start complaining of pain here or there. You cannot sit straight, but can easily sit in a

little bending posture. Sitting straight is quite difficult. For some people, walking

upstairs is problematic. In the Dayalji Ashram if you daily go upstairs, you realize

how much is its height. No doubt, you are not yet old people beyond 80 years of age,

but any disorder can take roots in the body even when you are young enough of say

30 or 40 years of age. In the case of some people, it is the head that has become

problematic, it is the waist in the case of other, and similarly some other part of the

body in the case of others. In fact, when I said the age of 30 or 40, perhaps it was too

much. You will see as we go along with the yoga lessons, even people in their

twenties will face difficulties.

A little movement of the body, bending it and making it do various things seems

quite difficult to many. And it is not unnatural or unexpected because we never paid

any attention to the body, never bothered to enquire about its condition. When we

were infants, we had a brand new heart, supple hands, bright and sharp eyes and a

beautiful face. As we have grew up, did we ever look at ourselves to find out what

happened to all these parts, to the body as a whole. Whenever we showed any care or

concern for the body, it was only to cleanse it from without with water and soap. We

never thought of cleansing it from within. In fact, we never knew how to do it. Then

how will we do the inner cleansing, inner purification of the body here in this camp?

Relationship of Body and Mind

This body of yours must not be taken as mere body alone, rather quite intimately

related to it is your mind. If there is restlessness of the body, mind cannot remain calm

and concentrated. If there is tension and disorder in the body, mind cannot remain

balanced and in order. See for yourself: when your foot is in pain, can you possibly sit

calm and composed? Can you concentrate in prayer? Or can it concentrate in

samÈyik? Obviously, no. It means, this body is not mere body alone, our mind is

intimately connected with it. You may say for the sake of saying what is inside? It is

just like a house on rent. However, you are still in the body and you are so closely

connected with it that whatever happens to the body immediately affects your total

being, including the mind. If a small thorn pierced into your foot, you remember the

pain the whole day. It is a small thorn, but it shakes your entire six feet tall body. And,

it happens because of a small thorn! Thus, we realize that the body has a deep effect

on the human mind. This implies that the purity of body is of utmost importance.

We have to work on our consciousness, on our mind, but for that it is imperative

that our body should be set right, cleansed and purified. Purity of body is the first step.

And, for this purity of body we shall perform different yogic exercises.

What is Yoga?

The yoga exercises are hundreds of years old. They have not been made or

introduced by me or anyone else. These have been taken from ancient texts. We shall

try different postures (Èsnas) for cleansing the body. The stiffness of the body, the

lethargy and all such evils will gradually be gone because the yogic postures are not

mere exercises. They are not just another physical activity. There is a lot of difference

between yogic postures and other physical exercises. Often people tend to confuse one

with the other. It is not that mere raising hands up and down, forward and backward is

a yogic activity. Yoga is not mere physical exercise. The latter is only for the body

whereas the former is for your consciousness. Of course, it will be the body which we

shall be using, but the effect will not be limited to the body, rather will go to your

inner most self, to your conscious self. Some yogic Èsnas are connected with the

feeling of anger and the other with the wavering of mind and its sensuous and sensual

inclinations. Therefore, when you perform some yoga Èsnas, this surely affects your

feelings. Gradually these feelings and emotions come under control. This is the first

step towards the purification of body, purification of Ètman.

Silence for Self­Purification

What is your second identification? How do the people identify you? The first

such identification is the body which includes your appearance, mien and face. What

is the next? Profession? No, profession cannot be the mark of identification. Your

voice? What and how you speak is the second mark of your identification. When a

phone call comes, the person on the other end may not give out his name, but from his

voice we can identify the caller. That is why when a regular caller, a person well

known to you makes a call, he just says hello and you respond by asking about his

well being and continue the conversation without asking the caller’s identity. Thus,

the second mark of your identification is your voice. And, therefore, the second step

towards self­purification is that of the voice or speech. This purification is also of

great significance because we have been making use of our speech more or less

carelessly and recklessly, with the minor exception that we try to speak a little

respectfully in the presence of elders. It is on rare occasions that we observe silence

for a while, but we have never given the due attention to our speech. Then, how can it

be purified? What sort of purification it will be? For this purpose, we shall make use

of silence. We shall remain completely silent.

Observance of silence here means that we will not speak through the expression

of words. We shall not ‘speak’ even through gestures or by eyes. Absolutely no

gestures or words. Silence here implies as if you had cut off all relations with the

outside world. You should presume you have none in the world except yourself and

that you know nobody in the outside world. There are so many people here in the

camp, but each one of you must live and move about here as if he were alone. You

know so many people here, but you have to be here as if you know nobody.

Everybody is alien to you. If there is any problem with anybody here, it should not

bother you. All your attention be fixed and concentrated on yourself alone. Let it not

be that a person comes and stands behind you, all eyes get turned to him to find out

who has come to stand there. The person did not come to stand there for your sake!

There is no need to look back at him, but we are so habitual of it that we cannot

control ourselves. We are accustomed to look at what we need not. It is like the habit

of listening to what we need not and what we are not supposed to listen. We are also

habitual of speaking what we need not. Therefore, observance of silence here means

that we shall make absolutely no use of words; we shall not utter even a single word.

Absolute silence.

You might have a problem, you might have a question to ask, might have a

physical or mental problem, or you might have forgotten to bring along something.

You might just open your bag and find that you have forgotten to bring the soap or

some such thing. Do not try to borrow such a thing from anyone because it will

amount to speaking. Both the person borrowing and the person lending will be taken

as speaking to each other. For any sort of problem, a diary and pen will always be

available here. You have just to enter therein your name and the item you require. We

shall manage the required item for you. You may have problem in comprehending a

question, do not express your problem in words, but put that problem here in writing

and we shall solve your problem. You may have some other problem, for example a

severe headache. You must not ask anybody for help or advice. You should just enter

here your name and problem. Asking anybody else for anything whatsoever is

complete taboo. You should presume that around you sit not humans but just ghosts.

None of them has any acquaintance with you. All are aliens who have come from

foreign, unknown lands. You should live and move about here in this fashion.

Whenever you have a difficulty or a problem, you will put that in writing here in this

diary. In case it is something really urgent or emergent, you will inform me about it in

writing. But you will not talk at all among yourselves or with people from outside.

Many people known to you will be visiting here­some to listen to the discourse,

some to pay obeisance, but you will meet none of them. You must not meet anybody

whosoever from outside. You have come here and it is important for you that you

keep your belongings in a separate bag with you even if someone closely related to

you, maybe your wife or husband, son or daughter, might also be attending the camp

with you. Even if you had brought your belonging together in one bag, you should

now separate yours from the other person’s. If your belongings are kept in one bag,

observing silence is not possible. If you know someone, identify someone and he/she

sits beside you, you are sure to ask him/her for this or that item. Conversation will

naturally follow. One, you are not used to observing silence and then if there is beside

you a known face with whom you are used to converse daily, conversation here will

be a sure possibility. And, silence is the most significant part of this camp. You have

to be very, very careful in maintaining silence. Not only in the hall but wherever you

go­in the room, in the bathroom or anywhere else­you must not talk to anybody at any

place. You have to behave as if you do not know how to speak: you have become

dumb. You should dive into silence in this way.

What Sort of Silence?

Of course, we shall observe silence, but this never means that we shall become or

seem to be sad. Our silence must not be sadness oriented. It should be smile oriented.

We shall observe silence with a laughing face, laughing and smiling. And, this

laughter and smile is not for anyone else, it is by you for your own self. You will

smile because you have to smile. You would not do so because someone else is

looking at you or because some one acquainted with you is close by or is passing by

you. Your smile will not be for any reason, it will be without any reason whatsoever.

This is what is called Ènand or ecstasy. This ecstasy is not the outcome of this or that

reason. On the other hand, pleasure is the effect of a cause. You should always keep

laughing, you should always keep smiling and you will never at any cost lose this

smile and laughter. You should make the resolution with yourself that your smile will

remain whatever comes to happen. You may have headache, you might have a broken

foot, but smile should always remain spread on your lips. You may like the food or

you may have to get up half way without taking the required food, but you will keep

smiling. You will never lose this smile. This is silence. This is purification of speech.

During the observance of silence during this camp, some people think that since

they do not have to converse, it will be useful to take along a book and read it. Let it

be emphasized that silence here means absolutely no use of words. Nothing to read

and nothing to write. If there is anything important to be written, I shall tell you to

write. In case you feel that you have missed out something, there is nothing to worry

about. You may ask me, in writing, any question and any number of times. But you

will not write anything of your own. The prescription is not to write, read, speak or

make gestures.

There is office downstairs. A telephone is also available there. You may get the

temptation to go there so as to make at least a phone call at home to find out that all is

well. As it is, there may not be cordiality in relations at home, but when one goes out

to a village or some other place, one does remember home a few times. Maybe,

distance adds to the affection. In that case you might get the feeling to go down and

make a call at home. But do not go even near the office or the phone. This is for your

safety alone. In case you go to the office, you might meet someone not from the camp

and his waves, his feelings, his ideas might adversely affect you. The environment

from which he has come, the environment in which he has been living are all different

from yours. Why have you been asked to remain here during the tenure of the camp?

This is to give you a different kind of environment so that you could observe a deep,

very deep silence in that environment, an environment wherein you will be observing

both the inner and the outer silence. We are trying to build that kind of environment.

If you meet someone from outside, the preparation being made here will get hindered,

will go waste. So not going to the office and not meeting anyone from outside is for

your own welfare. It is not for the safety and welfare of anyone else. It will be your

safety and it will be to your benefit.

What is Prȇa?

We have so far discussed body and speech. What is the third one? This is our

prȇa, the life­force. We know a very little of it. This body of ours is made up of

bones, flesh and blood. Beneath it is a subtle body which is made up of prȇa. This is

called prȇa body. We shall also make endeavours at the purification of this body.

We shall do this partly through the medium of speech and partly through that of

prȇÈyÈma.

What is BhÈvanÈ?

We shall purify the bhÈvanÈ through amiability, friendship, love and

forgiveness. After that comes our consciousness. That consciousness will be purified

through meditation. Thus, we shall do five kinds of purification­of body, of speech, of

prȇa, of bhÈvanÈ and of consciousness. If we put together all the five kinds of

purification, it can well be called self­purification. During these three days we shall

dive into self­purification. We shall practice it. We shall pay full, complete attention

on our own self, because this is the time when we shall be working on ourselves. We

shall pay absolutely no attention to the others­even if someone is having headache or

some other ailment or problem. You need not either think or speak about any one else.

You have come here for your own sake, and you will see to your own benefit. There

are so many volunteers here to look after others, to attend to their needs and alleviate

their difficulties and problems. You must not pay attention to others. There is no need

for you to speak for anyone. Silence, everybody to his own self, is the rule. If you

must say something, write it down to convey. If anyone else has to say, he will do it

himself. You must remember this, and follow this strictly. This will mean

self­purification. There are certain rules, certain prescriptions for self­purification, and

we have to follow them.

What are the Rules?

All of you might have read the rules while getting your name registered to attend

this camp. If some of you have not, I shall repeat the rules for their benefit and for that

of others. The first thing about the camp is that it will start at 12.00 noon today and

conclude at 4.00 in the evening of the fourth day from today. You will have to stay

put here for these four days. Whatever might happen to you or to the outside world,

you will live here for this duration. You make the resolution that you will live here

whatever might happen. Nobody of you will come to me with the request that such a

thing has happened and for this he will have to go back home. You will not be

allowed to go­ whatever might be your compulsions. This rule is like the one under

which a doctor takes a patient to the operation theatre. The doctor will first ask you if

you would wish to be operated upon. Once you answer in the affirmative, the doctor

takes you to the operation theatre, gives you the injection or anesthesia and the

operation starts, you cannot at that stage leave midway, saying that today half the

operation is all right and you will get the other half done some other day because

today you must go home for some urgent piece of work. Will the doctor let you go at

that stage? Such a decision is dangerous not only for you but also for the doctor. In

case such a patient dies, the blame will be unduly attributed to the doctor as well. So

either you will not go to the operation theatre or if you go you will come out only

after the doctor completes the operation. This camp is also a similar thing. It is a sort

of operation to be conducted by you on your self. You are your own doctor, your own

physician and your own surgeon. You cannot go away leaving the treatment half way.

And, once you start the treatment, there might come several problems which you will

have to face. If the wound has gone sour because of your earlier neglect, it will sure

pain now when you cleanse it and dress it.

Suppose there is a bit of trash and rubbish lying on the floor of your house. Dust

particles will sure go up when you try to sweep off the floor to remove this rubbish.

How can you expect a rose smell from there? It is therefore natural that body will

experience some pain when go in for its cleansing, its purification. If someone of you

develops some physical or psychological problem, if someone develops restlessness

or insomnia, it is no cause to worry or get frightened. Keep on renewing the resolution

that you will complete what you have begun and that during the duration of the camp

nothing is more important to you than the fulfillment of this resolve. Do not worry

about what might be happening at home or at shop or office. Spend your days here

unconcerned about the happenings of the outside world. Take it for this duration as if

you have no family, no home and that you are a recluse. It is just a three­day long

renunciation. If you are so very keen, you may go back after three days or you might

stay here for another day. This is the first rule of this camp.

Check up and confirm now if you have an urgent appointment tomorrow

morning or the day after. If it is so, let me know now. I shall relieve such a person just

now. But later on at night, I will not allow. If you have come with the mind to spend

here the first day and then decide whether or not to continue here the next day, it will

not do. Once we get started, your mind may or may not feel interested, you will have

to remain here till the conclusion of the camp. If there is such a person, please let me

know now. Later on it will not be possible for me to release anyone. It is just like a

plane taking off, you cannot get down until and unless it lands. When the plane is in

the sky, you cannot say that I must jump down now, at this very moment. It is not

possible. This is the first rule.

The second rule is the purification of food intake. Our body and mind are

affected by the kind of food we take. Here you will be provided with pure vegetarian

and healthy food. It will be a bit different from the kind of food you take at your

home. You sometimes get sweets, fried food and other eatables with a lot of pepper.

At home you take tea, coffee, etc., but you will get none of these things here. Some

among you might be habitual of smoking, tobacco or any other kind of intoxicant, but

you will get no such thing here. However, you will get healthy vegetarian food daily.

And, you will eat only what will be supplied here. You will not accept any eatable

from outside for your intake.

Purification of food is rather important. As we work on the body in different

ways and as we work on our mind, on our consciousness in varied manners, food

constitutes a significant part of the whole process. It plays a very important role in

this.

Third, you will not take any sort of intoxicant. Some of you may have the habit

of smoking or chewing tobacco, but you will not take any such during your camp. In

case, someone of you has brought along unknowingly­I am sure no one will have

brought such a thing knowingly and consciously­any intoxicant, he should hand the

thing over to me. Please all of you check the pockets of your shirts and trousers

because some such thing might unwittingly have been put there. Any such thing now

handed over to me will be given back to you after the duration of the camp. However,

those who are chronic patients of diabetes, hypertension, liver or kidney and are

taking regular medicine for any of such ailments are advised to keep their medicine

with them and continue with their regular dose of it. However, you will not take that

medicine which has not been recommended by a physician as daily dose for a chronic

ailment. This includes the lighter medicines, say for mild headache, for pain in this or

that part of body or for not getting proper sleep. In case you feel you need some

medicine, please let us know and we shall make arrangements for your requirements.

But you will not take any medicine on your own. However, you may continue with

the medicines already prescribed by the physician. Still you will not make use of any

medicine for inducing sleep and for killing pain. You are advised to maximize the

intake of water. You should take a lot of water because when we meditate, a lot of

heat is produced within the body.

The most important among these rules is that you will remain in ecstasy in all

circumstances.

If you are restless, get calm down:

If you are calm, get happy;

If you are happy, get ecstatic,

And if you are ecstatic, get silent.

²SrÏ Ravisha×kar JÏ

We have to live through this camp in this way­in ecstasy and in silence. We shall

remain ecstatic come what may. If we sleep well, we shall be in ecstasy, but we shall

be in ecstasy even if we do not sleep well. We shall remain ecstatic if we are able to

concentrate or not able to concentrate on meditation. We shall enjoy the same ecstatic

position whether the mosquitoes bite us or not. We shall keep laughing throughout

these days. We shall laugh heartily, whether laughter comes or not. You will see that

in the beginning, it might sound like artificial, a sort of drama. But you will never

know when this drama will turn into truth. So we shall live here in complete ecstasy.

Bondage of Twentieth Century

What sort of bondage it is? This is the bondage of time. For example, you sit still

wrapt in some thought and someone comes and tells you that it is one o’clock, you

will automatically feel hungry. This is so because it is your lunch time. Another

person attuned to this lunch­time routine might say that it is still half an hour to go

before one o’clock, therefore he is not yet hungry and that he will have lunch half an

hour later. In other words, he is not hungry now, but will get hungry at one o’clock. It

also means that he does not feel the need for lunch because he is hungry but because it

is one o’clock. Similarly, one might ask for the time. Is it 11 o’clock. šO, it is 11

already; I feel sleepy’. This means sleep does not come when we feel sleepy, it comes

at particular time or we want to go to bed not because of sleep but because of time

factor. We have become bound by time. Our mind has become so slave to time that

such things have become our second nature. This is a gift of the twentieth century. We

have to get liberated from this habit. So you will not keep your watch with you, and

will hand it over to us. In case it is with you, you will now or then feel tempted to

look at it for time. And once our mind learns of the time, it will think of the work it is

supposed to do at that point of time, and thus it will start its chain. So please hand

over your watches to us. And if you have any money on your person, or cell phone or

mobile phone, please give over all such things to us. Please do not keep with you

anything which is costly or which can help establish your contact with anybody

outside here. It is only then that you will be able to fully concentrate and benefit

yourself with the purification of self.

CHAPTER II

MEDITATION : A BACKGROUND

DhyÈna or meditation is an important word. The given word has its own value

and significance. The word is like a point pregnant with deep meanings. In fact,

dhyÈna is the centralization of the scattered powers. And these powers are facing the

direction of the centre of the self.

DhyÈna also means silence of the inner self. ¶chÈrya Amit Gati says:

Ènand­rÊpam paramÈtmatattvam, samasta­sa×kalpavi­

kalpa­muktam;

swabhÈvalÏnÈ nivasanti nityam, jÈnÈti yogÏ swayameva tattvam.

Thus where there is no sa×kalpa or volition and no vikalpa or alternative, that

calm and silent stage is named dhyÈna. Looking at and listening to soham sound of

natural and spontaneous breathing in (inhalation) and breathing out (exhalation)

soothens and calms the thoughts. And when all thought stop, when they all calm down

and mind becomes thought­free, such a stage is called dhyÈna.

There are some similarities between sleep and dhyÈna. When one is in deep

sleep, his mind is at peace. That is why we call it deep slumber. Otherwise, different

sorts of dreams keep coming and going. Similarly, when mind becomes flawless and

calm, only then can one achieve dhyÈna or we can say that one gets immersed in

dhyÈna.

Difference Between DhyÈna and Sleep

In deep sleep, our mind is thoughtless and at peace, but it is peace associated

with unconsciousness. In dhyÈna, mind is at peace but associated with complete

consciousness. The second similarity between the two is that neither of them can be

attained through conscious effort, with force or power. Both of them happen

spontaneously. You cannot attain them through willing endeavour. Of course, it is

necessary to create internal and external background to let them happen. For example,

you choose a proper place so that you can have a good sleep at night. Then you spread

proper bedding to lie down on it and take on light or heavy/woolen sheet over your

body according to the weather at that time. You either switch off the light or put on

dim light. You lie down in a relaxed posture and close your eyes. Thereafter, if sleep

comes, well and good, but if it still does not come, you cannot use force for it. The

more you will use your mind to make efforts to get sleep, the farther it will go from

you and your mind will get equally restless.

But if you leave your mind free, you never know when suddenly sleep overtakes

you. Similarly, we create internal and external background for attaining dhyÈna to

happen.

External Background

At a proper place and in a proper posture, with your eyes lightly closed while

keeping your backbone straight, you should leave your body loose and relaxed and sit

still. This is the external background.

Internal Background

As we take our attention off the surrounding environ­ ment, we pay our entire

attention to look at and listen to the sound of soham of the natural and spontaneous

breathing in and breathing out. As we do so, our thoughts begin to calm down and

when the thoughts get completely calm down, dhyÈna is accomplished. We cannot

calm down the thoughts with force The harder we try to check our thoughts, the more

they continue to increase. Thus, dhyÈna is not an effort, but just a happening. Still it is

very important and imperative to create external background for it to happen.

Silence is Consciousness

This entire world is a game of consciousness. The inner silence and nothingness

is the basis of the creation of everything including sciences, mathematics, language,

art, poetry, music, metaphysics and so on. After entering into silence, the door opens

for innumerable possibilities. Thus, when a person enters silence, he undergoes multi­

dimensional progress. His consciousness also develops.

CHAPTER III

DHY¶NA : PRACTICAL FORM

AND ACHIEVEMENT

[Dr. Shiv MunijÏ, ¶chÈrya of the ƒrama‡ Sa×gh, has been a very well known

scholar, orator, spiritually enlightened and a guiding spirit to many seekers of spiritual

knowledge. With the help of his deep study, experience and experiments he has led

many on the path to high spirituality. All including the old, the young and the small

children are benefiting from his teachings on methods of dhyÈna and its application.

In the following pages are published those discourses and addresses of the

¶chÈrya which he gave to the seekers of higher knowledge. The readers of these

pages can also benefit by understanding the practical form of dhyÈna.]

Even those who are absolutely ignorant of and unfamiliar with the practice of

dhyÈna often use the word in their daily life. For example, they quite often ask ‘read

with care (dhyÈna),’ ‘listen with care’ and ‘do the work with care’. This speaks for

the popularity of the word throughout the world. In the field of sÈdhnÈ, the word

dhyÈna is a concept. It implies making your mind reflect or concentrate on the soul

(Ètman) which is like the supreme Lord or turning the mind inwards from outward

world. Just as a fish ever remains deep inside the water, similarly when mind after

moving away from the ideas and rituals absorbs itself in the soul, it is dhyÈna or

meditation.

Meditation occupies the highest place in both the Vedic and „rama‡ic traditions.

In the preceding pages we have made only doctrinal analysis of it. It is necessary to

know the practical or experimental method of meditation along side its thorough

doctrinal knowledge. We either study or learn from others to understand a doctrine

and then after following it we try to transform our life. Thus, it is only after

meditating and realizing its accomplishment in practice that life can become pleasant

and joyous.

First of all we shall try to understand the content of meditation. Many of you

might have read somewhat or listened from others on the subject of meditation.

Maybe, a few amongst you might have practiced it as well. However, when you listen

now to the lectures on this topic, listen to them from a new perspective. In fact,

listening is also an art. Often, as we listen, we do so on the basis of our own history,

on the basis of our sa×skÈra. You have already formed a pre­conceived notion of

what meditation means, and you have formed this notion thinking it to be the right

one. If you listen to what I say with that pre­conceived notion already in mind, you

will agree with me if my ideas are identical with your earlier notion. However, if my

ideas are not identical with that notion, you will wonder as to why I speak as I have

been, and that meditation does not mean what I try to convey. In other words, you

have already made up your mind that meditation means this and this.You have come

to the meditation camp. Let it be an experiment for you. What is meant by the word

experiment? In experiment, you never know the final result to be arrived at, but still

you agree to give your cent per cent in making the experiment a success. Whatever

might be the final outcome, you always give your maximum in the experiment. This

meditation camp is a sort of journey into the unknown. Yes, since there have already

taken place so many camps, I can say with a certain degree of assurance that this and

this will happen during the camp. Even then the world of consciousness is the world

of the unknown. Who knows what might happen and how that might happen? Our

duty is to do, to perform but the result or the reward of that performance is not in our

power. You should go ahead with this camp with the presumption that this meditation

camp is a blessing. And, when a person is under the blessings, whatever happens is

for his well being. We have to go through this experiment with this kind of feeling in

mind.

What is meditation? How to define it? What do you think of it? If you are asked

to meditate, what do you understand of it? First of all, I will ask the audience here as

to what meditation means. You will tell me whatever you think of the word.

The various responses from the audience can be summed up as under:

Concentration

Control over mind

Mental journey from one world to the other

State of being liberated

Reflection on soul

Cessation of the course of cognition

Sit in a state of nothingness

End of Asssumptions

Feeling of being in Divine proximity

Removing the defilements

One­pointedness of mind

All these answers mean almost the same thing.

Of course, it is very difficult to define the word dhyÈna in a few words or

sentences. Kahlil Zibran has said that he used to write quite long and voluminous

poems on love until he had not been in love; the day he experienced love, he did not

know how to express or describe it. All the words seemed small. Similar is the case

with dhyÈna.

So what is dhyÈna? How to define it? According to the universally accepted and

known view, it means concentration of mind, to apply it to one point. That is why

people ask as to who or what should be concentrated upon?

I conducted a meditation camp at JalÈnÈ. Three days of the camp were over. On

the concluding day, it was time for asking questions. One from amongst the

participants asked me: ‘You repeatedly ask us to meditate, to concentrate, but what or

who should we concentrate upon?

I asked him what he has done during the last three days.

He said: ‘I had been thinking of this. Concentration on breathing and such other

things is all right, but concentra­ tion? What is to be concentrated upon?

From dhyÈna, we generally understand to concentrate on something or

somebody. Often people think of concen­ trating on a particular photograph, on

repeatedly reciting a given mantra, on some person, a spiritual preceptor, or some

such person. To concentrate the mind and apply to any of such things is generally

taken to mean dhyÈna. The general masses think that concentration is meditation. In

fact, majority of the people think so. I have met a large number of people who think

almost on the same lines, i.e. meditation means concentrating the mind on a given

point. Concentration of mind is the important thing.

If mere concentration of mind were dhyÈna or meditation, it would have been a

very easy thing to do. It would not have been difficult at all. Mind gets concentrated if

we do something in which we feel pleasure. For example, someone might be

interested in music and he might take pleasure listening to it. You daily find children

watching television, with their mind fully concentrated on the programme they are

watching and they get completely oblivious of the surroundings. They either will not

respond even to their mother’s call or at least will refuse to get away from the

television. They get deeply involved in what they watch. Their mind gets concentrated

on the television. When you count money, how is it that your mind gets concentrated

on the job. O course, the mind wavers often. Normally, it goes to what happened

yesterday or before that. But while counting the currency notes, it is concentrated on

the job so that counting does not go wrong. This is a human example. Take the

instance of a cat: it is all concen­ tration while preying on the rat. It looks intent, not a

single hair of its body moves.

DHY¶NA ² NOT CONCENTRATION OF MIND

If mere concentration of mind is taken to mean dhyÈna, then you should put your

mind on a thing you love to do, it will get concentrated on that. Had mental

concentration been the same thing as dhyÈna, I need not have asked you to look at the

breath. I could have easily procured a good movie for you to watch. Your mind would

have concentrated on the movie. None of you would have complained of the pain in

the foot or ache of the back. People sit for three long hours to watch a movie. There is

only a 10­minute­long interval in between. At that time, nobody complains that

watching a movie for such a long time was quite painful to his foot or back. Here in

the camp, half an hour­half an hour is too long a period, even 10­15 minutes of

dhyÈna­ seems ages to them and they complain whether the organizers have no watch

with them!

Time, it seems, has stopped moving. And, watching a movie you sit for such a

long time and still say you never knew how the time flew past. If I say it might be

because of sitting cross­legged on the floor, I shall also suggest you sit in the chair

and see the result. If you feel it is hot out over here, I shall suggest you sit under the

fan. It will not make much difference to your feelings. As it is, there is a lot of

difference between your mental make­up as you watch a movie and that as you try to

meditate or concentrate on the breath. In the former situation, it is like adding fire to

the already burning fire of desires and temptations within you. I can give you an

illustration from our life of yester years. Those days people used to cook food on fire

in the hearth. After the food was cooked, people used to put the fire in the hearth off.

For this purpose, they would sprinkle water on the fire. Do you know what happens if

you sprinkle water on the fire? A sound of shnnnn comes. Why does this sound come?

The answer is simple: fire is hot and the water cold. If and when two opposites meet

together, there is bound to be some reaction. If a reaction occurs, there is bound to be

some sort of noise or sound. And, if you add some ghee or oil to the fire, there will be

no noise and the fire in the hearth will continue to burn. Why? In this case, we add

fire to the fire and that is why no reaction took place.

In the same way, within each one of us burns the fire of desires and feelings. A

sort of stimulation or excitement is there within us. This keeps the fire of desires and

feelings burning. This excitement or stimulation is ever within. What happens when

you watch a movie or indulge in some other entertainment? A little more fire gets

added to the already burning fire within us. Thus, nothing, no reaction takes place.

Time flies past. Three hours or even six hours. You just do not feel it. Some people

can go on watching movies throughout the night. Some parents share with us that their

children continue watch the television all through the night. As I said earlier, they do

not feel sleepy, because it is fire being added to the fire.

Look, what happens here? It is just half an hour before you started the

meditation, and you feel drowsy. This happens because here water is being sprinkled

on fire. When cold water falls on the fire of desires and feelings, reaction will be there

and there will be some sound. It is that very reaction which we sometimes call pain in

the feet, pain in the neck, back ache, restlessness, wavering of mind, the question of

when will this come to an end, etc.

All this is the result of water being added to the fire. If a housewife says, since a

reaction takes places and a sound comes, water need not be put on the fire in the

hearth. It would mean that fire in the hearth will continue to burn. Perhaps, it will

never be put off. But a wise housewife would say, ‘whatever the sound or reaction, I

must extinguish the hearth-fire since I do not need it after cooking the food.’ The

wisdom of the devotee lies in his determination not to be bothered by the sound or the

reaction, but keep firm on his resolve to extinguish the fire. This is the primary

difference between the spiritual endeavour and entertainment.

Yoga Discipline a Must

The famous PÈta¤jalÏ YogasÊtra begins with the words ‘atha

yogÈnushÈsanam’. A free rendering of these words into English would run as­now

begins the discipline of the yoga. May it be yoga or meditation, the path of the

devotee is marked by discipline. Why is discipline so important and necessary? The

answer is: this is the way on which first comes pain. Mind fails to stick to it. It

continues to waver. There is restlessness. To check the mind and to overcome all

other obstacles, you will have to follow certain do’s and don’ts. These stipulations are

a must. For example, you will have to keep your eyes closed. You will have to

observe silence. This implies discipline and regulations to be observed. These are

necessary because we all know that mind will not remain concentrated without all

these. Suppose there are no such stipulations and regulations and you are given the

freedom either to keep silence or continue with whatever conversation you want. How

many of you will prefer to observe silence? If you are given the option to meditate as

long as you wish and go to sleep when you wish and continue to sleep as long as you

wish. How long will you continue with meditation? We all know the answer!

It is difficult for man to meditate. We do not have much control over our body

and mind. We wish to, but we cannot because our body and mind do no cooperate.

Mind wavers. Discipline is necessary to keep both the body and mind to keep on the

right path.

A Little Suffering : Immense Joy

The path of yoga and meditation is such as brings pain and suffering, dilemmas

and restlessness in the beginning. However, those who go across willingly and

laughingly without bothering for the pain in the foot or aching back or restlessness of

mind ultimately achieve the ecstasy. This ecstasy is immense and immeasurable. How

is the path of entertainment? It looks rather fine to begin with, and mind gets easily

attracted to it. However, this is only for a brief while. Later on, pain and suffering in

mountain­like proportions await us. A little bit of pleasure and many times more

suffering. This is what is in store ahead if mind is given freedom to indulge in

entertainment and to run after the fulfillment of desires. On the way to spiritual

endeavour, there is a little suffering in the beginning, but later on it is followed by

many times more joy and ecstasy.

What is the pain or suffering? Just a little. What we now feel is either a bit of

pain in the foot or headache or backache or a little restlessness. Have you never felt

such a pain in life earlier? It might have happened many times before. You might

have fallen ill on several occasions. What was the result of that ailment? Nothing

much. But the way we are now endeavouring to tread is marked by a little pain in the

beginning, a little bit of dilemma and suffering. I appreciate that you might not have

sat in this posture earlier. Thus a little bit of pain is natural. However, if you go

through it joyously, you will then go steady further on the way.

Concentration of Mind : Result of DhyÈna

It is a generally accepted assumption that concentration of mind is meditation. If

meditation were just concentration of mind, it would have been quite an easier thing.

But meditation does not mean mere concentration of mind. Meditation is not mere

concentration. By meditating, mind gets concentrated: this is the effect of meditation.

But this is not meditation itself. Through meditation concentration can be achieved,

but concentration does not imply meditation.

Emptiness of Mind : Result of DhyÈna

The second assumption about meditation is that making mind empty, making

mind calm is meditation. The ability to empty mind of all ideas and feelings and to

make it calm is also said to imply meditation. It also implies that relaxation of mind is

meditation. If making mind empty of thoughts and ideas and feelings were meditation,

it would have been a very easy thing. In that case, there would have been no need

either to sit on the ground in a specific posture or to look and concentrate on the

breath. If one wants just a calm mind, an empty mind, one should just go and sleep

under a fan. Body might feel at ease. And, when you are in deep slumber, your mind

is generally empty, your mind with no ideas and feelings. In fact, such a mental state

is called deep slumber. Mind is not free of feelings and ideas until it keeps dreaming.

And, when there are no ideas and feelings in the mind, you go to deep slumber.

If emptying your mind of all thoughts and feelings were meditation, then both

sleep and meditation would have been synonymous. They would have been one and

the same thing. But, they are not one and the same thing; there is a lot of difference

between the two. What is that difference? Emptiness of mind is a state that comes

during the meditation. In a way, it is an effect of the meditation. It can also be called

an achievement of dhyÈna. However, you empty your mind of all thoughts and you

have meditated, it is not so.

DhyÈna : Return to Primordial State

Now the question arises: what is dhyÈna? How can we define it? Everything has

its own primordial state. For example, the inherent nature or original state of water is

coolness. If you want to heat it up, you will have to make some effort for it. It will

have to be placed on fire. Water will hot up only if we heat it either with the help of

electricity or solar energy. But if we leave the water to itself, it will soon go back to

its original state. And, the original nature of water, as we said earlier, is coolness.

What is the inherent nature of fire? Heat or warmth. Similarly, there is also an original

state of your being. To come back to that original state is called dhyÈna.

What will you have to do to return to the original state?

You will have to overpower your mind;

You will have to remain conscious;

Soul will have to be purified;

Resolution will have to be made;

Body will have to be given up;

Mind will have to concentrate;

Feeling of friendship will have to be developed;

Body and mind will have to be kept separate;

Pure vegetarian and sÈtvik (healthy) food will have to be taken;

Self will have to be tested;

Mind will have to be firm;

Thoughts will have to be centralized;

Become inactive and inert; and

Masks will have to be removed.

Now if I ask you a question, the answer to it will help you a lot. What will have

to be done to make hot water cool? Nothing at all, because coolness is the original

nature of water. Something will have to be done only if we have to warm or hot it up.

You will have to either put on fire or switch on the electric heater or put it in the sun.

But if you have to cool it, place it anywhere and do nothing. It will cool down of its

own.

Original State : Doing Nothing

Are you following what I say? If fire is to be extinguished (made cool),

something will have to be done. If the fire burns and you wish that it keeps burning,

just do nothing and let it burn. In other words, no conscious effort is required for a

thing to return to its original state of being. The original state implies the inherent

nature of the given thing or which is not the effect of an external cause. The original

state means the state in which a particular things remains of its own. If water is cold,

there is not external reason for it being so. Of course, it will heat up only because of

some reason, as an effect of a cause. No reason or cause is needed to make or let it

remain cool. Water is cold because its original, inherent nature is so. This is its nature.

Similarly, will you have to make an effort to return to your original state? Nothing,

absolutely nothing.

Difficulty of Doing Nothing

It is very easy to say ‘do nothing’, but it is equally difficult to put this into

practice, i.e. to do nothing. Apparently it seems the easiest of thing to do nothing.

After all, it asks you to do nothing. Just look at yourself for five minutes and you will

realize that our body does so many things during a brief spell of five minutes. It might

be quite difficult for the body to remain inactive, doing nothing for five minutes.

Mind is much more alert and active than body. Think of what your body did during

the past five minutes. Sometimes your hand went beneath the feet and many times

your foot was beneath the hand. Sometimes your finger went into your ear and at

other times it combed your hair. It was quite rare that you sat still. How many things

did your body do during the last five minutes?

First, you have to do nothing with your body. Then, your power of speech has

also to be made inactive. Now I have asked you to observe silence. I can see some of

you observe this only as long as they apprehend that I am near about and looking at

them, but as soon as they get an opportunity to go away from my sight and they are

sure that no one is looking at them, they begin conversation. Still, body and speech

are under our control at least to some extent, say five to ten per cent. But what is to be

done with the mind? OK, you are asked not to do anything with your mind. The more

you think of not doing anything, the more this mind will run hither and thither.

Yoga’s Inactivity and Original State

Body­mind­speech is yoga. When all these three­body, mind and speech­are

made inactive, only then man can be called to be in his original state. Now you will do

nothing with your body. Be completely still and calm. You will not speak at all. And

when your mind will also become still, you will realize the transformation going

inside you. What will you feel? Peace or restlessness? Joy or sorrow? Ecstasy? What

is your original state­whether it is peaceful or restlessness or full of joy or sorrow or

full of ecstasy?

DhyÈna and Sleep

There is somewhat similarity between dhyÈna and sleep. When you are in

dhyÈna, you are in a position of inactivity, doing nothing. You are in the same

position when you are asleep. However, there is a major difference as well. During

sleep you are unaware of yourself because you are in a state of unconsciousness.

However, during meditation, you are fully aware of yourself because you are in a state

of consciousness. In other words, if consciousness is added to sleep, the latter will

become dhyÈna or medita­ tion. To put the same idea in different words, add some

unconsciousness with the meditation, and it will become sleep.

DhyÈna or meditation thus implies a state of nothing­ ness, of doing absolutely

nothing. Still, one remains fully aware, conscious during this state. Our mind is

habitual of often remaining in two states. One, it should do something­ think, reflect,

speak, listen, walk or any such other activity. You might have felt that as you get up

in the morning, mind starts functioning of its own. You look at this or that thing, you

read and write and you do various other things. If you have no important thing to do,

you will start watching television or listening to the radio or go out for a walk. And if

you still have nothing to do, you will ring up someone and just disturb him or her. But

you must do something because you cannot remain inactive. And, if you decide to do

nothing, no phone call or television or radio, you will just go to sleep. This implies

you will either be indulgent or just go to sleep. DhyÈna or meditation is a stage in

between these two, a sort of middle path. It is neither indulgence nor sleep. It is

complete detachment but full consciousness, state of alertness.

Inhaling and Exhaling

As we have seen above, dhyÈna means to return to one’s original state of peace,

ecstasy and consciousness. Neither body will be involved in doing anything nor power

of speech will be active nor mind will be active. All the three­body, speech and

mind­will become completely inactive and still, but your self will remain fully

conscious. This is called dhyÈna. Emptiness coupled with conscious­ ness. You are

fully conscious yet you are not in a position to do anything. If we want to reach this

state, our breathing can be of much help to us. It provides a lot of co­operation.

Breathe naturally, spontaneously. Let it come in and go out as it does in its own

natural way. Now some people will say that they have to look at the breathing but

their mind does not concentrate on this. Why not? You can also concen­ trate your

mind on anything else, any colour, any form, but you must make the mind concentrate

on something.

Someone also asked me a question that we try to concentrate our mind on breath

on my asking, but if it is to be concentrated, why not concentrate it on God, on the

Name Divine. Let me tell you that you can concentrate your mind on God or God’s

name or on some incantation instead of on breath, and I am sure you will succeed

because the former is a much easier task than the latter one. However, our aim is not

just to concentrate the mind. Our aim is to reach a state of complete inertia, absolute

inactivity and still remain fully conscious.

The form, colour, mantras, etc. cannot take you to the position where I wish you

to reach. On the other hand, the breath can easily take you there. That is why we take

the help of breath­control. In case you recite some given incantation, it will not be

meditation, it will be recitation. I agree, recitation, recitation of divine Name is not

bad. It is something commendable. But this is not meditation. And, we are here for

meditation. Therefore, you have to supplement breath­control with nothing, absolutely

nothing else. It should be a pure, spontaneous natural breathing.

Someone else had asked me that mind is difficult to focus, it wavers time and

again. He had asked for an answer: what should he do? Whatever you will do is sure

to help mind waver even more. Wavering of mind is an activity. How can we annul

this activity with another activity? The only way out is inactivity, complete inertia. If

the mind runs hither and thither, let it go. You should keep your body still. The more

you will keep the body still, the more it will be helpful to keep the mind focused. Our

body and mind are two only for saying, otherwise they are in essence one. They

cannot be separated, one from the other. It would be like try to separate water from

the steam. The latter is the product of the former and cool down the latter and it will

take the former shape. In other words, both are the two different states of one matter.

Unity of Body and Mind

SwÈmÏ SatyÈnand SaraswatÏ says that body is the gross form of mind which is

subtle. In other words, mind is the subtle form of body which is gross in nature.

Whatever happens in and to the body has an immediate effect on the mind. You might

have realized that whenever there is pain in any part of the body, the mind gets

disturbed and becomes restless. Similarly, if the mind is disturbed or upset, the body

will share the same feeling. All this goes to show that body and mind are one. If you

study a little deep, you will understand this sense of unity between the two. That is

why when your body is healthy, this helps to keep your mind stable and focused. I do

not mean here that you must not move your body or change a bit of your posture if

there is a lot of pain. In that case you are free to change your posture somewhat. But

be careful of what you have to do while changing the posture. Your attention, your

mind should remain focused on breath as you do this. In other words, change the

posture while still looking at the breath. Eyes should also remain closed. You will

realize this will help in providing peace to mind.

Second, if mind is disturbed, do not feel upset or restless because of this. If mind

is upset and does not concentrate, our undue consciousness of it will become another

reason for this restlessness. It will amount to the same if I say that I get highly

annoyed because I get annoyed repeatedly. Why do I feel angry with myself? This is

because I get angry quite often. Anger leading to anger! If your mind is upset, please

do not feel very upset or disturbed on this count. Do not bother for the moment

whether the mind is calm or upset. It should be all right with you in both situations.

Your primary, your sole duty now is to look at the breath. I shall also look at the

breath, whether my mind is calm or disturbed.

Consciousness/Alertness

Now look, what time approximately it should be. This is the time around which

most of you might normally be returning home from your shops. It is not very late

still. Some people might yet be taking their dinner. Still look at the faces of some of

the participants: they feel sleepy. Some can be seen yawning. Why this? The answer

is: whenever the mind gets a bit disturbed, it knows of only one thing and that is sleep.

Whenever you find yourselves in such a state, try to come out of it. Once you enter

that state of mind, you are gone. Some people ask me if they have only to meditate,

why sitting in a given posture and why not lying down?

My answer to them is that it is possible to meditate while lying down. But what

will happen then? You will not realize when you come out of that meditation or

dhyÈna. Two or three hours of meditation. And, you will not know what might have

been happening on your right or left. You feel sleepy even when you sit and sleep is

natural when you lie down. So meditation is possible while lying down, but at this

stage our mind is not so enlightened that we can do so in that state. So my advice is

that we should do it while sitting. Even in the sitting posture when you feel that it has

been quite long sitting or you feel sleepy while sitting, it is advisable to stand up.

Meditate standing on your place. You can meditate in a standing posture as well. It is

not obligatory for you to sit, you can meditate while standing. If you feel difficulty in

sitting without any support, you can take the support. If someone, for example, has a

knee problem, he can make use of a chair. The only precaution is to keep yourself

awake and alert/conscious.

Conclusion

I hope all of you have understood what I told you about dhyÈna. What is

dhyÈna? Become inert but remain alert and awake. To arrive at that stage, our breath

will help us a lot. How does it help? Why is it necessary to merely look at the

breathing. Why not anything else? We shall take up these questions tomorrow. This

will suffice for today. Now, once again, we will sit inert and in peace for five minutes

and meditate for a while.

Some Important Instructions

Along with dhyÈna (meditation) yoga, has also to be done regularly. For yoga

exercise, it will be better to wear loose clothes. Tight jeans trousers, necktie, etc. are

not helpful, rather they are hindrances. Put on loose dress. Similarly, ladies may also

wear the kind of loose dress that suits them. Then we shall start yoga exercises. The

regular yoga practice makes it easier to sit in a dhyÈna posture. Pure vegetarian and

sÈtvik (healthy) food is also necessary along with yoga. Non­vegetarian and spicy

(rajasÏ and tÈmasÏ) food is an obstacle on the way to meditation.

CHAPTER IV

DHY¶NA : ITS PRACTICAL FORM

AND ACHIEVEMENT­II

Yesterday we has some reflections on dhyÈna (medita­ tion) and tried to explain

as to what is meant by dhyÈna. Today we have to understand how our breathing helps

us reach this stage. Why did we choose breath alone? We could have possibly chosen

something else as well, e.g., some incantation, some form, but we finally decided in

favour of breath. Why? What is so special in breath? What made us finally choose

breath?

Background of DhyÈna²Method

There are some special reasons for this choice of ours. In a way, we can also say

that there is no particular reason for this. Why is this method as it is? The answer is:

this method is as it is because it has reached us from our spiritual mentors; this

method has evolved as such. There is an old Jaina text called ¶chÈra×ga SÊtra.

¶chÈrya ¶tmÈ RÈm, who was the spiritual mentor of Dr. Shiv Muni who happens to

be the present ¶chÈrya and head of the ƒrama‡ic Sa×gh, has been the first Jaina

ÈchÈrya. He was a great savant : he was a great scholar and an enlightened being as

well. What is the characteristic of knowledge? One such characteristic is that a

knowledgeable, an enlightened person should never get involved in polemic.

Whenever he finds the possibility of polemic, he should take along dialogue.

¶chÈrya ¶tmÈ RÈm was known as a great scholar and an enlightened person. It

is said that when he was an old man of 83 years, he fell down on the floor and the

bone of one of his feet got broken at three places. His spontaneous reaction was that if

it had broken into three, let it be. He was beyond all pain and pleasure, joy and

sorrow, appreciation and denunciation. People around him advised that he must go in

for operation. When they insisted a lot, he agreed to go in for operation. But he put

forward a condition. He will get his foot operated but will not take anaesthesia. I

would like to see the doctor how he operates my foot.

There was those days a German doctor by the name of Virgin. He operated upon

the ¶chÈrya’s foot. The operation took about three and a half hours to complete. The

¶chÈrya sat calm and continued to watch how the doctor went with the operation. In

fact, to begin with, the doctor was not willing to operate without giving anaesthesia to

the patient: he was afraid lest some calamity should happen to him. However, the

¶chÈrya remained adamant, saying that he may go ahead with the operation if he

wants to do but it will have to be without anaesthesia. He even told the doctor that he

was not in need of any operation. At last the doctor gave in and operated upon his foot

without giving him any anaesthesia. The ¶chÈrya sat calm and watched through every

movement of the doctor. At last the operation was completed. The ¶chÈrya asked the

doctor to ring up his home as his wife seems to have forgotten to lock home. The

doctor wondered and asked how he knew this as he sat far away from the doctor’s

home. The ¶chÈrya again asked him to be quick and ring up his wife as she was about

to leave home. At the moment she stood in his bed room. He also told that their bed

room was in that particular direction in their home.

The doctor rang up his house. Whatever the ¶chÈrya had told was true.

This is what we call the third eye, the divine eye. This is the capability to see

what is not visible to the physical eye.

¶chÈrya ¶tmÈ RÈm in his exegesis of the SÊtras has described this method, but

nobody has been able to compre­ hend it. Several years have gone by since he passed

away, but nobody has since then taught this way to meditation. ¶chÈrya Shiv Muni,

the author of this book, went through this literature and discovered this method. When

Shiv Muni was working for his doctoral degree, he realized that all the TÏratha×kars

of Jainism did nothing except meditation. It is not the case only with Jainism, you

look at any religious tradition and you will find meditation discussed there. This made

him resolve to comprehend the view of ¶chÈrya ¶tmÈ RÈm and discover the method.

He did succeed, but he was not yet satisfied. The research continued and continued

and ultimately he found this method in the ¶chÈra×ga SÊtra. It is this method which

we are going to practice today.

Method of Inhalatation and Exhalation

To remain alert and conscious while still being inert and inactive is called

dhyÈna or meditation. What we mean here is that consciousness be rationed while

remaining inert and inactive. This is dhyÈna or meditation. The dhyÈna is a stage

midway between indulgence and sleep. Breath helps us reach the stage of complete

denial, inertia and inactivity. How does it help? In a way, breathing is an activity. It

seems as if we breathe in and breath out, and continue doing so repeatedly. However,

breathing while still being an activity is not an activity. How? Let me explain this.

Suppose a person gets unconscious. Will he in that state be able to take his food by

himself? Can he drink water? No, he cannot take food or water. Can he move about?

No, he cannot move about, either. In fact, he cannot perform any of the necessary

activities of body. Still that unconscious person breathes. This implies that you do not

make any effort to breathe. It may sound strange to say you breathe but still you do

not breathe, i.e., make no effort to breathe. Breathing goes no naturally. The activity

of breathing in and breathing out continues of its own. In case you were to take the

breath and sometime you forgot to breathe, this might have caused a serious problem.

It has been a favour by God that He did not leave this duty into you. In that case you

would have forgotten to breathe at same point of time and consequently this life might

have gone by now. Man forgets so many things and it is natural he might have

forgotten one day to breathe. And, this would not have given him an opportunity to

repent.

Breathing is a natural activity. If I say you breathe and If I say breathing comes

in and out of its own, both the statements can be accepted as true. Actually, you have

to make no conscious effort to breathe. When you are asleep, you cannot do anything,

but you breathe. You do not know of it, but breathing continues. This means, this is

not you who take the breathe, but breathing goes on of its own. This also implies that

breathing is both an activity and inactivity. It can be said to be an activity, but actually

it is an inactivity. It can be said that you do it, but actually it goes on of its own. So

long body is conscious, it will continue to breathe for its own sake and of its own.

What happens when you look at the breath? You move from the world of action

to the world of inaction. You do nothing with the body and the mind is made to

concentrate on the breath which means that your mind is also not doing anything.

Mind merely looks at the inhalation and exhalation of breath and does nothing

because the breathing goes of its own. Similarly, the body is also not doing anything

because breathing is a natural process for which body has to do nothing. Remaining

conscious, breathing, and being in the present means doing nothing. You should halt a

while here.

Breath is like a pathway, a bridge which leads us from indulgence to

nothingness, from action to inaction. That is why we have chosen the breath. What

would have happened had we chosen a mantra, an incantation? We should have

repeatedly recited that and that would have become an action, an activity in itself. Had

the choice been of a portrait, we could have imagined it time and again and tried to

concentrate our mind on that. That would also have become an activity. For this

reason, we have chosen the breath. There is another beautiful thing about breath. You

may or may not consciously wish it, but breathing must bring you in the present. Is it

possible for you to look at the breath you took say ten minutes earlier? You may wish

it very much, you cannot do it. Similarly, it you wish to look just now at the breath

that you intend taking say after ten minutes from now, you cannot do that either. Then

which breath can you see? You can look at the breath that you are just now breathing

in and breathing out. In other worlds, if you have to look at the breath, you will have

to bring yourself to the present. We can also say that whenever you are with the

breathing, you are in the present. You cannot be either in the past or the future.

Nobody ever asked you to discard either past or future, but looking at the breath made

you discard both and live and in the present.

Breath : A Complete Life

The first good thing about breathing, as we told you, has been that it bring you ²

quite spontaneously ² to the present. The second good thing about it is that the whole

life is linked with breathing. Whatever you might do in life, breathing is ever with

you. You may go anywhere in the world, you may be in India or America, you may be

awake or asleep, you may be having your food or walking about, you may be doing

anything, breath is there always with you.

You might have seen, whenever a child is born ² he may be born in a rich family

or a poor family, he may have born in India or anywhere else in the world ² he weeps

the first thing after coming into the world. As he weeps, everybody else laughs. In

case he does not weep, everybody else might have to weep. If he does not weep, the

doctor sure is to hit or pinch him lightly so as to make him weep. The doctor knows

that his failure to make the child weep is sure to cause grief to others. What I mean to

say here is that the first thing that the child does after his birth is weeping. And, he

weeps quite loudly. Why? What is the problem with him? Why does he weep?

What do you think? Why does the child weep?

šHis lungs expand.›

If the lungs expand, there is no need to weep; he can laugh also.

šHe weeps because he enters into new environments.›

Enters into new environments. The poor little thing. Inside it is utter darkness

while outside it is light. This being better environment, he should laugh.

šHe weeps for coming into light from darkness.›

I think this fact of coming out of darkness into light should make him happy.

Then why does the poor thing weep?

šHe feels the pain.›

Does he feel pain? Does it pain to take birth?

šHe has now to breathe in through his nose. This is why he weeps.›

He has to breathe in through nose.... He does not know this. That is why he

breathes in and out through his mouth.

šThe reason is his separation from mother.›

Separation from mother... got away from mother. Suffers from pangs of

separation? I think, once away, he does not bother as to who gave him birth.

šHe weeps because now he has been burdened with worldly responsibilities.›

Worldly responsibilities, you say. Ok, once he is born into this world, he will

naturally grow up into youth. He will have to go to school, study and then ultimately

get married to someone. I think it is enough burden for him!!

šHe weeps and cries for his soul.›

What? He weeps and wails for his soul to come? It sounds ridiculous. Strange

that he weeps for his soul to come into his body as he has already taken birth!

The question still remains. Why does the child weep? All right, I shall myself

answer the question. Otherwise, I am sure varied and strange answers will keep

pouring, ranging from the expansion of lungs to crying out for the soul to the pangs of

separation. What is the reality behind this? In fact, the child seems to us to be

weeping, otherwise he does not weep at all. He sounds to be weeping, but actually he

does not weep. We presume he is weeping. So long as he is in his mother’s womb, it

is natural for him to do whatever his mother does. When his mother breathes, he also

takes breath. When his mother takes the meal, it reaches him automatically. Now he

has come out. So long as he remained in his mother’s womb, his lungs were

completely shrunk, absolutely non²functional. As he comes out of his mother’s body,

he cries loudly. In fact, it is no weeping or crying. It is the opening up of the lungs but

we seem to take as if he were weeping.

When the child is born, the thing that he does after coming out of his mother’s

body is to breathe in. And do you know what is the last thing that a person does before

he dies? He breathes out, but cannot breathe in. He stops breathing.

Birth and Death

We learn that life begins with breathing and it ends with the stopping of

breathing. In other words, breathing is life and end to breathing is death. In between

these two points lies our worldly existence. All joys and sorrows of life, all laughter

and weeping, all meetings and separations, all friendships and enmity, all good and

evil thoughts of mind are related to breath. This means when you look at the breath,

you look at the entire life.

Breathing is not just breath going in and out. Entire life of ours is related to

breath. Just the feelings of mind change, pace of breathing also changes. Breathing

and body, breathing and mind, breathing and prȇa, all these things are deeply and

intimately connected with each other. We can also say that breathing is a thread which

ties body­speech­mind together. When you are with the breath, you are with you

entire self, your entire entity. The whole entity of your stops with you in the present.

You might have thus realized when you began the process of looking at the breathing,

what happened to your thoughts in a matter of moment. Did they come in abundance

or they got decreased. We have just to see if more or less thoughts come to us after

that.

The answer obviously is that they became less. Why did they get less? Did you

think of this? Whenever you happened to be with you breathing, whenever you looked

at your breathing, what happened to the thoughts? To begin with, they were quite a

many, but what started happening gradually? They got less and less Earliest, their

pace was quite fast. Then this pace became slow. Why this change ² in numbers and in

pace? The answer is simple : the mind got connected with breathing. When mind gets

connected with breathing, what change did you see in the number and pace of

thoughts? It happened so because mind got related with breathing.

Preparation Within and Without

First of all, we sit in any posture of our choice. We keep our back, waist and

neck straight. We close our eyes. We put our hands on our knees or just place them in

the lap. We take the spectacles off. This is the preparation without.

The second preparation is the preparation within. What is that? You put your

mind on the breathing in and out. On the basis of these two preparations, mind

spontaneously concentrates. Thus, meditation is called a happening, it is not an action.

It happens of its own. It cannot be done with forced effort. However, you have to

prepare a background for it to happen.

We discussed the similarity between meditation and sleep in the preceding pages.

Let me add here that there is one more similarity between the two. You cannot make

yourself sleep with any forced effort: sleep comes of its own. For example, you go to

sleep at night. Before that, you fix your bed, change your dress, take on the quilt or

something if the weather so demands or put the fan on if the weather is hot. Then you

lie down on the bed and close your eyes. Now it is for the sleep to come or not to

come. If you do not get sleep, you cannot force it. You cannot compel it. The harder

efforts you will make for getting sleep, the farther it will go. You just leave yourself

relaxed in the bed, you do not know when you are overtaken by sleep.

Similar is the case with meditation. You cannot let it happen by force. You

cannot force your mind to stop thinking. This is not possible. You can only prepare

the background. On the basis of that background meditation will happen when it has

to happen. Thus, meditation is a happening, and in making this happen, breathing has

a vital role to play.

Significance of Sound of Breathing

Then what did we do today? We have now added sound of breathing to the

process of concentrating on breathing. Now a question will crop up in the mind of

many as to why did we add only sound of breathing? On the one hand, we say that

there should be no incantation, no recitation, but we have added sound of breathing.

Why? What was the necessity of adding it? Was breathing alone no sufficient? Of

course, breathing alone was sufficient. The addition of sound of breathing to it adds

pace to your progress. We shall move faster on the way.

What is sound so²aham? Let us first try and understand its meaning? It is not a

word, it is a sound. There is, of course, difference between sound and word. What is

that difference? Sound is not a part of any language whereas any given word comes

from one or the other language. For example, the bell rings. The sound that comes

from the ringing of the bell is sound. However, if you want to put that sound in words,

you will have to answer how does the bell ring? The answer will be²tan..nn..nn. Now,

this tann....nn.. is a word. It is not a sound. There is difference between sound and

word. If you speak tann...nn..nn, it is not like the sound of the bell. Is it? No. Still, if

you want to express the sound of the bell in words, the word is tann...nn..nn. That is

the nearest possible word to convey the sound. That is why we have used this word.

You will not use in its place the word dam...dam simply because it does not match at

all with the sound of the bell. One thing is sure, there is difference between the sound

of the bell and the nearest possible word we use to express it.

SoahaŠ : Not a Word But Sound

SoahaŠ is not a word. It is a sound. But where did this sound come from? This

sound has come from nowhere. It is present within you. As and when you breathe in,

this sound šso› is already present within you. And as you breathe out, the sound of

šAhaŠ› is also within you. You may or may not do it, this is a continuous, eternal

sound. Ad and when the breath goes in, the sound of šso› happens and as and when

the breath goes out, the sound of šAhaŠ› happens. And this happens continuously.

Now you will say, if this is ever happening, why is it not audible to us? We have

not heard this until now. We did sit with eyes closed several times, but we never

realized this. The fact is that this sound is very subtle and we live in lot of hustle and

bustle. It is as if you stand in a busy market and someone from back gives you a soft

call. You will not hear this : it will not reach your ears. Then the same fellow cries

loudly. You look back and recognize the person standing behind calling you.

Noise Within and Without

If there is much noise outside, the soft, subtle voice will not be audible to you.

Similarly, this sound of šsoahaŠ› is happening within you, but we live amidst much of

a noise. There is a lot of noise in the outside world, but relatively this is not much. It

is rather small. Much more and in fact several times more noise is happening within ²

the noise of ideas and of desires. How can you listen to that soft voice in that

maddening noise? This is continuously happening inside but still we do not hear it.

That is why we have added it to the breath from outside: we shall pronounce šso›

while breathing in, but shall do so only in mind. And, we shall similarly say šahaŠ› as

we breathe out.

What is the use of adding the sound from without? It helps us attune ourselves

with the sound within. We get attuned to it. And gradually as you continue with our

practice, you will not then add the sound from without. You will get a spontaneous

feeling that as you breathe in, you listen to a sound of šso› and as you breathe out, a

sound of šahaŠ› is heard. This is all a matter of practice. With the passage of time and

gradually after some more practice, you will be able to listen to this sound from

within even when you stop breathing for a while. This sound within is eternal,

continuing for ever. That is why we have added this sound from without to the

breathing. We could have looked at the breath alone. Why this sound? Breath is subtle

and still it is gross. More subtle than breath is this sound. And in this camp, we have

to move from the gross world to the subtle one.

From Subtle to the Subtlest

Speech is more subtle than body. Mind as well as the ideas within is more subtle

than the speech more subtle is consciousness which is indicative of the stage of

complete silence. Very subtle. More subtle than the subtlest. We cannot call it even

subtle : it is subtle and still it is not so. Thus, if we want to go to the subtle world, this

sound helps us a lot. That is why we have added this sound of šsoahaŠ› with

breathing.

Now some people might ask that they could have meditated by placing an image

of a deity before us instead of concentrating on breathing and that sound. Now, see,

both breathing and sound of šsoahaŠ› are realities of the present moment. They are

not figment of imagination. In case, we had to concentrate on an image of God, what

we might have to do? We shall have to imagine. None of us, neither you nor me, have

seen God. What does God look like? Does God have two hands or four hands? Should

we have an image of standing God or sitting God? Should God have eyes closed or

open? This is real problematic. One of you might say that my god is of black

complexion. The other can possibly say that his god is of a fair complexion. If one

says that his god has eyes closed, the other might say that his deity has eyes open.

This will create a problem. But there is no problem in the case of breathing.

Breathing is the same in the case of everybody of us. One may belong to any

community, any background, one may be a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian, there is

no difference at all in their breath : it is the same in the case of every one of them.

Breathing is a universal phenomenon. There is no controversy about it. And, it is a

reality of the present. One does not have to imagine it. We need not to suppose that

we are breathing in or out. There is no need for any imagination or supposition. This

is a fact, a reality. It is present now. We breathe in and we breathe out.

Similarly, one might say that there could have been another word in place of

šsoahaŠ›. In case we replace it by any other word, it would mean imposing it from

without. As for the word šsoahaŠ›, we can say that it is added from outside, but at the

same time we can also say that we do not add it from outside. In fact, this is

happening continuous­ ly for ever within you. That is why we have added this to

breath because this also makes us realize the present.

Conclusion

I Hope you have understood by now as to why did we take breath for this

purpose and why did we add to it the sound of šsoahaŠ›. You might have learnt that

we did so for a purpose. Now you are looking at the breath, you may please continue

doing so. As I have advised you, I shall request you please be careful of those things.

You may breathe in a natural, spontaneous way and with that add the sound of

šsoahaŠ›, but this sound is within your mind, a silent one.

Concluding Discussion

Now we shall take up one or two questions and find answers to them. Some

people say that the duration of the meditation should be lessened a bit. Now the fact of

the matter is that when you are fed up with something you do not like doing it the

time seems to pass of quits slow. On the other hand, when you are interested in the

thing you are doing, the time seems to pass of quickly. Take one example : you are

alone on a journey. How do you feel? How long the journey is. You have a jovial

company on the same journey. Jokes and light conversation goes on. Time flies as you

gossip about. Time seems to fly because your mind was interested in all that you were

doing, you were involved in. Now how many of you feel that it was enough for

meditation : please tell me with all seriousness and truth. Those who will say the truth

will ultimately learn something. Let me tell you that when it is the beginning of the

end or death of mana, the feeling that overtakes you first of all is that of sadness, of

despondency. If you feel like getting fed up, it implies that the process of the death of

your mana has started. It is a fact that when mana begins to die, sadness begins to take

over. As it is, mana or mind lives on novelty. What does mind like the most?

Something new. Take, for example, the food you like the most. Suppose you like the

vegetable of ladyfinger the most. As you had for the second time, you did like it a lot,

but not as much as the first time. When you had it for the third time, it was just ok. If

you are offered it once again, you might have it without much interest or taste. But if

it is offered once again, you will prefer to go away without taking food.

However tasty a dish might be, you will enjoy it the best the first time you take

it, but gradually your taste in it will not remain the same. It will become less with the

passage of time. This is what has been called by Marshal the law of utility. According

to this, your interest in a thing declines with the passage of time. You do not like for

ever either the ladyfinger or the sweetmeats or the ice cream. There is nothing which

appeals to mind for ever. Mind aspires for something new.

Take the example of a person you like a lot. You might feel like living with him

for ever. You will feel very good in his company for a day, for a few days, but after

some days you will feel that it is enough now. But it is not possible in our life to

change everything. There are limita­ tions in certain matters. But it is universal

characteristic of mind that it is ever interested in something new. It ever aspires for

something new. Now when you began meditating, there was nothing in it which

resembled with something new. You are breathing in and breathing out, and it is as it

has always been. It is the same breath, the same šsohaŠ›. That is why we feel that it is

enough. You feel fed up.

Mind Getting Fed Up : Mind’s Death

In a way mind’s getting fed up is a good sign. It implies that the process of the

death of mind has begun. First of all, mind gets fed up, and if it happens to pass

through this stage, it is sure to reach the stage of ecstasy.

Am I right or not? During meditation, you breathe in and breathe out through the

throat, is it proper or not?

No, you have to do nothing. As several of you had asked the question, how the

breath has to be taken in, where to concentrate on the breath ² when the breath is at

this or that place in the throat. No, you have to concentration all you attention on the

top of your nostrils. So you may do as you all have been asked to. You will not make

any changes of your own. Is it all right? Hope you all understand.

šEverything is all right, but it will be better if quantity of food provided is

increased a little. Look, we feel quite hungry at night. It makes us feel uncomfortable

during the night. Thus, we cannot have good sleep. Your most devoted disciple.› This

reads a slip written by one of the participants.

Now the fact of the matter is that when you have nothing else to do, first of all

the mind will go to food. This is something very natural. Still if someone of you has

quite serious problem, he or she is welcome to see me. However, it does not mean that

you come in a long queue for this very purpose. It will be no surprise if all of you

might get up to share the same problem.

The fact is that the food being provided to you is enough for you. We have

become habitual of eating much more than we need. Whatever you eat at home,

perhaps only twenty­five per cent of that is enough for the body. The body does not

need more than that, and we should not eat that. At times you might have felt, the

belly is full, but mind still needs a bit more. Mind craves for more and more and

more. Still anybody with some serious discomfort is welcome to see me.

šOne such camp should be organized in the jungle in our Rajasthan. And it

should last at least a fortnight. I shall feel delighted living in the forest.› So says

another slip.

Sure, if any of you wish that such camps should be organized at some particular

places, such people should get in touch with me. I shall tell them as to what needs to

be done and how to proceed further.

CHAPTER V

THE ¶GAMIC BASIS OF

DISCIPLINE FOR SELF­PURIFICATION

The primary and basic discipline of „rama‡ic culture is the discovery of self, the

realization of self, to become jina while looking at the nija or self. The revered

TÏratha×karas of the „rama‡ic tradition made their lives meaningful by going through

this discipline.

History of DhyÈna-SÈdhnÈ

The fundamental characteristics of meditation available in the agama compiled

by the poets during the pontificate of the 24th TÏratha×kara, Lord MahÈvÏra. The

method of meditation continued to reach the masses through the ÈchÈrya tradition.

Numerous desirous souls, the liberated beings acquired this from the GurÊ­Shishya

(Teacher­ Disciple) tradition. Having received answers to their basic questions, they

stepped forward for transforming their self into an enlightened being. In this tradition,

ÈchÈrya ¶tmÈ RÈm happened to be the first. He had been a highly enlightened person

and a great sÈdhaka and meditator. This attempt of ours is an humble endeavour to

take to the door­ steps of each person the mission started by ¶chÈrya ¶tma RÈm.

With the grace of the Lord and with the blessing of ¶chÈrya ¶tma RÈm, we

acquired this primary and fundamental method of meditation (dhyÈna­sÈdhnÈ) while

making a self­study of the ¶chÈra×ga­SÊtra.

¶gamic Basis of this Method

There is said in the ¶chÈra×ga­SÊtra (1/1/2) that šthere are many souls, as has

been said in earlier SÊtras as well, who are absolutely unaware that their soul will

transmigrate in the form of some other being of some or the other species after leaving

this present body. Who was I before my present birth? What birth will I take after I

leave this body? What kind of being/specie will I be born into?

At another place, the ¶chÈra×ga­SÊtra (1/1/3, 4) says hat such a soul šlearns

either through self­intuition or through the teachings of the TÏratha×karas or, from

some other enlightened being that he came after wandering in the previous births in

this or that particular direction. He also gets to know that he is the same soul that had

been wandering in that/those direction/s.

While making a special study of and reflection on this Sutra of the

¶chÈr×ga­SÊtra, this mystery of the method of meditation got revealed to me. This

special mystery is credited to the Gurus.

On this issue, ¶chÈrya ¶tmÈ RÈm says that šthis soul has been wandering since

time immemorial in the darkness of ignorance because it lacks knowledge and is

loaded with j¤ÈnÈvar‡Ïya karma. It is suffering transmigration from one birth to the

other in this world. However, as the soul becomes saturated with noble thoughts, gets

involved in Right action, gives a new direction to its thinking and reflection and tries

through meditation to tear asunder the veil of ignorance, j¤ÈnÈvar‡Ïya karma gets

eradicated as a result of all this. It creates within the soul a desire, an anxiety to know

its true form and nature. Ultimately, a day comes when it succeeds in realizing its true

self. At that stage man comes to know answers to all the questions like who am I?

where have I come from? etc.›

The word sohaŠ literally means šI am He›. As already told, this knowledge can

be obtained only through three means­right knowledge or self­intuition (sanmati or

swama­ ti), explanation by others (parÈ­vyÈkara‡) and teachings of others

(paretra­updesh). As a result of these, the jÏva or being gets the knowledge that the

soul migrating through matter or spirit, through beings in this or that direction has

been me or my soul. The word ‘s’ gives the meaning of wandering into east or other

directions and the term ‘aham’ indicates the meaning of šI›. The word sohaŠ comes

into being only when we combine both the words, and it means that it is I who has

been wandering in different directions. This is the same feeling which the author of

the SÊtra tries to convey when he says that if these two words/terms interchange

places and become one word/term, it can once again migrate through the world.

However, he distinction between God (paramÈtmÈ) and the individual soul (jÏvÈtmÈ)

will exist for ever. This the belief of the Vedas.

The Jain philosophy has reflected on this notion indepen­ dently. The Jain

scholars have said emphatically that soul is neither a particle of the Divine nor is it

entirely different from the supreme One. The soul has its own independent entity. It

has the inherent potential to become the supreme One once it gets itself completely

freed from the bondage of karma. That is why the Jain scholars have said in a very

clear language: ‘O soul! Thou art not thou, Thou art He.’ In other words, you are not

merely a soul meant to transmigrate in this world. But you can also become God after

cutting off the bondage of karma. Thus, thou shouldst see thyself in that form. That is

the only way of becoming ‘s’ from ‘ahaŠ’, of the penance for transformation of

(individual) soul into the supreme soul. This can also be called a way to the thinking,

reflection and meditation on ‘sohaŠ’.

It is a belief in the Jain philosophy that every enlightened soul has the inherent

potential of becoming God. It can become God through right endeavour and proper

austerities. In the ¶gamic literature has been given a detailed description of meditation

for liberation.

Innumerable means have been described for this discipline/penance. Among

these means, the reflection on ‘sohaŠ’, its contemplation and meditation,

understanding and reflecting on its meaning and incantation of mantras have also

been described. The reflection and concentration on ‘sohaŠ’ is the most bright

lighthouse to show, to lightn for the seeker the path to self­ realization. In its light, the

seeker on his way to self­realization can easily recognize what helps him and what

hinders him and what is to be adopted and what discarded. By virtue of this

knowledge, he gets rid of what is to be discarded and adopts what is helpful and thus

moves on the path to meditation and austerity. He ever moves further on by accepting

all those things which are helpful in leading an austere life. In this way, the seeker

reflecting on the special feeling of soham in a proper method moves ahead.

He continues to eradicate the jnÈnÈvara‡Ïya karmas (the karmas which serve as

a sort of layer on j¤Èna or knowledge) and ultimately one day he achieves the

jÈtismara‡j¤Èna or the knowledge that helps one know about one’s own previous

births, avadhij¤Èna (the

knowledge that helps one know about things that happened in the past, but for a

specific limited period only) or manaparyaj¤Èna or the knowledge that helps one

know about the feelings in the minds of others. Thus after fully eradicating all the

j¤ÈnÈvara‡Ïya karmas, he is able to attain the perfect knowledge, the kevalj¤Èna or

divine knowledge which has been inherent in his soul. With the help of

jÈtismara‡j¤Èna he can see the deeds constantly done in his previous innumerable

births through his five doors of senses, and with the help of avadhij¤Èna and

manaparya­ vj¤Èna, one can see the innumerable birhs and with the help of

kevalj¤Èna, one can see the innumerable births. He can also realize the new meaning.

Thus, the meaning of ‘aham’ is ‘I am’ and of ‘sa’ is ‘I am he’.

If we combine both the meanings, we reach the result that ‘He is what I am’ and

‘I am what he is.’ This result makes us aware of the identity between ÈtmÈ and

parmÈtmÈ, between the individual soul and the supreme Soul. In the given context,

‘sa’ stands for those spiritual personages who have freed themselves from the

bondage of all karma, those who have realized themselves and who have identified

themselves with the siddha. On the other hand, the word ‘aham’ indicates towards the

worldly soul in bondage of karma. In relation to other aspects, both the souls are the

same, possessing the same qualities. The only difference between them is that one

category comprises those who through the ideal meditation on right knowledge, right

faith and right conduct have discarded all karmas and thus freed themselves of the

transmigration. In the second category of householder beings, the being are still

bounds in the karma and they are busy doing things in ignorance.

In a word we can say that the siddhas are devoid of any karma. On the other

hand, the souls of worldly people are absorbed in karma. However, there is no

essential or spiritual difference between the siddhas and the karma­ engrossed beings

because it is their ÈtmÈ which develops into paramÈtmÈ. The latter is not something

different from the former. It has been the souls living their bodily existence in this

world who by being active on the path of special meditation could raise themselves to

the status and position of paramÈtmÈ. Each soul has the inherent capability to reach

this state. However, only that soul reaches the status of the Supreme Soul which sets

out on the path of meditation and discards the feelings of attachment and the bondage

of karma. Each soul has the inherent capability to reach the position of siddha by

reflecting on the right knowledge, right faith and right conduct.

Thus, we reach the conclusion that there is no essential and fundamental

difference between ‘sa’ and ‘ahaŠ’. Man becomes ‘sa’ only after growing from

‘ahaŠ’. We can also say that it is ÈtmÈ (individual self) which by developing its

qualities transforms itself into paramÈtmÈ (Supreme Soul). Therefore, it has been

said that I am not just me, rather I am he who is also He. In other words, essentially I

am not different from God.

SohaŠ Meditation

SohaŠ is the sound of our prȇas. This sound is ever occurring within our

prȇas. As and when we breathe in, the sound of ‘so’ takes place and when we

breathe out, the sound of ‘ahaŠ’ takes place.

There is a difference between sound and word. In practical life, we use the

nearest possible word to express that sound. Similarly, there is difference between the

sound of sohaŠ that occurs within our prȇas and the word sohaŠ. However, the word

soham is the nearest possible words to express that sound. Thus, we make use of it.

As we join the sound of sohaŠ with our breathing, our consciousness becomes

more subtle and we conveniently go beyond the ideas.

Another meaning of the word ‘soham’ is the realized self-s means that and ahaŠ

means I or me: thus, sohaŠ means I am that. There is no essential difference between

me and the realized selves. Another meaning that could be attributed to the word is

‘all the souls are identical with me. None is different from me. I am in all and all are

inherent within me. The day man realizes his own self he also realized at that time that

all beings are essentially like me. Of course, there is difference in body and sex which

is the result of our earlier karmas, but in spite of all these external differen­ ces, all

possess the same essence like me.

Fundamental Basis of this Theory to Live in the Present

The past is a memory whereas the future is just an imagination. Leaving aside

this past and future, our medita­ tion is to remain awake and conscious of the truth of

present of our life. This is the fundamental basis of our three­day meditation camp.

Through the different yogic activities and through the medium of meditation and

concentration and thus enriching this method, man sets out on the path of peace and

love.

When awareness of the present, the mental state of meditation, and love meet

together, the worshipper/camper feels blissful. To live that bliss every moment of

your life and to know that is the integral part of this meditation.

Meditation is Silence of Mind

If we make a free rendering into English of what Acharya Amitgati Ji has said in

the Sri ParmÈnand­Pa¤ca­ vi×shatikÈ, it would read as follows:

¶nandrÊp paramÈtmtattavam, samast sa×kalpavkal­ pmuktam svabhÈvalÏnÈ

nivsanti nityam jÈnÈti yogi svayameva tattvam

Those spiritualists and realized ones get absorbed in the self, discard all

allurements and attractions of the world and reside ever in that divine element which

is embodiment of bliss. The competent yogi perfectly and rightly knows this divine

element and experiences it with compassion, and they remain absorbed in their own

self. That divine element is free from all joys and sorrows, ups and downs, and is

bliss­incarnate.

Thus, the medium of meditation helps the desires, etc. of mind to calm down,

and as they calm down, internal silence takes over. This silence is meditation. This is

the basis of our meditation.

Another Jain scriptural text, Kayotsarg SÊtra, says:

—hȇe‡a× mo×e×an jhȇe‡a× appa‡an vosirami

—hȇe‡a× : stabilization of body

mo‡e‡a‡ : stable speech

jhȇe‡a× : to make mind/consciousness stable in meditation after taking it away

from all evil thoughts and then become stable in silence.

We can also call it the meditation of trigupti. To keep mind, speech and body in

complete check is trigupti which is the heart, the life force of a muni or a Jain ascetic.

Muni is one who live mauna or silence. Muni is one whose life is the practical

embodiment of mauna.

Right Faith (Samyak Dar„an)

The right faith is to know and feel something as it is, to possess spiritual vision

of every human being, everything and every situation. Generally, we know a thing

contrary to what it actually is: in other words, our knowledge of a thing is not clear.

This is called mithiÈ or untrue in Jain philosophy and in Vedic philosophy it has been

called mÈyÈ or consciousness affected by joy and sorrow, favour and bias. A vision

devoid of any flaw and a mind/consciousness given to silent meditation sees the world

as it is. We also call it right vision (samyak drish—i). In fact, silence and meditation

are experiencing right faith.

Sudeva: A deva or god who is free from all joy and sorrow, favour and bias. He

is also called devadhidev or vÏtrÈgdev (which literally stand for the one beyond all

feelings and passions, but these are the epithets generally used for the tÏratha×kar).

Sadguru: One who transcends all passions and feelings, who is the competent

guide to show the right path.

Saddharma : As manifested by those great mentors who have themselves

transcended all kinds of feelings and passions and which tells us how the karmic

effects serve as bondage and how that bondage of karmic effects can be broken.

Only a man with the right vision can develop in his life a feeling of faith towards

these three. Therefore, the primary thing is to feel and experience the right faith which

is both the basis and achievement of this three­day meditation camp we have been

organizing.

Self­Study and Meditation

Lord Mahavira has taught us the ideal way of self­study and meditation for our

spiritual growth and for soul­ or self­realization.

The meaning of the word self­study should not be limited to our study of the

SÊtras, rather we should through internal practices experience the essence of what has

been said in these Sutras and thus attain true knowledge of them. Self­study means the

right kind of study, through the medium of browsing, of the contents of the ƒÈstras

including all the five kinds of medium. The right study, reflection, etc. of soul is also

called self­study.

The Jain ¶gamas indicate towards the way to moksha or salvation through

innumerable conceptual words like Samayak, Prayer, Equipoise, Fast, Silence,

Control over body, mind and speech, Forgiveness, Friendship, anekÈnt­ vÈda, giving

up dinner, lessening of evils like wrath, lust, greeed, etc. Various theories of

meditation have also been discussed. We experience all of them through the medium

of meditation.

Purification of Soul

The purification of soul implies purification of the self. The following aspects are

included in the purification of the self:

1. Purification of Body: The body is purified with the help of various different

ancient yogic practices.

2. Purification of Speech: The speech is purified with the practice of observing

silence and controlling the speech.

3. Diet Purification: Your mind becomes the kind of food you eat. Purification of

diet is taught through teaching and experiencing vegetarian sÈtvik food.

4. Purification of Prȇa: The prȇa is purified through the pranayama and

different sounds.

5. Purification of Mind: The mind is purified of various flaws and evils through

meditation and concentration; thus, mind experiences pure consciousness.

Thus, it has been a complete, a perfect meditation. This involves overall

purification of the soul.

Introduction

Bliss is our nature. Peace is within us and we are the knowledge.

Still why is man caught in the whirlpool of pain and evil? Still why has he been

overtaken by restlessness and violence? Still why has he been wandering in the

darkness of ignorance? The answer to all these questions is one and the same­distance

from self.

It is introduction with the self which brings the feeling of internal bliss, peace of

mind and health of body. For an introduction with the self, purification of the soul is

necessary. The purification of soul means the purification of body, speech and

thought. During these meditation camps, we work on all these three levels.

Thus, this meditation is beyond body and mind.

What is Meditation?

The root of this meditation is inaction. What is the meditation of inaction? This is

the meditation of getting filled with joy even when doing nothing. This happens

through the purification of soul. This is the meditation of the ancient yogis. We

experience and make others experience this in a brief and subtle form through these

three­day meditation camps. These camps are like filling ocean in an urn.

Meditation and Life

I have been doing research in the field of meditation and concentration for the

last about twenty or twenty­five years. I have, with the grace of Lord Mahavira and

with the blessings of the Acharya and my spiritual mentor, made use of my experience

and started holding meditation camps and also started giving training for such

meditation camps to help mankind realize true religion and to meditate. In these

camps, the participants experience the way of living life in a smooth, simple,

tension­free way and to make life full of bliss. They also get rid of many incurable

diseases which are increasing by the day in modern times. The camp participation

adds to their work efficiency and brings cordiality in mutual relations. This helps the

heart to be bigger by enabling man rise above rational considerations of mind, and the

participants experience the feeling of sivamastu sarvajagat (the entire world is the

form of Siva) or jÏvo ma×galam (welfare may come to each being). This brings about

welfare of the individual, of family and of the world at large. This helps man in his

overall growth and makes the world happy. One experiences the feeling of a universal

human religion.

CHAPTER VI

PRIMODRIAL FORM OF DHARMA

It is very difficult to be unanimous on the issue of what dharma means. If I say

that water gets boiling hot at 100 degrees, everybody will agree with me. And, if I ask

if the sun gives light, all of you will reply in the affirmative. There will, of course, be

dissenting voices if I try to define what religion means: there will be no unanimity. It

is difficult for all to agree on this. Why? Because many points of religion cannot be

proved empirically. You cannot possibly give a concrete example of what religion is

like. However, if you are willing to understand it, you can certainly do so. This can

also be experienced. However, it cannot be shown or proved in the empirical sense.

This is so because religion is a matter of one’s inner world.

Generally speaking, what is meant by religion for all of us? What do you think?

What is religion, let me ask? First, you give your answers. The answers the campers

gave were broadly as follows :

² religion is being merciful.

² religion is being firm in one’s commitment.

² religion is observing one’s duties conscientiously.

² religion is remembering the name of God.

² religion is not to harass anybody.

² religion is siding with truth.

² religion is purifying your mind.

² religion is love and mercy put together.

² religion means not to cause any pain to anybody.

² religion is helping the others.

Where these answers are coming from? You may have read or heard all this. For

example, you said that religion is having mercy, but on whom should this mercy be

shown? We are going our way on a particular path. There come the beggars. Small

children, perhaps two or three or four children came begging. What does religion say

on this? Religion advises us to be merciful and give something in charity to the

beggar. On one such occasion, I was accompanied by a lay householder. He said to

the child-beggars : šAll right, you need money. Come with me. You will get work to

do. If you do some work, you will get money and food and clothes.› They replied :

šNo, we cannot go with you because we have to go elsewhere.› The fact is that they

are not interested in work, rather they are interested in begging, in getting money

without having to do anything. Will you call it mercy? It is very difficult to say with

certainty as to which act of ours is really merciful. It may seem mercy to you, but this

act of yours can also put the entire life of someone else on the wrong track. In this

case, this will amount to spoiling the life of these young children. Their habits are

being spoilt. What is mercy, then? It is quite difficult to define it precisely.

What will you call religion? In fact, where all these answers come from. From

discourses heard, from books read and from the knowledge acquired from the elderly

and the wise. The answers given by most of the people are either heard or read from

anywhere. This is what our parents taught us in our childhood. Give clothes to the

naked. Give food to the hungry. Serve the others. Now whatever we learnt in our

formative years is religion to us. Do not kill anybody, rather try to save everybody

from any danger to life. Now someone learnt that the nature of a given thing is its

religion. If we ask such a person as to which thing he referred to. What did he mean

by nature? He does not know all this. This means you have heard all these answer

from somewhere or someone.

In fact, what is religion? What should we call religion? For example, a person

said that whatever saves us from going to sin is religion. Everybody has his own

definition. Someone might say ‘not to commit evil, not to kill anyone is religion.

Saving someone is religion...’

Once upon a time there were two persons. A polemic started between the two.

Both of them were great scholars. Discussion and discourse on the given issue

continued. What was the subject matter of discussion? There stood a cow in front of

them. That was about to die. The question at issue was to save it or not. One of them

said, ‘If there is someone going to embrace death, he should be saved.’ The second

held, ‘If we save the cow, it will need fodder; it might give birth to a small calf and so

on. Who will take care of all that? So the cow should not be saved.’ The other is in

favour of killing it, his ideas are bioethically closer to enthenasia. Now it is a fit

question for polemic, and there is no end to it.

We can also say that where there is a polemic, there is no religion. One who got

involved in polemic and went on insisting that ‘only saving the core is a religion,’

this is no religion. The other fellow joined the polemic saying that religion comprised

only in not saving the cow. This is also not religion. When we say this or that

comprises religion, we are wrong. My brothers, if you feel like saving the cow, save

it. If you do not feel like doing it, do not save it. There is nothing polemic about it.

There was once an ¶chÈrya in the Jain tradition and his name was ¶chÈrya Atma

Ram. Once two persons reached him. Both of them were great scholars and

knowledgeable about the ¶gam literature. One of them said, šSee, brother, once a man

achieves liberation, he never again gets into the process of transmigration. The second

one was a Hindu. He said, šWhy won’t he? yadÈ yadÈ hÏ dharmasaya glÈnirbhavatÏ

bhÈrata : he will have to come back into this process of birth­death­rebirth, otherwise

who will save the world? As and when evil begins to dominate in the world, god takes

birth. In other words, the liberated souls also come back into the world. The first one

disagreed saying that this is not possible. No soul ever comes back after it got saved.

The second held the first wrong. The polemic ensued. Examples were given from big,

voluminous religious texts. One gave an instance. The matter reached such

seriousness that only physical fight remained. At last they agreed to call on the

¶chÈrya because they knew the ¶chÈrya to be genuine spiritual teached, an

enlightened being. They agreed that they would go to him and accept his verdict

whatsoever. Both of them reached him.

One of them said, šLook, ¶chÈrya, once a sold gets liberated, it never comes

back to this world, an I right?›

The second said, šThe should will have to come. If it does not come, who will

save the world?›

The ¶chÈrya replied, šSee, what you should do is to go the moksha or salvation.

If you liked it, you could remain there and if you did not like it, you could come beck.

Let us first attain salvation, the rest could be considered later. The matter ends there.

There is no scope for any polemic.

The enlightened persons always behave this way. They replace polemic with

dialogue. šLet us first go to moksha. If you liked it, you could remain there, and if you

did not like it, you could come back. First, you should attain moksha. People do not

know how to attain moksha but they simply argue for polemic. This is the

characteristic of an enlightened person and of religion.

First, people think that religion implies rules and regulations for daily life, some

customs and rituals. He who observes those rules and regulations of daily life and

abides by those customes and rituals is a religious person. This is a general feeling

among the masses.

Now, every community has its own rules and regula­ tions for daily life, its own

code of social conduct and its own customs and rituals. Take for example those who

follow the Jain faith. As the paryusha‡ days (they comprise eight days and begin with

BhÈdo× sudÏ 5) come, they must fast a lot, listen to the discourses by holy men and

do various such holy things, but as these days pass by, such activities will become

more and more less. Almost similar is the case with those who follow the Hindu faith.

They behave almost the same way when the month of Shravan (July­August) comes.

In the case of the Muslims, the month of RamzÈn has special religious significance.

The Christmas is of vital importance for the Christians. Thus, people belonging to

each different tradition have their days and months considered auspicious and set

about for religious practices and other rituals.

If you ask a Jain the definition of religion, he might say that religion means

fasting observance of certain vows, performing SÈmÈyik (a king of worship a

believing Jain performs daily for some time) observing pratikrama‡ (to make an

analysis of past wrongs and feell repentent for them) etc. If the same question is put to

a Hindu, he will limit religion to paying a daily visit to a temple and worshipping

God, worshipping this god on Monday and that god on Tuesday and so on. You ask

the same question to a Muslim and he will confine it to saying namÈz daily, going on

gaj to Mecca/Medina, etc. For a Christian, religion means visiting the Church, praying

and serving mankind.

Now look at the intra²community situation. You can again take the example of

the Jains. Some of them are called Mandir Margis, and to them religion means visiting

the mandir or temple daily and worship there. He who daily worships the deity is

religious. Among the Jains, there are sathÈnakvÈsÏs, and to them religion is limited

only to visiting a sathÈnak, performing sÈmÈyik and listening to the discourses by

some holy men. Similarly, a person generally follows the same rules and code of

conduct prescribed by the community in which he happens to take birth. Let me ask

you a question as to why have you become Jain and what might have been the

primary reason for your becoming Jain. I do not think you have any answer to such

questions. The reasons simply is that our religion in later life is determined by our

birth. There has been a negligible number of people who, on becoming else. If I ask a

Hindu as to how he happened to become a Hindu and if I ask a BrÈhmi‡ among the

Hindus as to how he happened to become a brahmin, the answer remains the same. It

is our birth in a particular family and the teachings of parents during our formative

years which determine our future faith. During our childhood we accepted as right

whatever we were taught by our parents. We had no sources to check whether they

were actually right or not. Maybe, they were and maybe, they were not. But did you

ever try to find out the veracity of what they had said? This is a very subtle point.

You feel that whatever you have been doing is the right thing. You feel so

because you have been doing the same since childhood. Take the case of certain

families in the south of India which believe in offering sacrifice. For those born in

these families, religion means visiting the temple and offer a chicken or goat for

sacrifice once a week. But you will not accept this as something religious. But why? If

religion constitutes of what you have been doing since your childhood days, then what

they in the south have been doing is also religious. Now we will have to think as to on

what basis we call ourselves religious. Are we religious only on the basis of what we

learnt in our childhood days? Or, have we, through our understanding, reason and by

seeing into our inner self, tried to see as to what religion is. This is a matter of

research. Ponder over this issue a little.

Religion is a matter of research. Religion is not so simple and cheap that you

inherit it as some property from your ancestors. Religion is one’s own discovery. All

the TÏratha×kars of Jain faith were born in Kshatri families, and those days it was not

the religious obligation of the Kshatris to perform penance or austerities. Their duty

was to protect the kingdom, to expand the kingdom and to fight in the battle field.

Had they also done what their forefather had been doing, they could never have

become TÏratha×karas. They did something different from what their forefathers had

done. Do you realize this? Have you ever tried to discover for yourself as to what

religion is? He who discovers becomes religious. He who does not discover cannot

become religious.

In case one happens to meet in childhood itself the true Guru and through his

grace knowledge of the true religion, it is the result of the supreme pu‡ya. However,

even in such cases, awakening of our own inner knowledge is a must. Everybody has

to discover it.

Why did you become a Jain? Did you become a Jain when you were fifteen and

you got some inner enlightenment from within. Or, was it a matter of choice before

you at the age of twenty whether or not to become a Jain? Did some similar thing

happen? Then how did you happen to become a Jain? Naturally you are a born Jain.

You are a Jain because you were born in a Jain family. You parents were Jain, and

whatever your parents taught you was inherited and learnt by you. You might have

been a Hindu had you been born in a Hindu family. Similarly, had you been born in

some other family, you might have belonged to another tradition. Whatever you were

taught, whatever lesson you were given when small, you followed those and you

shaped yourself as such. So generally speaking religion for a common man means

rules and regulations covering daily life and other rites and customs. He who follows

them is religious and he who does not follow them is irreligious.

As I have said earlier, a person who visit a temple daily will say that only a

person who visits the temple daily is religious. And if one does not go to temple, he

will be called an atheist and irreligious. The latter might be a true person and

following all ethical standards, but since he does not visit the temple, he is an atheist.

It will be said of him that he is ever condemned. Similarly, some people fell that

telling the beads, undergoing fast is true religion. To such a person, he who tells the

beads and keeps fasts will seem quite religious. He be taken as following religious

practices very scrupulously. But a person who does not follow these things will be

taken as irreligious. He will be labelled as an atheist, one who never remembers God.

He will, it will be so declared, sure go to hell. Such condemna­ tion will be

proclaimed for him because he does not follow those things which to some seem what

constitutes religion. What is our measure of declaring one a theist or atheist? A person

who follows the daily prescribed rituals is a theist and he who does not follow them is

an atheist. Now everybody has the different set of norms to be followed. All humans,

belonging to different religious traditions, do not have the same set of norms and

practices to be followed. They have different sorts of practices and norms. Every

human being is born in a different social environment, in a different home and in a

different family. He has his own parents. His home is as are his parents; similarly, his

practices were also determined by the kind of society, community he has been born in.

We lay a lot of emphasis on these traditions and these practices and consider one who

follows them as theist. All others are far away from religion.

You will come across quite a sizeable number of people who follow these

prescribed codes and rituals but still they are atheists. They strictly follow the

prescribed practices. They remember God daily. They regularly undertake fasts,

follow other vows participate in religious dialogue and perform samÈyik daily. Still

you will find a lot of wrath, falsehood and pride in them and in their social

intercourse. You will daily come across many such people. I do not say here that

codes and daily practices are not good, rather they are right in their own place.

However, it will not be right to say that a man who daily perform the prescribed

practices is a really religious person. We cannot be cent percent sure that a person

becomes theist or atheist, religious or irreligious by perform or not performing these

practices and rituals. I have seen many such people as have never remembered the

Name Divine nor have they ever performed the prescribed daily rituals and practices

but they are quite at peace with themselves, they are in ecstasy, they have a smiling

face and they have a lot of inner strength to pass through any period of pain and

suffering. What would you call such people? What category would you like to put

them in? Certainly you cannot say for sure that a person following the prescribed

rituals will be religious/theist. Similarly, you cannot say with certainty that the ones

not following these daily rituals are irreligious/atheist.

Prescribed daily rituals and practices are all right in their own place. However,

they cannot be made to serve as the measure to declare one theist or atheist. It can be

the other way round also. One can be a religious or theist person and still not follow

the given daily rituals and practices and one following these can still be irreligious or

atheist. You cannot be sure. Let us understand this here that the daily rituals and

practices are not wrong, rather they are right in their own place, but they cannot be

taken as the testing ground.

Now we come to the second universal assumption. Generally we take religion to

mean to have faith in a certain god and a certain guru and to wear a specific kind of

robes. You think that if a person has faith in the same god you believe in, only then he

is religious. In case the object of his faith is a different deity, he is irreligious or

atheist. If we put it in the Jain idiom, such a person is defiled or lacking in faith. He

who has absolutely no faith in religion or god is called defiled. I shall share with you a

recent incident. Two gentlemen came to me and began the discussion. They asked me

that it is generally said that one must not bow to any other god or deity except this one

(Lord Mahavira). Even if one stands before another god/ deity with folded hands, he

is a fallen man, a false one. There had been another fellow from Nepal wanting to see

me. But he remained outside and did not meet me for several days. When I asked for

the reason, he replied that he was hesitant because I was putting up in a jain Sathanak

(a place where the Jain ascetics, both male and female, come and stay at intervals).

What was bad in my staying there, I asked. He admitted that his parents had taught

him that if he ever went to a Jain temple or Sathanak, he would have no place other

than hell. He was a Hindu by faith and he had come from Nepal. And, his parents had

taught him that hell will be his destiny if he ever went to a Jain temple or SathÈnak. It

is almost the same as the jains are taught that they will be affected by different or lack

of faith. If they ever visited a Hindu temple or other holy place. Such a person will

never be able to cross the world ocean, it is said. Both the sides think as if the passage

to hell goes beneath the religious place of the other side! You can see how people are

bound. You ask a Muslim to go to a Hindu temple. It would seem as if a calamity had

befallen him. People are bound to their respective traditional as goats or sheep are in

their enclosure. Such a pity that a person is taken as fallen if he merely visits a

religious place belonging to another tradition. He who commits such blasphemy, he is

eternally fallen with absolutely no chances of his ever getting saved. Yet each

tradition has faith in a god or deity and each has its own Guru. But the impression

created is that only my religion and my Guru are genuine , none else. The Christians

say that Christ is the only Saviour. Only he can save man. Do you find anything

wrong in it? I think we cannot call it wrong because people of different traditions say

almost the same thing. It is not just Christians, the Hindus and the Jains also behave

the same way. The followers of each tradition boast that their religion is the best of all

and all other are inferior to it.

Not to speak of Hindus and Jains or of any two different religious traditions, let

us see what is happening within jainism. They have faith in the same lord Mahavira.

When a child takes birth in a family belonging to the SthÈnakavÈsÏ sect within

jainism, that child, as he grows up, will be advised against going to a Jain temple and

performing worship there because that will be a great sin. Even if he happens to visit

such a temple and stands with folded hands before the image of Lord mahavira, he

will be fallen person! When I was sojourning through Chennai, a lady came to me.

She used to visit me daily for a few days. Then she did not turn up for same days. I

asked the others the reason for the absence. I was told that she did not come because I

was in that particular place which is a SathÈnaka and she belongs to the mandirmÈrgÏ

sect within jainism. The fellow told me: šWe are mandirmÈrgÏs and we have since

birth been taught that if we ever visit a SathÈnaka, we shall suffer bondage. So we do

not go to a SathÈnaka.› Now you will laugh at this, but look within what do you do?

Everyone behaves almost the same way. This, of course, is a childish thought. An

outsider will laugh at the Jains and wonder if they are the followers of Lord Mahavira.

Maybe, if lord Mahavira himself happens to visit this each now, he might ask whether

we would like to escort him to a SathÈnaka or a Mandir! And, if he visits a

SathÈnaka, how should he sit there? Should he put on the covering on the mouth or

not, if yes, of bigger or smaller size? Lord Mahavira will be in a real dilemma. At last

he might ask that he should like to depart leaving us as we are and that we might go

on our different paths. What an interesting situation!

The heart of the matter is that after the departure of Lord Mahavira, religion had

gradually become secondary and that sect or tradition has become primary and that

there is nothing wrong in it. There is nothing wrong if you say that your sect or

tradition is right, but you do not stop at this. You go on to say that only your sect or

tradition is right. This causes polemic. If one wants to go to temple and worship, it is

well and good that he should do so. If he does not want to, he may not. It you sit with

a coverlet on you mouth, it is well and good, but if you want to do sÈmÈyak without

putting a coverlet on you mouth, even then it is all right. The only thing you have to

see is how your mind concentrates in meditation. Concentration of mind for

meditation is the primary thing. How you transcend all jealousies and enmities and

friendships and develop a felling of fellowship for all is the primary thing. You should

see only how you can achieve the primary thing. You may achieve this either by

bowing your head before a god or by telling the beads, either through meditation or

prayer. This is what you must understand. This is for you to see how your mind

reaches equipoise. Then you may remember god either by the name of mahavir or by

any other name. Yes, you must give up anger and pride and greed. Whether you give

it up by remembering Lord Siva or any other deity. But you must give them up. What

is in a name, as they say. You will come across tens of person by the name of

Mahavira. It is not necessary that each one of them is the same kind of person. A

person by the name of Mahavira can be a thief; he can be evil²incarnate. What will

you gain by remembering his name? There may be numerous persons by the name of

Sive. It is not necessary that the person will be as good as his name signifies. A person

named Garibdas can possess a huge mansion, and another person named harsukhlal

can possibly be residing in a hut. Similarly, a person by the name of Nayansukh can

be blind of eye and another by the name of Surdas can have bright eyes. Once again, I

shall say there is nothing in the name. You may remember any god, any deity and by

any name, but you must concentrate your mind in meditation. This is the primary

thing.

A young girl one day came to me and in a tone of confession said šI happened to

commit a cardinal sin today ass I visit ƒiva temple. I know it is sinful on my part.› I

pitied her and her parents who taught her so. A Hindu says that a visit to a Jain temple

paves way to hell, and a Jain would say visiting a Hindu temple paves the way to

hell. If you do son, the only way left for you is the one leading to hell.

One may still understand this between Hindus and jain a they belong to two

different religious traditions, though I do not agree with this. Just have a look at the

intra²community situation in Jain tradition. What will you say if the SathÈnakvÈsÏ

Jains say that visiting a Jain temple is sinful and if a MandirmÈrgÏ says that visiting a

SathÈnaka is sinful. Where will lord Mahavira go to if he happens to come to this

earth again to a Sathanak or a Mandir? If he goes to a SathÈnak, the mandirmÈrgÏ

Jains will declare he is not Lord Mahavira because he went to the SathÈnaka. And, if

he goes to the Mandir, the SathÈnakavÈsÏ Jains will wonder how can Lord MahÈvÏra

go to a temple? The situation will be highly problematic for Lord Mahavira. Where

will it be advisable for him to go? He may ultimately have to decide against going to

the either place and instead going back to heaven.

We have been playing ridiculous games in the name of religious. It is like the

game of tip cat. If the stick fails to hit, you are out, and if it succeeds in hitting then

you are in the game. So has become the case with religion. Had it been so easy a

thing, or had it been confined to a particular place, then it would have been desirable

to take all the mankind to a single place of peity. This way all of us will become

religious. But it is not so. One is advised to visit all religious places and you will find

that you come across both religious and irreligious people, the atheists and theists.

You will find religious as well as irreligious people among the Hindus. Similarly,

among the Jains also you will come across both kinds of people. You cannot say with

certainty that faith in a particular god will make man religious. It may happen and it

may not happen. Both the possibilities are there.

The number of conflicts and controversies that have arisen in the name of god

and Guru in India have been much more than anywhere else in the world. The

question that haunts us is whether my god is superior or yours? All this while we

never bother to remember or worship god. We may not experience in our life the

peace and love experienced by god, but we must create conflicts. This is my god, that

is your god. The final destination is the same, but you have made divisions of that

also. This is mine and that is yours. If, ultimately, the court of law intervenes and

decrees that it is neither this man’s, but it is of the court. If the court puts its locks to

the doors of the temple, what will you then do? We have become conservative to the

extent of foolishness in the matters of religion. Only God can save us! Each one is

firm in his resolve that only this is right and all else is wrong. Look at just only the

Sathanakvasi Jains. They are also divided into small sects.

I once visited a small village. There were about twenty²five houses in that

village. Among them five are on one side and the other twenty on the other. The five

families have faith in that sadhu who does not make use of the mike while giving his

discourse. Imagine just twenty²five houses and they too divided into five on one side

and the twenty on the other. Suppose another saints happens to be there, I am sure

another five families will adopt him as their patron. Where will we stop at the end?

This is the ridiculous game we are playing in the name of religion. It is a tip cat game

in the name of religion. We are divided into my group and your group. Division

among political parties like the B.J.P. and the Congress is all right because their

followers openly say so. Now we find groupism even in religion. There should be no

discrimination or prejudices in religion, but we find them there. Division is where

love should prevail. Groupism prevails where co²existence and co²operation should

have been.

Now what is the meaning of the word ‘religion’. When language changes, the

meanings of words also change. What would have been the connotation of the word

‘religion’ when it was first used about 2500²3000 years ago. In PrÈkrit language, the

word is dhamma and in Hindi it became dharma (it is only in its modern usage that

we translate the word into English as religion). In the original, it is dhamma. As I told

you a little earlier, the primordial nature of water is coolness and the nature of sun is

to provide light. The original nature of earth is to cultivate, to imbibe. In other words,

the nature of a thing implies its primordial state. Now in modern times the usage of

the word nature has changed. What meanings we impute to the word nature today?

Our usage, for example, is: He has a nice tempera­ ment or he has a quarrelsome

temperament or nature. So what meanings we input to the word nature? Behaviour,

the manner of social intercourse. That is what we call nature or temperament.

However, in olden times, nature or temperament implied primordial state. This latter

was called nature. When we have to convey that the original state of water is coolness,

we shall now say that the primordial nature of water is coolness. When we have to say

that the primordial state of fire is hot, we say that the original nature of fire is heat. If

we have to say that the original state of the sun is to get illuminated and to provide

light, we say that the nature of sun is to get illumined and to give light, Now the other

name for this nature had been religion. Nature and religion were almost synonymous

words. In other words, in olden times if we had to say that the nature of water is

coolness, this could be conveyed by saying that the water’s dharma is coolness. If we

had to say that the nature of sun is to get illumined and to illumine, this could be

expressed by saying that the sun’s dharma is also as such. Both the words, nature

and dharma, were synonymous. However, with the changes in the language, the

meanings have also changed; now dharma or religion stands for a separate religious

tradition, and nature has become synonymous with behaviour. Meanings of both

dharma and nature have undergone a change. However, both these stood for

primordial nature. In a way, the primordial state of your consciousness is your

religion. Now what is the primordial nature of your consciousness? The original or

primordial nature means that nature for which no external or conscious effort is

required.

For example, we have to heat up water. For this we will have to make an effort.

If we make absolutely no effort, the water will be cold, Similarly, if you give up all

efforts ² efforts of body, mind and speech ² what would you feel within? Peace or

non²peace (restlessness/conflict)? Obviously, peace. What do you feel³happiness or

sadness? Obviously, happiness. So this peace, happiness and consciousness is the

nature, the religion. You take the case of any tradition. Everybody will agree with

this. No religious tradition would say that man should not be at peace or happy. The

Hindus, the Jains, the SathÈnakvÈsÏ, the MandirmÈrgÏ all say that man must

experience peace within. None of them says that man should be sad. All of them say

that man should be happy and that he should be conscious. None talks of man’s

remaining unconscious. So peace, happiness and consciousness is satchitanand and

this is religion. To arrive at this is a characteristic of a religious man.

Now which path do you choose to arrive at this destination is your choice. Some

prefer the path of worship. Let them worship. If another favour telling the beads to

worship, let him tell the beads. Another might prefer praying, let him pray. If

someone wants to meditate, let him meditate. Arrive at this destination through the

path you like. Reach the state of satchitanand. I have told you the path that I knew,

i.e., which I learnt from my spiritual gurÊs. We know the path and are aware that

meditation is the way. Of course, meditation is not the only way, rather there are

many more paths as well. Meditation is one of those paths. As we have seen

meditation is a very simple and easy way. It has no complications. If you worship,

there will be several complications. What way to do it? Should it be done this way or

that way? There is no such complication in meditation. You have to do nothing. Just

sit still and relaxed. Close the eyes. Shut the mouth. Keep the body still. Thus, your

mind is there. Look, for how many years you have been doing all that you have done.

What did you achieve? Now you have to discipline the mind and meditate only for

three days. Look, what have you achieved? Do you feel the difference? Now the

choice is in your hands.

Now I have shown you the way that was known to me. And I know, if you move

on this path, you will sure feel the change in your life. Go on practising for six months

what I have taught you here. There will certainly be a change. Let it be anybody, from

any tradition. Do it for six months what you have failed to get in the last fifty years. I

can say with certainty that this has happened with millions of people. I do not say this

from any bookish knowledge. I have experienced it myself. It really happens. I have

known many people around me and the kind of life they led. I also know the change

in their life and how they live now. It is not a very long period. Not that you have to

perform austerities for say fifteen or twelve years. Just two or four or a the most six

months. And you will find the change in life. Of course, this does not mean that you

will do it only for six month and then give it up. It is not to be that way. It will have to

be continued, but you will feel the change within six months. Even the period of six

months is also a bit too much. You will feel within just a fortnight that the life has

changed a lot. And during all this, there has been no discussion either on God or on

the religious preceptor. You may have faith in the deity you want to, you may have

faith in the preceptor you want to, but you must meditate. You may first pay respect to

your preceptor because all the spiritual preceptors of the world are really great

persons. None of them is smaller or inferior to the other. All of them are equally great.

All deities are also supreme.

CHAPTER VII

PRIMORDIAL FORM OF DHARMA (II)

The incantation of a mantra is good, but the mere incantation of a mantra will

necessarily make man religious is not sure. You cannot say this with hundred per cent

certainty. A person who does not recite a mantra cannot be religious, you cannot even

say this. There is nothing bad in a mantra, but religion is not confined to a mantra;

similarly, it is not that a person reciting a mantra became religious and not reciting a

mantra became irreligious or atheist.

People feel that religion means a particular kind of robes, a given set of rites and

rituals and the observance of certain other prescribed things. Of course, every kind of

dress has its own significance. Each has its own effect. However, it is not necessary

that you will become religious just by changing your robes. There are quite a many

people who have failed to become religious even after changing their garb. At the

same time there are many who have become religious even without changing their

dress.

Thus, there are different conceptions about religion. As I said earlier, some

people hold that religion means a set of rituals and ceremonies. The second

conception is that religion implies belief in a particular deity and a certain spiritual

preceptor. The third conception is that religion means incantation of a particular

mantra. The fourth conception is that religion comprises a particular dress or

following a given tradition. All these things are right in their own place, but none of

them in itself constitutes the whole religion. They all are small parts of religion. They

are like the seed sown in the earth, which is then watered, provided fertilizer, and then

given sunlight and air. The seed will sprout and grow only after getting all these and

then transform itself into a plant. Gradually that plant will blossom and these

blossoms will give out fragrance. Religion is like that fragrance. All the things like

sowing the seed, watering, providing fertilizer, and giving sunlight and wind, etc. are

like the rules and regulations, rituals and practices, remembering God, recitation, faith

in the spiritual preceptor and a prescribed kind of robes.

All these are small things. They can and cannot be meaningful. You may take it

as if you had sown the seed in the earth. Now it is not necessary that it will develop

through all the stages to bloom and give out fragrance. It is just possible that the seed

is dead or defective or it may not bloom. On your part, you watered it all right, but it

is not sure that it will blossom into flowers. After all your efforts, the seed may sprout

into a plant or it may not. The same is with religion. It is not necessary for one to

become religious even after performing all the rites and rituals. At the same time,

there is no such condition that one cannot become religious.

Religion is the fragrance of that flower in bloom. It is just possible that you may

or may not get the fragrance even after doing all this because the seed has to go

through a long journey to reach the stage of fragrance.

What is religion? Just a little while ago, someone had given a very beautiful

answer that the nature of a thing is its religion. This has been, no doubt, a classical

answer. However, I feel that even he who gave this answer does not fully know the

meaning of his answer. He seems to have either heard of this and read about this

answer.

The meaning of the word dharma was entirely different about 2500­3000 years

ago. The language of that era was entirely different. PrÈkrit was the language of

common usage. Sanskrit was also popular. However, these days Hindi and English are

popular languages. What difference does it make? We have absorbed as such the

words of Sanskrit and Prakrit in Hindi and Gujarati languages. It meant that although

the words remained the same, the meanings changed.

I was in Rajasthan. One day a lady asked the other: šWhat is the tame [time]?› I

felt wonder struck listening to the word ‘tame’ coming from her lips. It was a little

later that I could follow that she was asking for time. The word ‘time’ got adapted into

‘tame’. Maybe after say fifty years from now, this word will become classical in

Marwari language. Then, tame would mean time. People by then might forget that the

word tame is the corrupt from of time.

Somewhat same thing has happened with our PrÈkrit and Sanskrit words. We

have adopted them in Hindi as such. One such word is dharma. The word actually

was dhamma. The word dhamma gradually got adapted into dharma. At that time, the

word dhamma meant dharma.

A Jain SÊtra says­dharma is what the swabhÈv is. What is the meaning of the

word swabhÈv? These days we give the word a meaning which was not given in

earlier times. Today we imply nature by this word. For example, we say that he is a

man of quarrelsome nature or of a very sweet or amiable nature. Thus, in the

modern­day idiom the meaning of the word swabhÈv has been taken as one’s

behaviour or character. However, about 2500­3000 years ago during the age of Lord

MahÈvÏra and Gautama Buddha, when the word swabhÈv was used, it was used as a

synonym of dharma. Wherever the word dharma was to be used, they used the word

swabhÈv. For example, if they had to say that the ‘nature’ of water is cold, they would

say the dharma of water is cold.

Thus, during those days the meaning of swabhÈv was bhÈv of swa. In other

words, this meant the primordial state, or that state to bring about which we have to

make no external or conscious effort. For example, if the water is to be heated, we

shall have to burn fire for the purpose or will have to make some other endeavour. But

if the water is to be cooled down, what shall we have to do? Of course, we shall have

to do nothing. Why? It is so because the cooleth is the nature of water. This is his

primordial nature. To take it to its original or primordial state, we need not make any

effort.

We can also say that the word swabhÈv means primordial nature. This is the

nature which is present of its own. We need not make any conscious effort to bring it

about. For example, the nature of sun is to give light. It has to make no conscious

endeavour to do so. In other words, the meaning of the word swabhÈv is that state to

bring about which we shall have to make no external effort. Thus, the swabhÈv is

what is bhÈv of swa.

We can also define the word swabhÈv in another different way. SwabhÈv is what

is ever existent. If you heat up water, it will not remain hot for ever. It will remain hot

only so long as it is nearer to fire. As soon as the fire dies out or is taken away, it will

start cooling down and soon it will come to its primordial state­cool. And, if we have

to keep the water cool, we shall have to do nothing for this. It will remain cool for

ever. So the word means the original or primordial state to bring which no conscious

effort is required and which is inherent and which remains for ever.

Dharma implies swabhÈv. At that time about 2500­ 3000 years ago, both these

words were synonymous. However, gradually, meanings of both these words got

changed. Religion came to mean a particular tradition, rituals and practices, code of

conduct, etc., and swabhÈv came to mean behaviour or character. Look, how the

change has taken place with the passage of time. Thus, it is very difficult for us to

fully comprehend what the Lord said because the Lord had given discourses in the

language of those days. Nowadays we have with us the words used in those days but

their context and meaning have changed. We lack the insight and context in which the

Lord had used these words. We try to explain the word from the Agams with our own

insight and that is why sometimes the meaning is completely distorted.

What is our Nature?

Now we shall see as to what is our nature like. And, what is our original state?

When your body is completely and absolutely inactive and inert, when your speech is

silent and when even your mind is in a state of contemplation or, in other words, when

all the three yogas of yours are in order, what do you then feel? Is it a feeling of peace

or restlessness, of joy or sorrow? No doubt, you will experience a feeling of joy and

peace because that is your innate nature. That joy and peace has been born from your

inner self. At such a moment you are in accordance with your nature, your religion.

On the contrary, whenever you are restless or sad, you are against your nature, away

from your nature.

Universal Religion

Now let it be any human being, he may have been born in a Jain or Hindu family,

in a family having faith in the Sthanakvasi or Mandirvasi sect among the Jain ascetics,

he may have been born in Surat or in Bombay, in India or in the United States of

America. Can any or all of these factors bring about a change in his nature? Can the

nature of water be changed with the change in environment. It is not possible that the

nature of water in America is cool and that in India it is hot. Is such a thing possible?

The nature of water will be the same throughout the different parts of the world.

Similarly, man may go anywhere, to any part of the world, his nature will be the

same. And, the nature of man is peace and bliss and consciousness. When all these

three factors are together, it is nature. Whenever you possess these three, you are in

peace, you are in bliss and you are perfectly conscious. And at that time you are in

dharma. As soon as one of these three goes missing, you will find that either you are

in peace but you are not fully conscious or if you are fully conscious, you are not in

peace. In such a situation, you will go to adharma.

Sometimes it so happens that you are in peace and conscious, but you are not

blissful. In that case, that peace and consciousness will be full of sadness. Dharma

means where all these three are present­peace, bliss and conscious­ ness.

Take the example of any great personage, of any holy man, of any spiritual

preceptor. You will find these three things ever present in them. Such people will be

in peace, in bliss and in consciousness. As these three increase in one’s life, dharma

will increase in the same proportion. Similarly, as they decrease, dharma will decrease

in the same proportion. Thus, peace, bliss and consciousness is your swabhÈv or

nature. Satchitanand is your swabhÈv and this is your dharma.

You have done and you have still been doing sÈdhnÈ or meditation on peace,

bliss and consciousness. In fact, this is the real meditation on dharma, meditation to

go back to dharma. On the face of it, it seems there is no Divine name involved in it,

there is no prayer in it, there is no mantra for incantation, there is no worship of an

idol or deity. What kind of dharma is it? We shall not ask you to repeat or recite the

name of God or look at an image of the Divine. On the other hand, we shall ask you to

become like God because God is not anywhere outside, rather you are yourself God.

But you have forgotten the God inside because you have been made unconscious by

the feelings of wrath, ego, desire, etc. When you will give up these three feelings of

wrath, ego and desire, you will go back to your nature of peace, bliss and

consciousness. As such, you will meet God within.

Lord Mahavira during long austerities of twelve­and­ a­half years did only two

things­dhyÈna or disciplining the mind and KÈyotsarga. Just now someone had put a

question: did Lord Mahavira also go through the practice of blowing the conch? I had

said: Brother, the Lord did not have the need to do that. Think of the difference

between your body and that of the Lord. In the opening „loka of the BhaktÈmar

Stotra a eulogy has been sung of the body of the Lord. Even the gods bow before

Lord MahÈvÏra to pay him obeisance. The effulgence of the nails of MahÈvÏra’s feet

is more than that of the gems studded in the crowns of these gods. If the nails of feet

of one are so shining that the shine of even the gems in the crowns of gods gets fades

in comparison, how beautiful his remaining body will be. You can easily imagine this.

A person so beautiful and so pious need not perform all these rituals. His diet and

behaviour were completely balanced.

Now both your diet and behaviour are imbalanced. You have never reflected

upon the questions as to what you should eat, when you should eat and at what

intervals you should eat. You live only in two conditions­either you are eating or you

are getting ready to eat. It is not proper at all to compare your own body with the body

of Lord MahÈvÏra. The age of MahÈvÏra was different. And the modern age is

entirely different. You can take the times just sixty or seventy years back. The age of

your father or of grandfather was different from what you live in. There has been a lot

of difference between the dietary habits and environment of these two ages. In the

times sixty or seventy years ago, food was taken only two times a day. How many

times do you eat these days? You take food at least three times a day­breakfast in the

morning, lunch at noon­ time and dinner in the evening. This is the normal dietary

practice. One never knows how much one eats during the day apart from these three

meals.

Once a lady came to see me. She said, šMahÈrÈj! I do not feel the hunger. I eat

very little, but still I never feel the urge to eat.›

I listened to her. What should have I told her? As the lady had left, a person who

had been her guest the previous day told me about the reason for her not feeling the

hunger. He threw light on her dietary habits. He told me that the lady takes her

breakfast soon after getting up in the morning. And this breakfast comprises at least

two to four hot, steaming parȇ—hÈs, with a little of jalebÏ and a glass full of milk. It

is still morning and it is just a small breakfast. As they say, it is necessary that your

belly is full once you get started for the day’s work. At around ten, she would take her

food including some bananas, apples, etc. Then she would busy herself in preparing

lunch. Her lunch consists of just 3­4 loaves of bread with 2­3 well­cooked vegetables,

a bit of rice and a glass of lassÏ to go with at the end. In fact, before getting up from

the dining table, it is obligatory to take some sweet dish. Otherwise, how will the

throat be clear? Anyway, she finishes her lunch with this much only. Of course, she

never has the urge to eat and in this situation how can one eat more than that. After a

brief siesta or some little work, it is afternoon and it is not the time to eat much. But

you cannot make your body work until it is fed with something. Keeping this mind,

the lady has to take her afternoon snacks around this time. These snacks do not

include much­just a glass of milk, a little bit of fruit, one or two kachaurÏs, or some

such thing. It is evening time when she must visit the market to purchase fresh

vegetables or other provisions. Now when you are in the market place, it is not much

if you take a glass of juice or such other thing. In fact, juice is said to increase your

appetite. Thus, a glass of juice is a must for this lady. Walking down the market, you

may come across some old or current friends of yours. There is no harm if you stop

with your friend have a refreshing drink or snacks with him. The other friend

otherwise might feel bad. Two friends can sit together for a while and eat a bit. How

can one eat more, especially the persons like the lady who have the ailment of bad

appetite. Then one must have dinner in the evening because it is meal time. How long

can one survive if you do not take anything for dinner. How will you go to sleep? So

the dinner comprises a few loaves, with some vegetables and rice. And when the

whole family sits for gossip or some such thing together at night, generally a glass of

milk for everyone is usual. Still we do not eat much, but take only a little because we

suffer from bad appetite.

Now I could understand the reason for the lady’s bad appetite. You can only

laugh at her. But I shall suggest that everyone gives a look back at his/her own day’s

routine. Was your routine not somewhat like that? Most of the rich people go through

almost the same kind of routine. Then I shall have to say that you must have another

glass of water and must undergo another set of exercises. Nobody knows how many

times you eat and what you eat!

You can well imagine the consequence if diesel is put in a motor meant to run on

petrol. And what will be the consequence if kerosene oil is added in an engine meant

to run on diesel? Will the engine/motor start? Will it move? No, only the engine will

get stuck. And, put dirty water in a motor which otherwise runs on kerosene oil. It will

stop altogether. However, if the motor starts running even on dirty water, what will

you do? Will you call it a miracle? In fact, we all are one such miracle. How are we

alive so far is perhaps the greatest miracle. The way we eat we should have died much

earlier by now­the way you eat, the amount of food you take, the number of times you

eat may it be day or night. No restrictions, no rules are there to check you. It is, say, 2

o’clock at night and you have to recite the Nava×kÈr mantra at night. You must have

something to drink and eat before that. Otherwise, how will you recite? The kitchen

continues to function throughout the night since it is the continuous recitation of the

mantra. If you do not have a cup of tea, you may feel sleepy. This is the situation you

are in. You are living in extreme need of food, perhaps you live for food. You never

think of what you are devouring in the name of food and in what quantity. Still you

are alive. I see this as a great miracle.

Whatever we do here is to take the body and the mind to its primordial nature.

This camp has been so designed as to bring back our body and mind to their balanced

state from the way we live, the kind of life we live in this modern age.

Today you might think of four or five thousand years earlier when no such

camps were organized. This is right. Possibly, no such camps were then held. That

was a different age. The traditions and expectations were different then. During those

days if you had to learn how to discipline mind and how to meditate, you had to go to

a spiritual mentor. You had to live under his guidance for an year or two or even for

twelve years. Then they taught such things. Times have changed now. Modern man is

short of time. If I say that you put up with me for an year and only then I will teach

you how to meditate and how to discipline the mind, there will be only one or two

persons who might opt for this during a period of thirty years. Therefore, we have

designed the camp in keeping with the requirements of the age. No such camps were

held earlier. Perhaps they were not required then.

Two Forms of Religion

There are two forms of religion­deterministic and behavioural. The former is

ever unchangeable: it had the same form in the past, it is the same in the present and

shall remain so even in future. The deterministic form of religion is returning to the

inherent nature and become stable in bliss, peace and consciousness. On the other

hand, the behavioural form of religion is always subject to change. The behavioural

form implies the outer form. This is constantly changing. Its form is as is the form of

the society.

Imagine, you have a guest at your home. Let us suppose the guest is a rich

businessman. You offer him a seat on the sofa to sit in so as to converse with him,

listen to him and you are always anxious to put forward your opinion before him. On

the contrary, if some poor person happens to visit you, you listen to what he has come

to say while he stands on the threshold. You behave with the person as per his social

status. It does not indicate that your enmity with or prejudice against such a person.

You know that if you make the rich man sit outside on the bench, he might get

annoyed and go back without listening to whatever you might try to say. It is

necessary to make him sit on a cushioned seat so as to put your ideas to his ears. Your

behaviour, your words coincide with the kind of visitor. Your behaviour differs in the

context of two such persons. You change your behaviour in keeping with the

situation. This is behavioural truth. It is surely not that you want to honour the rich

man and insult or humiliate the poor. On the contrary, it is just possible that you have

more affection in your heart for the poor. But in keeping with the demands of the

behavioural efficiency, you behave differently with two different persons.

Let me illustrate a little more the idea of the behavioural form. Your grandfather

was used to wearing dhotÏ and turban. But what do you wear today? If the modern

youth goes to the market wearing a dhotÏ and turban, people will look at him as a

strange fellow. Or they might take him to be a BrÈhmi‡ going for some ceremonial

worship. Just as human dress changes with the changing times, the behavioural form

of religion also changes with the passage of time. But its essential form always

remains the same. Non­violence, contentment, austerities­they are all there. But how

to adopt these values in life? We shall have to change the method of adopting them.

Only then will you understand that, otherwise you may not.

If I say that since Sanskrit is the best language, therefore, I shall speak only in

Sanskrit, but how many among the audience will understand the ideas that I might

convey? I will have to use the language which everybody among the audience can

understand. If I insist that there must at least be five to ten thousand listeners to my

speech and at the same time I also insist that while addressing them I shall not make

use of the mike. This will be improper behaviour on my part. How many of them will

be able to listen to my voice? If I say that even if the number of my audience is fifty

or hundred it is all right with me. Then my insistence on not using the mike is

understandable. In fact, there is no need of mike for an audience of say fifty, but if

you have an audience of five to fifteen thousand, you must make use of the mike. If

you must not make use of the mike, then give up the expectation that your audience

should swell into thousands. In that case your attitude should be that any number of

audience is acceptable.

To make or not to make use of mike to address an audience is the behavioural

form of religion. It is not that you will become irreligious if you make use of the mike

or that you will become more religious if you do not make use of it. As I said,

behavioural form of religion is subject to change. It continues to change. On the other

hand, deterministic form of religion is static in all times, past present and future. One

who observes this form is certainly a religious person and one who does not is

certainly an irreligious or defiled person.

Religion and Meditation Camps

In this camp, we tried to reach religion through different ways. First of all, we

exercised to sit still. One may ask why sitting still is so important. If you continue to

stir or move, can we not concentrate or meditate? Of course, yes, we can concentrate

and meditate while we are not still. Think of those who have never meditated earlier

in life. For such people, it will be quite difficult to reach a state of actionlessness

while still active. As you might have experienced, our body and mind are quite

closely inter­ connected. Whenever there takes place a change in the body, it leaves its

effect on the mind as well. Similarly, whenever a change occurs in mind, it has its

effects on the body as well. When you have headache, or pain in the foot, can your

mind be in peace? No, that cannot be. When we are carrying a burden on the mind or

when we are mentally restless, can body feel the peace? No, certainly no. Body and

mind are closely connected with each other. Therefore, when you keep the body still,

it helps in keeping the mind also still and stable. Thus, the first stage of meditation is

to sit with a still body.

Somebody had questioned if you cannot meditate while lying down. Of course,

one can meditate this way as well. Sitting is not a mandatory posture for meditating.

You can meditate even while standing. You can meditate even while lying down.

However, the point worth consideration here is that you feel drowsy even while sitting

and it will be quite easy for sleep to overtake you while you are lying down. Your

one­hour meditation will get extended to 4­5 hours. You will never know in which

meditation you were lost for these hours. You will easily fall asleep. In fact, there is

every possibility of your falling asleep if you try to meditate lying down. Sleep and

meditation are two opposite extremes. You will enjoy sleep while trying to live

consciousness. All our plans will go topsy turvy.

There is no doubt that one can meditate while lying down. But so far the

consciousness of your mind is not that strong and deep. You are not yet so prepared as

to keep your mind conscious while still lying down. Thus, it is necessary to sit as you

meditate.

Benefits of Sitting Straight

The second thing that I said was that you back and neck should be straight. There

are numerous benefits of sitting straight. At the same time, there are as many

drawbacks of sitting in a bending posture. When you continue to sit bent down, you

begin to feel tired and sleepy. On the contrary, if you sit straight, you keep fresh. You

must remember that half of the maladies our bodies suffer from are caused by this

defective sitting posture­bending down. The freshness and youthfulness of your body

will last long if you continue to sit straight. However, if you continue to sit in a bent

down posture, you will get old earlier than usual. Getting old means early loss of

freshness and alertness.

Generally, people find it very difficult to sit straight. Why is it so? Simply

because people have become habitual of sitting in a bent down posture. Thus, sitting

straight seems difficult and painful to them. However, it is more natural, very natural

to sit straight.

It is also necessary to keep the eyes closed while meditating because the eyes

connect us with the outside world. As soon as we close our eyes, our connection with

the empirical world is broken.

Importance of Breathing

In meditation, we fix our mind/consciousness on the pace of breathing. As we

did during the meditation, breathe in deeply and then breathe out and repeat it twice or

thrice. What does deep breathing do? In fact, deep breathing acts like the speed

breaker. Just as a motor moving at a fast speed on a road will have to slow down as

the speed breaker approaches. Slowing down means lowering the speed. Similarly, a

deep breath lowers the pace of your mind.

Thereafter we began to look at the natural breathing. What happens when we

look at the natural breathing? Why did we choose breathing for this? We could have

replaced breathing with some mantra or the painting of a god or some other deity. We

chose breathing because it connects us with the present moment. Another beautiful

thing about breathing is that whatever you might do you cannot look at the breath

gone by ten minutes ago. Similarly, you cannot look at the breath you will take ten

minutes hence. You can see only the breath which is present.

Breathing connects you with the present. When you began seeing the breathing,

your thoughts automatically got lessened. I did not ask you to put a check on your

thoughts. I had directed you only to look at the breathing. You began seeing it and

your thoughts calmed down automatically. There are two doors for the thoughts to

sprout. Either they come from the past or from the future, but breathing is in the

present moment. Connecting with the present closes the doors to past and future and

your mind moves towards thoughtlessness.

Looking at the breathing calms down your thoughts automatically. Had you

instead looked at the painting of a deity or performed the incantation of a mantra,

your mind might have got absorbed in that as well. However, incanta­ tion of a

mantra or remembrance of Divine name is also a thought in itself. And, we have to

move from thought to thoughtlessness, from idea to non­idea, from desire to

desirelessness, from action to action­ lessness and from activity to non­activity. For

that we shall have to look at something which takes us to actionlessness, inactivity,

thoughtlessness.

Meditation on Thoughtlessness/Inaction

If you are repeating the name of God or reciting a mantra, this is also an action.

This is an activity to be done by mind. If you are performing an activity, how can you

move towards inactivity? A cursory glance shows breathing to be an activity, but it is

not activity. For example, a man gets unconscious. Can he take his food? Of course,

not. He cannot drink water even. However, an unconscious person breathes in and out.

Breathing is an activity that goes on of its own. It goes on without any conscious

effort on our part. Breathing continues even if we are conscious and in deep slumber.

As we bind our mind with breathing, the mind becomes through­free,

consciousness becomes void. The state of mind and consciousness turning thoughtless

and void is the highest attainment of meditation. It is the highest state of pure or

highest form of meditation.

CHAPTER VIII

RECOGNIZING THE TRUE GURÉ

The realization that we all humans are essentially the same provides a sense of

fearlessness to innumerable beings. And, the enlightenment of one soul can become

the cause of lighting innumerable other souls. How does a man get free from the

desires of life? Does meditation or reflection or self­study make any difference? But

the primary things are: 1. company of the true GurÊ, the enlightened one, the

self­illumined one; 2. and the major reason is the deep or inner meditation.

Who is the GurÊ? GurÊ is he who knows how and with what method can the

mind of the disciple continue to roam about in conscience. The basic idea is that it

should be able to experience joy and happiness in meditation, and roam about the

inner feelings joyously. And, only a holy man, a spiritual mentor can see this who

himself is one with the inner feelings. Otherwise, it is not possible. The most difficult

work in the world is to keep a check on the mind, but once one reaches under the

patronage of the GurÊ, this happens quite easily. This is the significance of the

patronage and protection of the True GurÊ.

What is the necessity of the GurÊ? The GurÊ suggests us the way out and tells us

what is important at a particular given time — whether it is meditation or prayer or

devotion or recitation or indulgence in work, etc. Even meditation undergoes change

in keeping with the region, time and feeling. It is as if the medicine were the same but

had to be taken in different forms. The essence is the same as to how can roaming

among inner thoughts be possible.

What is the criterion of a true GurÊ? In a way, no criterion in this respect can

work, but still it is the intense will of man which can recognize an enlightened person.

Among the chief characteristics of an enlightened person are equipoise and discarding

bodily attractions. Is complete detachment possible through discarding physical

attraction? What we call disembodied state is perfect in proportion to where we stand

today but is incomplete in proportion to the state of kevalj¤ÈnÏ.

deh chhatÈ jenÏ dashÈ varte dehÈtÏt

Similarly, ShrÏmad RÈjchand in his ¶tamsiddhi has given other characteristics

also. There we can see ­

The GurÊs are always farsighted. They possess that farsightedness which helps

them know today what the disciple will come to know tomorrow. They get the

knowledge of what is the fundamental reason of the inclinations and attitude of the

disciple and what will be their consequence. They know the malady within the

disciple, the malady which is fundamental and which encompasses all maladies like

sorrow, anguish, birth, death, etc. Only the GurÊ can provide remedy for such a

malady because the GurÊ knows the reason behind that. There are some reasons

which are apparent to all, but the basic reason behind is something else. When can a

physician provide remedial medicine? Obviously, he can do so only after he

understands the basic reason and provides the malady. That is why the knowledgeable

and the enlightened people say: šYou may make any number of attempts using your

brain, but you will not achieve the desired result, but success is yours as soon as you

reach under the patronage of the GurÊ. This is so because as you reach the GurÊ’s

protection, he gets hold of the basic reason and gives out the remedy. That is why this

has also been said that one should always have immense faith in the GurÊ. For

example, you go to a physician and accept whatever medicine he gives you. You

never question him as to why he gave you this and not that medicine. Similarly,

whatever way­out is suggested by the GurÊ should be faithfully followed. Thus, the

second meaning of farsightedness is he who knows the reason and consequences,

cause and the effect.

CHAPTER IX

FEELING OF SHELTER

There is no one competent enough to provide you safety and security and

similarly you are not competent enough to give safety and security to anyone. Still

man is ever searching for comfort and security. He holds that security lies in the

children, in home and in various material things of usage. He is under the impression

that he is secure if he has a family, a house, wealth, etc. He is also apprehensive that

nobody will protect him if he does not have all these things. That is why he earns

money, constructs a house, raises a family, etc. and maintains cordial relations with

friends and relatives. He does all this for the sake of comfort and security. He wants

that somehow his comfort remains intact. However, the more efforts he makes for his

comfort and security, the more unsafe he finds himself. Earlier, he was concerned

with his own security alone, but now he is equally concerned with the safety of the

wealth he has earned. Now he has to endeavour for the safety and security of his

family. Thus, concern for the security of all those things which he had raised for his

own security becomes his liability, his concern now.

Thus, all the efforts made for comfort and security become the cause of his

sorrow and insecurity. The house was constructed for safety, but who will now take

care of the safety and security of the house? The more secure a man wants to become,

the feeling of more insecurity take over. That is why the religious text repeat time and

again that none except religion can provide protection or shelter to you.

What is Religion?

The nature of religion is to conceptually seek and get the shelter of swabhÈv, and

in its practical form it implies seeking shelter.

Man is unable to understand this and then in ignorance he himself gets confused

and in consequence makes the people around also confused. It is in that confusion that

many maladies are born. Diseases of mind and body and worry and concern for family

and home are also born. When you get this knowledge, when you understand that

nobody can provide you protection and that only religion is the protection, meditation

is the protection, it is only then that you attain samÈdhi or meditation.

As one takes to the protection of wealth, position, reputation, home, family,

society, etc., one becomes a victim of varied maladies; and as one takes to the shelter

of religion, one attains meditation.

Meaning of Meditation

Meditation or samÈdhi does not mean the end of maladies but to remain

internally in meditation in the midst of all these. Can we call it equipoise? Actually, it

is equipoise, but it will be better to call it meditation. Meditation means resolution

attained, and no problem remains. In fact, the circumstances are the problems. But

sometimes a particular circumstance makes us confounded and agitated, then under

that agitation and confusion an ordinary circumstance also takes the form of a

problem.

What is the characteristic of one engaged in spiritual achievement? He should

discard the very idea of seeking shelter with anyone except religion, and rather he

must seek protection with religion. This is the characteristic of one engaged in

spiritual achievement, may be he a householder or an ascetic. Of course, there are two

paths­one of the worldly life and the other of the meditation. When does meditation

begin? When does one jump into the stage of meditation from that of worldly life? It

happens when man comes to understand that religion is the only protection. Of course,

everybody says so for the sake of saying that he is in the protection of religion, but in

their heart of hearts they think that nothing can move on without money and that none

will serve or look after me except my family and children. Who will bother for me if I

do not have a social status?

The SÈdhÊ SamÈj

Even some ascetics also say that none will bother for them if they do not have

reputation. Sometimes an idea also comes to mind as to who will provide me food.

How can I meditate without the devotees, without society, without status. That is why

there is so much of absurdity among the sadhus. They have no faith in meditation.

They also say for the sake of saying that the Arihants are great, and religion is a part

of life. Their life shows that ‘my status, my reputation, my society, my devotees are

my patron; only they will protect me. In this ignorance, innumerable maladies are

born. In the name of religion, they bring up absurdity and misconception, and on

many an occasion they risk their meditation for the fulfillment of their familial

desires.

Such people cannot be called ones endeavouring for spiritual achievement, rather

they are going the downhill. This causes damage to religion and society.

Ways of Seeking Shelter

What are the ways to bring man to the protection of religion, to make him

understand that only religion can protect. First of all, man must introspect and become

authentic. If he does not have any faith in the Arihant and that he in his heart of hearts

believes that wealth, position, etc. can provide shelter, then he should say clearly that

he does not have he faith because the mind says that his protection lies in material

things rather than in religion. It is mÈyÈ, if he just says for the sake of saying that he

is in the protection of religion.

Man’s inner faculties awaken as he does meditation and as a result of that inner

knowledge man, actually, goes to the protection of religion. One cannot get this

understand­ ing without meditation. And without this understanding, man does not go

to the protection of religion. Ignorance remains as a result of the samskÈras of earlier

lives.

Resolution will automatically come as you meditate and from that resolution is

awakened the understanding and this latter induces man to seek religion’s shelter. The

deep effects of the samskÈras of previous births do not go without this understanding.

Kinds of Understanding

Understanding is of two kinds­the external understand­ ing and internal

understanding. The mediums through which external understanding is possible are

company of the holy, discourses given by the saintly, etc. But inner understanding is

awakened only through meditation. Both of them are necessary for man. The external

understanding alone cannot bring about the change.

A Jump from the World

This occurs when man gives up the idea of seeking shelter with material things

like wealth, status and family and instead seeks the shelter with religion, with Arihant,

Siddha, with sadhu and with religion. This occurs when he develops the inner

understanding and that is the only way, that is the only shelter and that is the only

basis of my life.

It has been said in the Uttradhayan SÊtra:

jarÈ mara‡ vege‡a× bujjh mȇȇa pȇi‡a×

dhammo dÏvo pa——hÈ ya, gaÏ sara‡muttama×

In this way, when man comes under the protection or shelter of religion, he

becomes a sÈdhak or one endeavouring for spiritual achievement. He is either an

ascetic or a householder. Real understanding follows meditation. Even if the feeling

for shelter does not change even after taking the a‡uvrat or minor vow or the

mahÈvrat or the major vow, man might be intellectually understanding the issue but

at heart he still feels inclined towards material things. Everybody knows that wealth

does not provide shelter but still man cannot give up his temptation for it.

The intellectual or external understanding can become an inspiration which helps

prepare ground for the inner understanding.

Why Shelter of Religion only

Only religion is the shelter. This, however, does not mean that wealth, status,

reputation, etc. are not of any use. You come under the shelter of religion, thereafter

religion will provide you what is necessary for you.

If you required wealth for your development, you would have it; if you required

status, you would get it. You will get what you need for your meditation and

development, and not what you wish for. In this way, shelter is of religion and

thereafter whatever is needed will be provided to you. It can be wealth or poverty,

honour or ignominy, anything. Whatever is required for meditation you will get.

Essence of Religion

If a man always continues to get good things of life, he can possibly go astray.

So it is necessary to give him a jolt. Religion is like the mother who takes every care

of the child. She does everything that is to the betterment of the child. However, if the

child is a wanderer, mother cannot do anything even if she wants to help the child; she

can help him only if the child gives up his wandering and comes under her shelter.

Everybody cannot understand this. Therefore, everybody cannot understand the

essence of religion because they ask for comfort and facilities and not the means. So

they observe religion so long as they continue to get comfort and facilities, otherwise

they give it up.

Acceptance with Resolution

What does one working for spiritual achievement feel­that he has now come to

the shelter of religion. Then he feels that whatever is happening in his life is for the

betterment and development of his life. Thus, he accepts this resolution knowingly. If

he accepts the situation willingly, meditation will follow; The sadhak himself has no

desire or expectation.

Test of the Feeling for Shelter

When a fellow comes under the shelter of religion, he has no apekshÈ or desire

of his own. The word apekshÈ means what is being received is not right. When you

are under the shelter of religion and you still feel that whatever you are getting is not

good, it means you have a sense of doubt in religion. However, when this is

shelter­seeking and dedication, it would mean whatever you get is right. Then you

have neither any expectations from nor any complaints against life. So long as you

have a complaint, a demand, you are not in the shelter, you have not completely

dedicated yourself to religion. It is an old human habit to repeatedly doubt or

repeatedly complain. To overcome such die­hard habits and such samskÈra is

meditation. Shelter is more appropriate than dedication. One can dedicate with love as

well. In fact, that is not dedication. Dedication (samarpa‡a) means offering (arpa‡a)

in the right way. Arpa‡ or offering means to give in completely, not with love but

with rational and right intelligence seeking shelter with arhant, sadhus or religion.

Religion opposes none.­neither wealth, nor status nor reputation. Whatever is

desired for your development will be given to you. It is just possible that as a rich man

reaches the shelter of religion, he gets poor. What will you say in relation to this? That

poverty might be essential for him. In this way, whatever is necessary for you will be

provided. That can be honour and this can also be dishonour­it can be anything.

CHAPTER X

OAÕK¶R : A REFLECTION

Om is a sound. There is a difference between a sound and a word. Sound is not

part of any language whereas words belong to language. For example, there is

difference between the sound of a bell and the word ’—an..—an’. In other words, the

sound and the word that gives expression to that sound are two different things.

Sound is also of two kinds­Èhat and anÈhat. A sound produced by the striking of

two material things is ahat and the sound that is produced of its own without the

striking of any two things is called anÈhat.

Om is an anÈhat sound. Just as there is difference between the sound of the bell

and the word ‘—an...—an’, similarly the sound of om and the word om are different.

Just as ‘—an...—an’ is the nearest word that represents the sound produced by the

bell, similarly om is the nearest possible word to give expression to the anÈhat sound

of om or oam.

The entire world is prone to extinction. There is nothing concrete in this world.

There is vibration of motion everywhere. And the sound of this vibration is oam.

None has created this sound; it is self­existent and all­pervasive.

In the sound of om, three kinds of sound is found-a + u + m. When ‘a’ and ‘u’

combine together, the sound ‘o’ is formed. Thus it becomes o + m = om.

Way to Pronounce O×kÈr

The word o×kÈr should be pronounced properly: it is obligatory. First, take a

deep breath in and then breathing out pronounce ‘o’ and pronounce ‘m’ at the end.

Divide the total length of your breath into three parts and spend two parts of it in the

pronunciation of ‘o’ and one part of it in the pronunciation of ‘m’. For example, if you

take say ten seconds breathing out, you should spend about seven seconds

pronouncing ‘o’ and the last three seconds be given to the pronunciation of ‘m’. There

should be a gap of minimum of 10 to 15 seconds in between the pronunciation of

‘om’ each time: you should remain completely silent during this gap. During that

silence, you will feel something within and you should continue having a feel of those

waves. In this way, you can pronounce ‘om’ thrice, five times, eleven times,

twenty­one times or one hundred and eight times. It is, however, obligatory to keep

silent for a while after each pronunciation of it.

The methodical pronunciation of om removes all remains of impurity within the

body. You feel a sort of balance between body and consciousness. It is always useful

to pronounce om thrice or five times before beginning meditation.

As we told you, the sound of om is self­existent and all­pervasive. It has been

happening continuously at every place, but we fail to listen to it because of the flow of

thoughts and feelings in mind. When the holy men through their meditation or silence

entered this peaceful within, they then felt this sound in that environs of peace. When

we pronounce om from outside, our body and consciousness tend to gradually identify

themselves with the intonation of the sound of om.

Breath is a universally common part. One may belong to any religious tradition

or denomination, everyone breathes and breathing in each case is the same. Just as

breathing is not related to any particular person or thing, similarly om is also a

universal sound. It is not related to any specific religious tradition or denomination.

Still every tradition and civilization has pronounced it in its own way. For example, in

the Hindu and Jain culture, it is pronounced as om and in the Christian and Muslim

civilizations, they call it amen.

¶chÈrya ¶tma RÈm, in his exegesis of the ¶chÈra×ga­ SÊtra (p. 276) throws

light on the form om of in the Jain tradition and says:

¶yatchakkhÊ logvipassÏ logassa ahobhÈga× ja‡ai uÇÇh bhÈga× jȇai, tiriya×

bhÈga× jÈ×ai

In the above quoted sentence is contained a clear definition of the sound of om.

A being who knows well the form of the three worlds and who has been completely

detached from the worldly desires and temptations, has already attained the

indescribable bliss can be called farsighted. And it is only such a being as can show

the way to liberation to people caught in the web of worldliness. In other words, one

who knows fully well about the three worlds is all­knowing and all­seeing. He can

also be expressed through the word of om.

In the SÊtra referred to, the opening letter of each of the three

words­ahobhÈga×, uÇÇhbhÈga× and tiriya× or madhya bhÈga×­used there has

been taken to form the word om-a + u + m. In other words, when ‘a’ is added to ‘u’

and then ‘m’, the word aum or om will come to us. Thus, it makes clear that the word

om is synonym of one who knows well the three worlds, is all­knowing and

all­seeing. In the yoga dar„an also, this meaning of the word has been emphasized.

Of course, no exegete or commentator of the given Sutra has ever imagined the

word om while explaining the above discussed words. However, so far my

understanding goes, the author who composed the Sutra might have had this very idea

in his mind while composing it. The basis of this assumption is that the order in which

these three words­adho, tiryak and udharv­have been placed do not indicate the three

worlds. Thus, one can imagine from this that the author of the Sutra manifesting the

word om through these terms might have remained dear to the author..

Apart from this, the Panch Parmesha—hÏ mantra of Jainism has also been

acknowledged as symbolic of om. ‘Arihant’ (lit. the killer (hant) of the enemies (ari)

like evil), the asharÏrÏ (embodied) siddhas and ‘ayariya’ (the enlightened ones) are

three Jain terms. If we add the three letters of the above given terms­a + a + aa­we

shall find aa with elongation If we add to this ‘aa’ to ‘u’ of Upadhyaya and ‘m’ of

Muni, it will mean aa + u + m. In this way, some of the ancient Jain scholars have

proved the presence of om in the NamokÈr Mantra of Jainism. This also makes clear

that the soul which has all the qualities like immense knowledge, philosophy, bliss

and prowess represented by the word om is all­pervasive and all­knowing.

This is of course a historical fact that the word om has been in use in the Vedic

tradition. It has not been used in the Jain scriptural literature in the form of meditation.

But in the Jain tradition the Jain Acharyas have accepted it. They have thus adapted

the word om in accordance with their own culture and thought. Since then the word

has gained a significant place in the Jain culture as well.

Method of O×kÈr Meditation

The method of o×kÈr meditation is²

First of all breathe in deeply; then speak out two words-‘o’ and ‘m’. First speak

‘o’ for some time and then say ‘m’.

The word ‘o’ should be spoken in two parts and ‘m’ in one part. If a person

cannot do anything else, he should else pronounce the word while breathing in and out

deeply.

How many times is the word om to be uttered?

One must utter at least five to ten times. Take the deep breath in and utter the

word. After this utterance, remain still for a while and concentrate on o×kÈr.

Method of O×kÈr Meditation

You can meditate while uttering the word o×kÈr or you can also do so after the

utterances.

It is easy to concentrate on o×kÈr in the ÈgiÈ charka. But it will be better if you

begin it from the heart charka. When you are able to concentrate your mind here, then

go to the former. And when you succeed in concentrating on that as well, then take

another step and try to concentrate on sahasra chakra. Concentration here means

installation there of the o×kÈr and then being with it. One should learn to get

completely immersed in doing so. He should forget everything else, instead he should

get immersed in that. This would mean concentration of mind.

O×kÈr NÈda Yoga

One may sit in any posture of one’s like. For example, one should sit in

giÈnÈsan or j¤ÈnÈsan. In this posture, one’s neck, hind part of the head and

backbone should be straight in one line. Arm should be bent a bit from the elbows.

Eyes should be lightly closed. There should be smile on your face.

Method­For the first few moments, calm down your breathing and bring it to its

normal state. Concentrate your mind and heart. Breathe in deeply and take it from

sahasra chakra to mÊlÈdhÈr chakra.

The utterance of the word om is to be divided into two parts. In both the parts,

cadence/modulation should remain the same. Your mind should be completely

concentrated on the sound. Now making your sound sweet, the first part comprising

‘o’ should be taken on the imaginary route from mÊlÈdhÈr chakra through su–umana

nÈ‚Ï and then the anÈht charka. As you reach there, close your lips and utter out ‘m’

and taking this sound till sahasra chakra give up the breath. Try to make this latter

utterance of ‘m’ as long as possible.

Benefit

This is nÈda (sound) yoga which calms down the system of intestines in human

body. This helps man concentrate and this also affects the su–umana nÈÇÏ. This Nad

yoga is of crucial help in awakening the ÈgiÈ chakra.

CHAPTER XI

WHAT IS S¶M¶YIK?

One day in the morning at an ambrosial hour I was engrossed in meditation in a

peaceful and lonely place. As I got free from my meditation, I began to ponder upon

the six essentials. In these essentials, sÈmÈyik is of primary importance. Among the

five conducts, the first one is on sÈmÈyik and among the twelve vows of a believing

Jain, sÈmÈyik is the ninth. From the perspective of vows, essentials and conduct,

sÈmÈyik is of special significance. But what is sÈmÈyik? When my reflection on this

question went deeper and deeper, I happened to remember in my mind this text of the

BhagavadÏsÊtra­aya samaie which implies that the soul is sÈmÈyik and sÈmÈyik is

the soul. Both soul and the sÈmÈyik are not two different entities, rather they are one.

For a believing Jain, it is imperative that he should practice sÈmÈyik for at least

two ghaÇÏs or few moments. Here we have several expectations from the sÈmÈyik.

Pure sÈmÈyik means living as per one’s nature, but then nature has numerous states.

The first and the best of all is to discard all worldly attractions and temptations and

live in a pure state of detachment. If one remains in this mental state for two ghaÇÏs,

one can sure attain the divine knowledge (kevalj¤Èna). Apart from this, nature the

state of indifference has so many states. All these differences and states are based on

the basis of worldly attractions and temptations. Meditation is also a practice of the

state of indifference. To explain this, we can say that it is like water that halts and

becomes quiet and calm. Human mind cannot concentrate and meditate on any object

for more than two gharis. In this way, the sÈmÈyik for a believing Jain is the samayik

for each moment. The SÈmÈyik done by a „rÈvaka is like practising sainthood. For

an ascetic, each moment is manogupti and if he has ever to practice essentials, he

should practice them carefully.

Duties of a ƒrÈvaka in SÈmÈyik

Self­study : He should make a self­study of an outline of Jain thought, Jain

TattvaprakÈsh, UpÈsakdashÈ×g SÊtra, Anta­ gaÇadsȇga J¤ÈtÈdharmakathÈ×ga

SÊtra, life­stories of great men from Jain history, etc.

Looking at the breath and meditation;

Utterance of OamkÈr and meditation;

Remembrance of God (recitation of NamokÈr Mantra);

Singing eulogies, prayers and devotional songs, etc.

With the help of self­study, meditation and manogupti be done. The meaning of

sÈmÈyiks is staying in a state of equilibrium or concentration with a feeling of

equilibrium. The most important of all these is meditation. Through this medium,

mind can be easily stabilized and its pace is checked. Sometimes we feel that our find

does not remain stable in meditation, but it gets absorbed in prayer or self­study. The

reason behind this is that during prayer and self­study, the states of mind continue to

change and as a result we do not become aware of mind’s wavering. On the other

hand, in meditation we have the support only of one state and consequently we

become instantly aware of mind’s wavering. In a way, recitation is also a good thing

and we call it padastha meditation, i.e., concentrating on any given text.

CHAPTER XII

WHO IS A MUNI?

Who is a muni? One need not remain silent in answer to this question and its

answer is also very simple and obvious­he who observes maun or silence is a muni.

There is nothing heterogeneous between maun and maunÏ. The field of maun is not

very wide. We can say that maun is of three kinds:

1. Silence of body;

2. Silence of speech; and

3. Silence of mind.

The silence of body and speech is observed by us. And the silence of the mind

happens of its own. And as the silence of mind takes place, the silence of body and

speech happens quite easily.

What is Silence of Body?

To sit still in one posture and let what is happening inside the body happen.

What is Silence of Speech?

Not to utter any words.

What is Silence of Mind?

1. Silence of mind happens when we are in a position of complete inertia. If the

ideas do come, let them come; if some ideas go, let them go.

2. You do not have to either stop an idea or go after another idea. Thus, you

should remove all the restriction on mind. Consequently, it becomes calm of its

own.

3. By controlling the mind, mind gets more nourishment.

4. To become effortless thus and let what happens happen. This state of SamÈdhi

and this state of inertia is called silence of mind.

You should not have any expectations from concentration. The silence of mind is

possible only if we do not have any expectations.

If you have any expectations, your mind will remain on the result. Thus, you

should sit still and calm with no expectations, especially with no expectations from

meditation. Let what happens happen.

The silence of body and mind helps in observing the silence of mind.

CHAPTER XIII

SELF­CONFESSION AND REPENTANCE

Violation (atikrama‡a, in PrÈkrit) of the prescribed code and self­confession and

repentance (pratikrama‡a, in Prakrit) are two important words. In the former PrÈkrit

word, ati is the prefix and in the latter prati is the prefix. In the formation of both

these words, kramu is the main verb (dhÈtu). When one violates or goes against the

prescribed rules or code, it is called atikrama‡a and as one shows genuine repentance

after a sort of self­introspection or self­confession to come back to the code, it is

pratikrama‡a.

Even when one is conscious in his meditation, one may sometimes stray into

passions or sentiments. To remain conscious of that straying daily in the morning and

evening is called the pratikrama‡a. One should look back at one’s own life as

objectively as if one were looking at someone else’s life. Vow in itself is being aware.

And pratikrama‡a or repentance/confession makes us conscious of that

consciousness. Daily practice of it both in the morning and evening is necessary

because passion dominates in the fifth ÈrÈ. Therefore, the practice of this

consciousness helps us remain aloof of passions. Repentance/confession is a cons­

cious attempt of reiterating our awareness. It implies looking back time and again at

our daily life in a conscious way.

All the different forms of violation of the vows taken by the Jain ascetics and the

laity are variously the result of delusion. It may be the delusion of body of or anything

else, the person concerned does not know as to what he is doing but still he goes on

doing something. That is why the deed done by such a person is called false, i.e. in the

form of unnatural condition. The person has his existence, but he is not in accordance

with his nature. It is just like a dream but in fact not a dream. Each deed done by an

deluded person is false because that is done in a state of delusion. Perhaps even the

doer does not know what he is doing. Since it happened in a state of delusion, it

cannot be called action, rather it is a reaction. Such reactions are called evil deeds.

This deed is done by one in the state of delusion which is born of either slumber or

intoxication and sometimes as a result of some physical ailment. There is also internal

delusion which is born of the deluding karma. Any deed done even in the state of

delusion or carelessness is also not an action, rather a reaction and that is why this is

also called false. False here implies that it has an existence, but actually it is not as it

appears to be. Thus, repentance/confession of all these violations is contained in these

four words:

tassa michchhÈmi dukkÇa×

me = my

tassa = that

dukkaÇ + a× = evil deed

michchhÈmi = be false

This is not a kind of direction, commitment or proclamation. This is a feeling.

When a person in his cons­ ciousness looks back at his daily routine, the deeds that

have happened as a result of carelessness, promptness, he finds them good as well as

bad. In the worldly vocabulary, this can be charity given or even theft committed.

However, whatever happened it happened in delusion. It happened as a result of

anger, pride, illusion or greed. When man looks at all this as an observer, all this

seems like a dream to him. That is what is called tassa michchhÈmi dukkaÇa×. This

implies that this deed has been done by me in a state of delusion and thus it is a bad

deed and such a deed can only be false. It in no way can be true. Only a good deed

can be true. And a good deed means that our natural merits become sound and

demerits become smeager. As we again look back at our daily routine vigilantly, the

experience we have after knowing and observing later on the deed done in delusion is

called tassa michchhÈmi dukkaÇa×.

Thus pratikrama‡a is a kind of self­introspection. It is not an activity, neither in

words nor in thought. However, our self­introspection will be as deep as our thoughts

will be calm. Obviously, peace of mind will allow us to see with the same proportion

of clarity, certainty and depth.

Tassa michchhÈmi dukkÇa×. It is not a commitment or a proclamation, rather it

is the result of pratikrama‡a or self­confession/repentance. It indicates whether

pratikrama‡a in fact took place or not. In other words, if it had really taken place, you

will realize that all the deeds or misdeeds that took place during your deluding state

would seem to be unreal to you.

There are different means for increasing this awareness such as company of the

holy, prayer, self­study, meditation, etc. All of these means help in our renaissance. A

saint will never rejoice in slander because slander of a person having delusion will

lead to nothing, rather the saint will endeavour for the removal of his delusion.

CHAPTER XIV

BASIS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Here one glimpses the idea that philanthropy is the basis of life. First, a person

works for the nourishment of his family which helps in the progress and development

of that family. Thus, all members of the family enjoy the comforts and pleasures of

life. And when a member falls ill, the remaining members of the family look after

him.

Live and let live is the essence of corporate life. Mutual cooperation can increase

pÈpa or evil and it can also cause increase of dharma or righteousness. Just as a

householder has his family, a saint has his ga‡a. The householders help one another in

the acquisition of wealth, property and means of comfort. They also cooperate with

one another in the enjoyment of physical comforts and enjoyments. The saints try to

increase restraint, meditation and dharma or righteous­ ness and they cooperate with

one another for the observance of their disciplined and austere life­style.

This sÊtra is an indicator of love and friendship. Generally speaking, this

proclaims that all beings are somehow or the other related to one another. They are

obliged to one another. In this way this can also be called a social sÊtra.

This sÊtra becomes metaphysically significant only when it gets transformed into

the field of religion or meditation. It will give out the same kind of meaning as we

shall try to understand.

Pilgrimage Centre

The pilgrimage of the Lord is also based on mutual cooperation. The idea that

altruism is the basis of life combines the pilgrimage. The ascetics cooperate with the

householders and vice­versa. Still they are not dependent on each other. They seek

each other’s cooperation, but do not depend on each other.

Who is the Mothre of Pain?

When does a man become dependent? One becomes dependent on the other

when one desires or expects something from the other, the desire that the other person

will cooperate with me and the expectation that he will cooperate with me. However,

this feeling that if cooperation comes it is good but if it does not come, it is all the

same. If the inner self is unbiased, hope will be there, and if hope is there,

disappointment is bound to be there. Then all pains and pleasures, joys and sorrows

are born. Thus, a sadhu must not have any expectation of anybody. Expectation is the

mother of pain and it causes furtherance of the world.

Causes of Desire for Pleasure

Why does a man have any expectation? He does so because he is under delusion

that he can achieve something from someone or that someone can give me some joy

or comfort. He has not yet been able to understand that he himself is effulgent light of

bliss­incarnate. Nobody can give me either pain or pleasure. So long as we do not

become aware of the bliss inside, we keep on expecting joy and pleasure from outside.

Why Expectation?

Desire or expectation is born of spiritual ignorance. Desire/expectation is an

embodiment of ignorance; it is a delusion. Man is accustomed to think that if

hope/expectation is there, protection will also be there. However, in the end this

proves to be an illusion.

What is Liberation?

Then should we have no expectation for liberation as well? This is an unnatural

question because expectation or desire is a feeling that originates from cessation from

inflows whereas desire/expectation is a feeling born of karma and indicates the

wantonness of mind. Liberation is also an indicator of the stability of mind. We came

across a little earlier a word duga¤chha‡dye which means natural getting rid of sins.

In this way, the natural efforts to know the true nature of soul, detachment from

illusion, steadiness in yoga are called wish to get emancipation or liberation.

Just as a pig has the natural tendency to eat excreta, similarly the body has

natural tendency for lust in the presence of knowledge and conduct deluding karma.

Apart from this, after cessation of the deluding karma and having the knowledge of

the soul, all the habits of sins are eliminated and natural pleasure of the soul takes

place.

CHAPTER XV

THE REAL STRENGTH

Who are we and what is our real strength? A clear understanding of it is not only

important but obligatory for us. When man does not know this, he in a state of

ignorance considers himself different from what he actually is. This misunderstanding

caused by his ignorance becomes the primary cause of his pain and suffering. That is

why man thinks that the strength of his caste, wealth, friends, etc. is his real strength.

He forgets that this is not his real strength. In fact, the spiritual strength of man is his

real strength. However, in delusion he becomes responsible for many evil deeds with

a view to further empower those external strengths. In the process, he happens to

commit some ignoble deeds which actually weaken his spiritual strength. We know

man remains worried and even fearful after adding much to his caste, friend, physical

and wealth strength. He is worried and afraid of losing the strength he has acquired.

This fear of his is indicative of the fact that the strength he has acquired is not his real

strength.

The real strength brings along fearlessness. The more is the spiritual strength, the

more fearless is the man. All other strengths add to the fear, only spiritual strength

overcomes it. The more fearful a man is, the more protection he will require. Fear

increases in the same proportion in which our external strength increases. He also

feels the need of security to fend against that fear. In this way, the more externally

strong a man is, the more fearful he is and he will require more security. Lord

MahÈvÏra meditated for the fearlessness and spiritual strength. Had he so desired, he

might have sought someone’s support, but he did not seek either support or security

from anyone. He knew well that spiritual strength does not increase with the increase

in external strength, and spiritual strength does not grow with the help coming from

others, and without spiritual strength, knowledge does not grow. Therefore, he gave

up all supports, and he became dependent on his spiritual strength or let us say he

became self­dependent. It is said that an ascetic („rma‡ic) is self­dependent. He does

not stand on the strength of anybody else, on the strength of some other person, thing

or situation, rather he stands on his own strength. He who stands on the strength of

others is constantly trying to please the others. To this end, he even goes to the extent

of committing various evil deeds . Truth, non­violence and meditation is the only way

for adding to the spiritual strength. The way to God is the way taken by the brave and

the brave is one who depends on his own spiritual strength. Majority of the people

live under the delusion that their strength will increase with the increase in their

external strength. Sometimes some saints also do the same feeling that their strength

will increase with the increase of their following among the laity. This is ignorance.

The reality is that increasing the external strength and by remaining dependent

on it does not add to the spiritual strength, rather it weakens it. If you empower your

spiritual strength, all other kinds of strength will increase automati­ cally. Thus, a true

saint is he who leaving aside the support of the external strength remains firm on his

dependence on spiritual strength. So, we should all try to empower our spiritual

strength.

Your spiritual strength will increase in the same proportion in which you have

the firmness of mind and meditation. And it is with the spiritual strength that the

strength of society, of followers, etc. will go with you. Without spiritual strength, no

other strength remains constant with you.

ƒrama‡a­SrÈvaka Relationship

The relationship of an ascetic („rama‡a) with the laity („rÈvaka) is limited to

giving discourses, teaching religion and the value of becoming pure vegetarian in diet

and taking clothes in charity, etc. Our relationship with the laity is limited to giving

religious discourses for religious renaissance wherever possible; it is limited to search

out for the sake of our religious rituals pure (vegetarian) food in charity wherever we

can find. This is the extreme limit to our relationship with the laity. If we have more

intimate and closer relationship, the influence of company is bound to occur on you.

CHAPTER XVI

RESTRAINT AND NON­RESTRAINT

The more we shall be attracted to physical senses, the more we shall be attracted

towards the means (such as wealth, woman, reputation, etc.) for the fulfillment of

those desires of senses. It is because of the attraction towards those means that man

cons­ tantly endeavours towards them, tries to acquire them. This endeavour is

indiscipline, antithetical to restraint and austere life.

What is discipline or restraint? The endeavour made to overcome or negate the

senses is called discipline or restraint: it is austere life. On the contrary, the

endeavours made to acquire those means and to own them is called non­restraint.

The basic issue here relates to mind. If mind is attached or is attracted to the

body, then it is or non­restraint even while observing all the other rules and

regulations. In that case, the observance of rules and regulations is a mere sham

because a mind attracted towards body is always chasing the fulfillment of senses.

Thus, outwardly observing the rules and regulations and thus observing restraint, all

internal efforts of such a man are for the fulfillment of desires of senses. Such a man

is not restrained, not austere.

Who is a Pa‡Çit?

He who knows the present ksha‡ or moment and recognizes it is the pa‡Çit. The

word ksha‡ means the proper opportunity that came our way for religious meditation.

Since here it has been used in the field of religion, therefore it implies the proper

opportunity for religious meditation. At one place Lord Mahavira asks Gautama,

šsamayaŠ goyam mÈ pamÈyae›, i.e. O Gautama, do not be careless for a moment

because the TÏratha×kar is now himself present. After the TÏratha×kar is gone from

this world, it will become difficult to recognize true religion. Therefore, so long as

you have the proper opportunity, meditate, yet remain vigilant.

Pa‡Çit means the one who has pȇÇÈ inherent in him. The word pȇÇÈ again

means praj¤È, i.e. rational knowledge. He who has this is a pa‡Çit. Addressing such a

pa‡Çit, it has been said that you know your moment through your pȇÇÈ (pa‡Çit).

For the accomplishment of any work, it is necessary that matter, region (space),

time and feeling all five should be uniformally appropriate. It is only then that

something is accomplished. The meaning of appropriate time is time for religious

meditation; nature means the sprouting of the earlier karma; and intention. In other

words, matter, space, time and feeling all four are obligatory, are appropriate for

religious meditation, only a special and useful effort by man is required. Many people

interpret it in another way. Neither remember the past nor imagine the future, but

remain firm in the present. This sutra could also mean that pa‡Çit is he who does not

get lost in the memories of the past or in the fancies of the future, but meditates in the

present. To forget the past does not mean that you should also forget observing

self­confession and repentance. The latter is very important. The point is that such a

pandit does not feel sad at the memories of the past. In other words, he does not been

happy or sad about either the past or the future. It is also necessary to look far into the

future and be on the look out for an opportunity. The meaning inherent here is that

merely feeling sad or disappointed looking at some events in he past is a futile

exercise. Therefore, instead of getting involved in such an exercise, one should make

proper use of and meditate in the present moment which is with him.

Dynamism in Meditation

Arai au——e se mehÈvÏ kha‡aŠsi mukke.

Renunciation of home and family is necessary to bring about dynamism in

meditation. How is the family and home made? It is made of relations. An ascetic

must not have relations with anybody. Whenever he gets involved in relations, he

begins to waiver in meditation.

As man gradually furthers in meditation, people begin to surround him. Most of

the people come because of their selfish motives and gradually they begin to become

obstacles in the way to meditation. Therefore, the best way to meditation is loneliness

or aloofness. Wherever you find the proper matter, space and time, you should go on

doing meditation. Do not get deeply involved in any situation or individual. Give your

blessings to all and go on with your work. Wherever and whenever there is an

attraction towards things of the senses, that is the time and place for extending

invitation to pain and obstacles.

CHAPTRE XVII

FAST TO ERADICATE

BODY­ATTRACTION

What is the root cause of the attraction for the body? It is diet. That is why stress

has been laid on fasting. Man can tolerate anything except hunger. You may give one

however beautiful means of comfort, clothes, house, etc., but nothing appeals to mind

unless and until one has taken his food. A hungry man will remain restless. In this

way, the root cause of the attraction for body is food/diet. Man considers the hunger

of body as his own. Fasting has been given so much of importance because through its

medium you can see that hunger belongs to body, not to you. In a way, fasting is a test

of your attraction for body.

To remain in a state of enforced hunger is a different question. Someone is

capable of buying and eating food but still he remains hungry, it is quite a different

thing. To merely remain hungry is not everything. Eradication of the attraction for

body is also necessary. And this happens only when you make a self­analysis along

with keeping fast. That is why at many places, eating of one thing once a day has been

given more importance than fasting because these and such other things are very

helpful in eradicating the attachment for body. But it is also necessary to see as to how

to go about fasting. During fasting you have to see whether the hunger is felt by you

or by your body. Such an analysis is possible only through the discipline and control

of mind. Therefore, along with fasting, practice of mind­control and body­control is

also necessary. To check the mind, it is necessary to take your self to the Self, i.e.

self­realization. For example, we discipline and control mind through concentration

and meditation. Then one’s mind gets absorbed in self. And in that observation thus,

attachment with body is broken as we make self­analysis during fasting. Here,

self­analysis is more important than giving up food. Mere giving up of food is not

enough, but it must be accompanied by practice of meditation and relaxation.

Disciplining and controlling mind implies the practice of meditation and

relaxation of body. Thus meditating, one will automatically feel the breaking off of

attachment with body. Fasting makes control over mind firmer. But no ritual, no effort

can bear fruition without the practice of self­ controlling, may it be fasting, devotion,

prayer, worship or remembrance of Divine Name. Come what may, along with this,

practice of self­controlling is necessary.

The term samiti means actions performed in the right manner. Right manners

means by protecting the living beings consciously and rationally. The savants have

divided them into five sothat everybody can comprehend them fully. So by doing

deeds in the right manner is called samiti.

Can a householder also try to control physical and mental actions? Yes, a

householder can do so. It is good to control and discipline mind as much as possible,

and whatever he does along with this should be done in a rational way.

The word gupti means control over mind, word and body. The more we are able

to control our mind, word and body, the more disciplined and restrained our life will

be: all else is indiscipline and unrestraint. Gupti is a kind of negation.

—hȇe‡a× mo‡e‡a× jha‡e‡a×

The basis or root of discipline is inner perspective. Of course, external ethic is

also important. If the inner perspective is of acquiring comfort for the body, then all

external ethic is indiscipline and of no use. If the inner perspective is of going beyond

body, then this is in keeping with discipline. If this perspective is to go beyond body,

then man while still living amidst all comforts thinks of ways and means of getting

himself liberated of all these comforts. Thus, the right perspective implies inclination

towards restraint. In fact, such an interest is aroused with the acquisition of right faith

or samyak dar„an. The term samyak dar„an in Jain metaphysics implies seeking

protection with and having faith in the arihant, ascetics and religion. As one seeks

shelter with them, there takes place a change in his inner perspective. Here attachment

with body includes attachment with money, position, reputation, family and such

other things. Thus, he who has attraction for or attachment with position and

reputation is indiscipli­ ned and unrestrained. Attraction for position and status is also

a form of attachment with body. He who is fully inclined towards or attached with

body, his implicit and explicit efforts will be towards the means of fulfillment of

bodily requirements and comforts.

Comfort of body does not merely mean providing for its food and sexual needs.

Wealth, position, reputation, family and such things are also related with this.

Whenever somebody comes to search you out with your name on his lips, whom will

he find out? Of course, he will find out your body because the name, etc. have been

given to your body. In this way, the desire to acquire position or status has actually

been considered the basis of indiscipline. Such a person will ever be on the look out as

to how his status or honour increases in society. That is why an ascetic has been

advised to give up all kinds of desires.

CHAPTER XVIII

VOWS FOR LAYMEN

AND ASCETICS

The a‡uvrat (a‡u = small; vrat = vows; in Jain tradition they are vows for

laymen) and mahÈvrat (mahÈ­great; vows = vrat; in Jain tradition they are vows for

ascetics) repeatedly remind us of our nature because all the five mahÈvrat constitute

our nature. It is like when we remember someone, our mind instantly goes to him. As

we remember a particular place or an event, our mind instantly goes to that place or to

that event. Likewise these five great vows constitute our nature. As we time and again

become aware of these, we each time return to our nature.

What is Vrat?

First of all, it must be understood that vrat is not a compulsion. Observing vrat is

not like following the rules and regulations prescribed by society or nation. It is also

not a tradition which we must follow blindfolded. It is also not something

self­imposed on our own selves. It is also not a check on mind. Then what is it?

The word vrat implies awareness. It is a kind of practice of remaining in a state

of awareness and consciousness each moment, all the time. This is the central point of

all vrats, and it is this feeling which we have expressed in different ways and forms.

The first vrat or vow is ahimsÈ or non­ violence. Jain scriptural literature

says­Ètmavrat sarvbhÊ­ teshu, i.e. all contain the form like mine. That is not someone

different, but that is my form. The sense of friendship or fraternity that is born of such

realization is my nature. Thus, the observance of the vow of ahimsÈ means remaining

aware of the violence being committed in our life in the form of mind, word and body.

It implies being conscious or aware about that and to look at that with the sense of

knower and observer only. In the light of awareness, violence will automatically get

weak and thus become harmless. Our nature is non­violence, and it will come out of

its own. For example, ahimsÈ also means a realization of non­differentiation. It would

mean all are like me, and that I am within all. On the contrary, himsa or violence

means feeling of differentiation. He is different from me. In this way, the vow of

ahimsÈ would mean to remain awake or aware of violence being committed all the

time, every moment in our life through thought, word and deed. These external vows

and commitments repeatedly make us aware of our nature. To remain idle and in

attachment has become our second nature since generations. Thus, it is necessary to

wake us up time and again, and this job is done for us by these vows and

commitments. For example, a thought just occurred to a man or someone by the way

asked him that he had to take care of that garden. That fellow will take care of the

garden, but even if he becomes negligent and does not care about it, it is all right with

him because taking care of the garden is not his own idea, his commitment. It is just

possible that one day he gets more attached/involved in something else and in that

state of unawareness he forgets about the garden. However, if that fellow takes a vow

or makes a commitment, he will try to ever remain awake to take good care of the

garden. Even if at some given moment he becomes lethargic or becomes attached to

something else, his commitment will make him aware of his duty.

Memory of commitment makes man conscious again. Thus, these external

commitments help us remain aware and also make this awareness constant and

continuous. It is a sort of endeavour for constant meditation.

What is important here is awareness and the sense of witnessing. Whenever we,

under the influence of our old karmas, are attracted towards violence, we must not

look at our karmas with hatred and repulsion. Are hatred and enmity­may they be

towards one’s own self or towards others-not a form of violence?

If we adopt an attitude of violence towards violence, it adds to violence. Thus,

we must not adopt a feeling of hatred or enmity towards it, rather we should, without

taking any decision with our mind, just remain awake. We have to become knowers.

This is also what we call forgiveness. Forgiveness means getting free from our old

karmas and coming back to nature. Forgiveness is not a theoretical give and take. It is

the natural self consequence of being careful not to show anger, enmity and violence.

The same is true of truth. Truth means accepting what is and as it is. In simple

words, my utterance are in confor­ mity with my experience. To maintain uniformity

among mind, speech and action is truth. This is also called yathÈkh­ yÈta. This is our

nature, but generally man strays away from his nature. Anger, fear, laughter, sensuous

pleasure and wonder all are the different effects of untruth. As and when man enters

truth, he becomes aware of all these.

The same can be said about usurpation, i.e. the desire to possess another’s

possession without the latter’s consent or permission. Brahmcharya or celibacy is the

fourth vow: here brahm means pure consciousness. The attraction through love and

lust for something beyond this pure consciousness is an antonymn of brahmcharya.

Giving up sensuous attraction and loving acceptance of pure consciousness is

brahmcharya.

Everything has its own identity. Try to assert your own right over that identity, to

assert your own ownership of that identity, to consider that thing your own is an

untrue feeling and is called parigrahi. In this way, the root of our all non­vows is our

attachment, falsehood and attraction. In simple words, we can call it unconsciousness

or unawareness. On the other hand, the root of all vows is awareness, witnessing and

knowledge. Five great vows and five small vows are the name of our awareness

towards these five after­effects. And, in these five consequences are inherent all the

trends and effects, both subtle and gross, external and internal, of entire life.

CHAPTER XIX

FAST AND DIET

Fast, called vrat in Hindi, is the other name of one’s constant awareness of one’s

commitment. Constant cons­ ciousness, awareness without any lethargic lapse. In

case, there is a moment of lethargy, one must remain fully conscious of it as well. To

maintain such an awareness, the body requires food which does not produce

excitement, evil thoughts, unequanimity and dullness.

1. Excitement: It means flow of impulses and passions, a great tumult or agitation

in the body, fast pace of thoughts in mind. One must not take that kind of diet

which produces this sort of excitement.

2. Evil thoughts: The kind of food which produces evil thoughts in body just as

taking together a milk product with pulses. One can take mÊ×gi or mÊ×g but

not the horse bean.

3. Unequanimity: Every person has his own nature. Each one must be mindful of

his nature. It is according to this nature that body and mind are bound. Thus, if

the diet is taken in accordance with the nature, it absorbs in the body and mind

quite easily. If food is taken contrary to the nature, unequanimity will in

consequence will be produced.

4. Dullness/Laziness. The diet which produces lethargy or laziness, which adds to

the weight of body and mind and which makes concentration difficult. Such a

diet must be avoided.

Apart from this all, the diet which provides truth to body, which is devoid of all

evil thoughts and which is in keeping with the nature and which ever provides

inspiration to body and mind should always be taken. These are some common

thoughts about diet.

CHAPTER XX

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT MEDITATION

[Process­The way to meditation is Guru­oriented. In the three­day meditation

camp complete training is given, in collective form. Thus, all those desirous of

attending are welcome to take part in the camp.]

Duration of Meditation

For each novitiate, it is necessary that he meditates at least twice daily. Each

sitting should be of one hour. In the beginning, for five minutes utter the word om

with deep breathing. For the following fifty minutes, he should concen­ trate and

meditate . The last five minutes should be given to pious friendship. In this way,

meditation should be done twice daily, both in the morning and in the evening.

Question: If one fails to meditate twice, can one sitting do? If one fails to

meditate for one hour in one sitting, can a duration of less than one hour do?

Answer: As you are told, you must meditate twice daily. If you still fail to

develop this much dedication and commitment for meditation or if you find it difficult

to make time for meditating twice, then in rare circumstances you must meditate at

least once daily or for as much time as you can possibly devote to it. As they say, it is

always better to do something than doing nothing.

When to Meditate?

There is no set or fixed time for meditation. Whenever you have the time and

what time suits your daily routine is good for meditation. Still it will be far better, if a

time is fixed for this purpose. If it is the same time daily, it helps in concentrating.

However, if you are unable to meditate daily at a fixed time, it is good to meditate any

time that suits your convenience.

Whether meditation should be done before taking food or after two­three hours

of taking food. The time before sunrise and after sunset is the best for this.

Place for Meditation

Meditation can be done at any place, but it will be better if it is a lonely place,

devoid of all kinds of insects, is clean and airy , and is free from any kind of obstacles.

This helps one in concentrating. If you sit at one fixed place daily for meditation, it is

still better. If you fail to find a lonely place for meditation, it is still possible to

meditate.

Why to Meditate?

We meditate because we have to. If you have any expectations in mind during

meditation, you will not be able to concentrate. Mind will remain stuck in that

expectation. For example, I have to meditate because I need peace of mind. In that

case, your mi nd will ever be waiting for peace and you will not be able to

concentrate. Thus, we should meditate hoping for no expectations or results.

Meditation and Diet

As we had told you certain specific things about diet during the camp and you

had also experience that kind of diet, you should now, when you are back at home, try

to avoid rÈjsik and tÈmsik food and instead go in for satvik food. this will help you in

your meditation. During the camp we had also done some yogic exercises. Now as

you go home, you must not, at least for a week, take peppers, fried food , sweets or

that kind of rich diet. If you do not abide by this, it might have an adverse effect on

your health. It will be especially useful for your health if after that you remain on fast

at least once in a week. In case you fail to remain on fast for a day, then you should at

least eat very simple food only once . If you could remain silent and aloof for that day,

it will be very useful.

Collective Meditation

Whenever you have the time, you must involve yourself in collective meditation.

In the collective meditation, an individual gets the moral support and encouragement

from other participants. Inspiration and determination to meditate increases. If there

are more than one persons in a family wanting to meditate and they all daily sit

together for meditation at one time and if it is not possible daily then at least once a

week they should sit together to meditate, this will increase the peace and happiness in

the family and bring added concentration in meditation. Mutual problems get easily

resolved. Try your best to arrange for a three­day or two­and­a­half day meditation

camp like this every six months.

Meditation and Service

There are two aspects of life. One is personal meditation and the second is

impersonal, that is service unto others. Both the aspects enjoy equal importance. As

Pt. Ravi Shankar has said, šMeditation increases the feeling of love which provides

encouragement and inspiration for service. Through service one earns pu‡ya which

adds to the depth of meditation.› Therefore, as and when it is possible, you must come

to render service in such meditation camps. To persuade and encourage someone to

come and attend such a camp is also a kind of service. As we provide food in charity

to someone, it fills the belly of someone; as we give clothes in charity to someone, it

resolves the clothing problem for a few days of someone. The alms of food and

clothes is something good, but the best and the noblest is the alms of dharma because

this shows him the way to absolve himself of all of his pain and suffering. Thus, every

camper here must take the credit of persuading others for such camps and thus earn

the highest merit. In this way, you can also arrange such a camp in your area. If you

think you cannot arrange independently a meditation camp, then you can at least help

in the arrangement of such camps.

It has been through the cooperation and inspiration of such numerous persons

who came for the meditation camps that the Sri Sarswati Vidya Kendra was

established in the holy city of Nasik. There is a dire need of such centres throughout

India. You all should dedicate yourselves with your body, mind and wealth for the

establishment of such centres.

Meditation for Self

Here we have experienced and practiced omkÈr, yogÈsanas, yogic practices,

meditation and pious friendship. As you go back home from this camp, you should

practice on these as you have been directed during the camp. Never practice the

samkhya prakshalan on your own. This can prove harmful.

You have learnt all these practices for yourself. Never try to teach any of these to

someone else as this will prove harmful to both of you. We wish you to preach this

knowledge, but for this purpose it is necessary that you take proper training, show

proper commitment and give enough time.

Meditation and Yogic Postures

Any yogÈsanas should be done either before taking food or three or

three­and­a­half hours after taking food. During these practices, you should have

loose clothes and you should have cushioned seat.

How to do yogÈsanas?

1. slowly and determinedly;

2. consciously;

3. with a feeling of piety;

It is good if you are able to do the yogÈsanas daily. Otherwise, you must do so at

least twice or thrice a week. It is useful to do yogÈsanas before meditation, but it is

not a fixed rule. One can also do yogÈsanas after the meditation.

After you go home from this camp and you have any physical or mental problem

or if you have any kind of problem in regard to meditation or yoga, you should

consult only your guide. Never try to find a solution from a book. Also, if you try to

find a solution to you problem through the help of some other fellow camper, the

chances are that the problem will get complicated instead of getting solved. Therefore,

it is always best to get in touch with your guide. In case it is not possible to meet the

guide, you can also get in touch with him through correspondence.

CHAPTER XXI

SOME ALLIED CAMPS

Along with the meditation camps, camps for self­study (self­study camps) and

camps for children’s training are the dire need of modern times; in fact, modern world

expects this of us. Therefore, we arrange such camps also off and on. In fact, both the

self-study camp and the children’s training camp are allied with the meditation camps.

Through the medium of these camps, one becomes eligible to go for the meditation

camp.

Self­study Camp

This is the first allied camp of the Meditation Camp. Lord Mahavira has shown

us the ideal of way of self-study and meditation for man’s spiritual development.

Self­study here is not limited to the study of scriptures alone, rather it implies that

along with the study of the sayings of the tÏratha×karas as they are found included in

various Ègams, we should also experience it through internal practice and acquire

right knowledge in this behalf. In other words, it implies the study of self through the

sayings included in the scriptural literature and the right knowledge of what is

included in the scriptures comprising the five parts of it, i.e. vÈcana, etc. The right

study of soul is also a kind of self­study.

Format of Self­study Camp

1. Duration: A self­study camp is of ten days and it involves three hours daily at

any time of the day.

2. Every novitiate wanting to attend the camp is required to come daily for this

purpose.

3. A minimum of fifty people must attend the camp for it to be viable.

Subject

Pronunciation of the Namokar mantra, form and understan­ ding of the Maha

mantra;

Form and understanding of prayer/eulogy;

Form of religion and its understanding;

Form of the religion of an ascetic and its understanding;

The nine tatvas and their understanding;

Concept of Samayak and Pratikraman and their understanding;

Concept of internal and external austerities and their understanding;

The twelve vows and their understanding;

Practical form of meditation; and

Practice, Inspiration and Criticism.

The above­mentioned topics are especially taught in these camps.

Children’s Education Camps

The child­life should develop into a beautiful, compe­ tent and strong

personality. Such a camp is aimed at providing an atmosphere which is conducive for

the above development. During this camp, the children are made to practice especially

the following things. Besides they are so taught about these things that in future these

become an integral part of their life.

1. Prayer: Concept and significance

2. YogÈsanas: Concept, practice and significance

3. PrȇÈyÈma: Concept, practice and importance

4. Right diet: Form and importance

5. Meditation: Form, Practice and Importance

6. Understanding of the responsibility towards parents, teacher, family, society,

nation and the world, under­ standing of relations with them and understanding

of right behaviour with them.

7. Oratory: Practice and Experiment

8. Importance of nature and understanding of its beauty

9. Knowledge of the theory to make life more organized.

Age Factor

From 7 years to 13 years.

Duration: Three hours daily for the first eight days and the entire day, with

residence, during the last two days.

Place

The hall should be peaceful and airy; there should be arrangements/space for

lodging during the last two days; and arrangements for food.

CHAPTER XXII

EXPERIENCES OF THE CAMPERS

Every human being is restless either in body or in mind. Respected ¶chÈrya Shiv

MunijÏ has found a resolution of this problem through the medium of this meditation.

In this camp, I could understand the form of meditation and the practical methodology

of actionlessness. Listening to the form of prȇa, I could understand further the very

concept of soul. For the glory and development of the ƒrama‡ Sa×gh, this attempt of

the ¶chÈrya will always be written in golden letters. Our ¶chÈrya tradition began with

¶tmÈ RÈm and going on through Anand Muni and Devendra Muni has now reached

us presently in the person of Shiv Muni. The present ¶chÈrya is the very embodiment

of ƒiva and will sure ameliorate our condition. With auspicious sense I heartily thank

Sri Sirish Muni, who actively assisted him in this meditation camp. ²Dr Rajendra

Muni

Journey to Non­Word

This was the first opportunity for me to meditate as per the original practice of

meditation of Lord Mahavira. As a result of this meditation camp, several of my

inflows got decreased and I found the way to self­realization. As I went deeper and

deeper inside, the feeling of joy went on increasing. In fact, I do not have the words to

express this experience that was beyond imagination. This was a journey to the

non­word.

²Sri Tarik Rishi Maharaj

Let it go on and on

I had been listening of the meditation camp for the last several years. But this

was my first opportunity to be a part of this camp. This helped me concentrate. This

provided so much peace to my mind and body as I had never experienced before. It

was my heart­felt wish that this camp goes on and on for ever.

²Sri Dinesh Muni Maharaj

Joy Filled the Heart

This camp proved to be of great use to me. The physical activities here made me

feel very light. I had pain in my heel for the last ten years, and this pain was now gone

completely. The meditation filled the heart with bliss. For the first time the practical

knowledge of separation between body and soul dawned on me. Mind felt fully at

peace.

²Sri Naresh Muni Maharaj

Beyond Expression

The meditation camp made me feel endless bliss which it is not possible for me

to put in words.

²Sri Surendra Muni

Essence of Meditation

Bliss giving moment appeared as a palyopam. In the posture of KÈyotsarga I felt

some pain in sitting with no attachment to the body on the very first day of

meditation. To concentrate your attention on breathing was irksome. During the

student life I had read that human mind is playful and fickle, but clearly experienced

the same during this camp. However, Sri Sirish Muni, who is an embodiment of

affection and who lectured on meditation, gave us the right method to make body and

mind stable. Soon mind was full of thoughtlessness. With a mysterious sound

surrounding me I felt the presence of a ring­shaped protective chakra. The discourse

given by the Acharya set at rest all the questions relating to meditation. I feel that I

have achieved the essence of meditation. ²Sri Suyogya Rishi

Golden Moments of Life

I find myself incapable of putting into words the feelings I experienced during

useful camp. Will a deaf man be able to explain the taste of sugar­candy if we ask him

for it after putting a piece of it in his mouth? I find myself in a similar situation. The

feeling of friendliness that I experienced was better than even what I might have felt

on the day forgiveness. These three days were the golden period of my life. I cannot

say anything more than this.

²Sri Manibhadra Muni ji

Invaluable Achievements

During these three days of the camp, I achieved five invaluable things:

(i) physical stability; (ii) mental stability; (iii) disease­ less body; (iv) tensionless

mind; (v) priceless discourses given by the Acharya.

I wish I could spend each remaining moment of my life in the company of the

Acharya and continue diving deep in the depths of meditation. ²Sri Rupendra

Muni

Unique Experience

This meditation camp proved to be very useful for the purification of body and

mind. Purity of diet affected our body and mind. One thing that I realized was that

taste lies not in food but in the hunger you feel. I could also understand the

significance of the discipline of meditation for the mental peace and purification. The

problems of acidity and backache also subsided. I understood the importance of the

meditation of Lord Mahavira. I had this feeling only when I developed loving attitude

towards all. I also realized that ‘peace is my nature’. During the friendly atmosphere I

felt a strange sensation running through my body. Tears of bliss flowed down my

eyes. My self­confidence which had for some reason been shattered was once again

got stabilized. If I put in straightforward language I came here against my wishes, but

now I go back home against my wishes. From this one could imagine how attractive

and attracting this camp is.

²Mahasati Sadhvi Sri Archna Kunwar ‘Mira’

Nectar of Panacea

After attending the meditation camp I realized that meditation is necessary not

only for physical and mental purification but it is also a nectar which works as

panacea for all diseases of body. My blood pressure remained normal without any

medicine. I could also feel a sound sleep. I am healthy and I feel satisfied.

²Mahasati Shiva ji (a 70­year­old lady)

On the first day of the camp, I was wondering why have I come here, but the

very next day I got so engrossed that I began wondering why was the camp limited

only to three days. It would have been much better had it been of ten days duration. I

achieved the art of disciplining mind (thought), word and deed. All evil and lethargy

was gone. Consciousness of non­evil grew. The yogÈsanas were quite useful to the

body. I used to have a lot of pain in the waist early in the morning. During the days of

the camp, it was quite negligible. I achieved the art of making every moment of life

relevant and useful. I did not feel like going away from the camp. Now my confidence

had become stronger that we also could meditate and concentrate. The credit for all

these experiences and achievements goes to my spiritual preceptor, the Acharya,

because it was due to his inspiration that I could attend the camp.

²Mahasati Aradhana Kunwar ji

This meditation and meditation camp is the best way for bringing about

orderliness of time, importance of meditation and increasing concentration. During

the camp I felt that we were approaching Lord Mahavira and his meditation. I could

feel within the constant flow of meditation and physical purity. I came to know of the

primordial form of soul and experienced the art of living life. ²Mahasati

Sri Kanchan Kunwar

I felt mental peace, subdued evils and the unity of within and without. I could

experience the unique experience of meditation through the discourses of the

Acharya. I cannot explain this experience in words. Some of my physical ailments

were also partly cured. ²Mahasati Ratanjyoti

We were wandering out for the achievement of comfort, peace, bliss and health.

The treasure of this immense and unbreakable power is inherent within us. During this

camp I got the key to that treasure.

²Mahasati Sri Sanyamprabha

The ¶chÈrya Deserves TÏratha×kar Gotra

I got the method and manner of how to live life. The feelings of wrath, pride,

mÈyÈ and greed got considerably subdued, and I hope they will get further subdued. I

had a feeling of sending my entire family to attend the meditation camp. At the same

time I also felt that this knowledge, comfort and joy should reach all mankind. With

the help of pranayama and pure diet automatically eradicate numerous physical

ailments. I feel a special kind of agility and my mind is at peace. Attachment towards

worldly things and allurements has lessened. My mind is overjoyed at the friendly

environment created by the Acharya. The feelings of jealousy and fun and frolic have

died down. In their place, the feeling of love originated as a result of which Èrtra and

raudra dhyÈna got lessened. The practice and method of meditation which the

Acharya has developed after deep exploration and constant concentration of fifteen

long years will go a long way in helping the world. The feelings of cordiality and

friendliness will develop throughout the world. The Acharya has certainly determined

to attain tÏrathankar gotra by creating a feeling of love in each human heart. This is

what at least I feel.

²Hastimal Munot (Chairman, Jain Conference)

My Life­Style Got Changed

It was for the first time in my life that I took part in a meditation camp based on

Jain tenets. During this camp, we were made to do some yogÈsanas which are

necessary for physical welfare. During these three days, I lived as an observer.

My entire life style got changed. What I had failed to get during the last fifty years, I

got during these three days. Maximum number of such camps should be organized so

that maximum number of people can get the benefit and learn to live the life in the

right manner.

²Radheshyam Jain

(Chairman, Jain Mahasabha, Haryana)

Greetings

I know Acharya Shiv Muni for several years. Several years before he rose to the

position of the Yuva Acharya and then the Acharya, when I met him for the first time

I developed a feeling of faith in him. I had had the glimpses of a true yogi and true

saint in the Acharya during my very first meeting with him. My mind was made at

that very moment Shiv Muni is the only saint who can successfully show the path to

the Jain ascetics and lay believing Jains. At the Pune Jain Conference I saw my

convictions taking real shape. I felt overjoyed. Even as he continued to rise in status

and reputation, he also continued to constantly delve deeper into his studies. He would

carry out the Sangh responsibilities successfully and efficiently and at the same time

continued to carry out the preaching and spread of meditation. Constant meditation

has made the Acharya innocent like a child. As says a Jain scriptural text, it is in a

heart purified by simplicity and innocent that religion/dharma resides. The Acharya

has become an embodiment of this idea. Simplicity and truth constitute his life and

breath. I have got several opportunities to take part in meditation camps organized

under the care of the AchÈrya. I can proclaim with full confidence that all

complexities of my life are gone. I have learnt through the art of meditation to remain

peaceful and calm even in adverse circumstances. I has been with this right inspiration

of the Acharya to take this message of meditation, this art of remaining calm and

peaceful in adverse situations to each home that a meditation centre has been set up at

Nasik. Thousands of brothers and sisters participate in meditation camps here and

become witness to their souls and also learn the art of living life.

I consider this great contribution of the Acharya as the greatest property of my

life. I wish and pray that this wealth of meditation should become the property of each

being.

²Shantilal Indrachand Duggar

(Nasik)

This camp has been something unforgettable for me. During this camp I learnt

the art of living life. During my stay in the camp I never felt the lack of affection. In a

way, everybody else in the camp was stranger to me but during these three­and­a­half

days we got so attached to one another as if I had been related to them very closely

and for long. The help and cooperation given by Sri Sailesh and Sri Sadhna was of

great help and value. I consider my life a success because of this camp. ²Deepak

Goyal, Delhi

I felt peace of body, mind and soul after my heartily participation in the

meditation camp. I got the inspiration to spread love among mankind. I realized the

importance of meditation and austerities in life. My mind got purified after I sought

forgiveness from all beings. I got the encouragement to smilingly face any sort of

situation. I was shown the right path in life as I listened to the phrase ‘My welfare lies

in the welfare of all’ from the lips of the Gurus who have been an epitome of truth.

²Sameer Jain, Rohini

The kind of peace and concentration that I experienced in this environment

during these three­and­a­half days was never experienced by me before in my life. It

might have been my good luck or the result of some past good karmas that I had the

opportunity to participate in this camp. Mind experienced concentration during the

camp, and I felt a beautiful sense of peace. ²Atul Jain, Delhi

My experience of the meditation camp has been somewhat strange and different,

and it does not seem possible to put that in words. Through this I achieved immense

spiritual knowledge which I had not got during my past so many years. I had achieved

this neither from my parents nor from my school or college. This experience can be

felt only by one who had been to such a camp. I enjoyed each and every moment of

the camp. Each moment was filled with different kind of knowledge such as

discipline, about diet, daily routine, etc. This wonderful feeling will ever remain with

me till my end.

²Smt. Bhanu Jain, Delhi

I felt the realization of my identity and got introduced with my self. I also got

relieved from small mental disturbances. I got the key to make human life a success.

After participating in the seven­day camp, I never feel lonely . Whenever I am alone,

my mind is with me. I realized this practical form the reality of meditation. I also

realized the importance of complete surrender to the Guru. Now the long journey has

started and I know the way.

²Ritu Jain, Trinagar

I had wished to know how to meditate for the last several years, but

unfortunately never came across an opportunity for the fulfillment of this wish. Once

Mahasati Anupama Ji happened to visit us for the chÈturmÈsa (four months of the

rainy season). I asked here about meditation and concentration, she advised me to

attend the camp. As I came to the camp, I here had a glimpse of my late Guru. It

seems as if I had purified my body, mind and word.

²Manu Jain, Arihant Nagar

I felt great joy during the camp. I had some knowledge about meditation, but

now I learnt as to where I was wrong. I realized that to remain awake and conscious

even while being inactive and inert in body, mind and speech is real meditation. I

could now understand our faults with regard to diet. I got the inspiration for spiritual

peace, silence and austerities. I express my feelings of great debt and gratitude

towards Sri Sailesh and Sri Sadhna that they made me what I am today. ²Sushma

Jain, Arihant Nagar

APPENDICES

Appendix I

SOME ORDINARY RULES FOR

YOG¶SANAS

1. It is necessary to put a blanket or some other heavy cloth on the floor for yoga

practice. To perform yogic practice without any such cloth beneath can prove to

be harmful.

2. The dress should be light and loose.

3. Yoga should be done about three and a half hours after taking food, and after

about one and a half or two hours if the food taken is light. After completion of

the yogÈsanas, one must relax for about five to ten minutes before taking food.

4. Yogic practice can be done any time in the morning or in the evening.

5. YogÈsanas should be done when mind and body are one. If body is quite tired

or mind is quite upset, then shavÈsana should be done first of all for about five

to ten minutes. Thereafter should follow the normal practice.

6. If you feel very tired or if you experience a lot of pain in any part of body while

doing yogic exercises, relax for a while before you go for the completion of the

remaining part.

7. Never go for yogic exercise after only reading about it in a book and without

the consent of your teacher.

FIVE IMPORTANT RULES FOR YOG¶SANAS

1. While doing yoga, each activity of body should be slow and stable. Each yogic

posture should be slow just like the slow-moving tortoise-slow and steady wins

the race. There is always a possibility of harm when rashness comes in any

bodily activity.

2. Remain fully conscious while doing yoga just like a snake. Like the snake

again, during the yogÈsana, remain fully conscious of feelings being

experienced from the bodily activities and from breathing in and out. Where

your attention goes, energy follows. Thus, more conscious you remain, the

more useful it will be for you.

3. You should be inactive and inert during yoga just as an elephant even when it

walks it retains its natural poise. Do not give any jerk or jolt. Each activity

should be native and innate. Perform the Èsanas but in an effortless manner, in

a tensionless state.

4. Perform the yogÈsanas gracefully just as there is grace, a kind of richness in the

gait of a lion. Our yogic exercises should similarly be graceful.

5. The yogÈsanas should be done in piety. As you perform this, there should be

the piety of a saint within.

(Courtesy : The discourse delivered by SrÏ Ravi Sha×kar)

Appendix II

ACHARYA SAMRAT

DR. SHIV MUNI JI MAHARAJ

A Brief Profile

¶chÈrya SamrÈt Dr. Shiv Muni Ji MahÈrÈj now heads and leads the Jain

„rama‡ sa×gh. Detachment, austerity, enlightenment and meditation are the four

pillars of his pious life lived in equanimity. His mind is ever in quest of knowledge

and engrossed in meditation. There are numerous responsibilities of the „rama‡

sa×gh which he as being at the helm of affairs in the hierarchy carries out in a quiet,

natural and proficient manner, but along side this he is ever on the move upward on

the path to spiritual progression.

Shiv Muni was born in a very affluent and respectable Oswal family of a small

town called Malout in the Malwa region of the Punjab. By the time he entered the

university for higher education, he came to be known for his sharp intellect and his

power of comprehension. He passed each of his examination, from the primary to the

university, in the first division.

He had nurtured an intense desire to know and realize truth ever since his

childhood. His education in the colleges and the university could not satiate his

hunger for truth, rather the acquisition of higher academic knowledge further

intensified his desire for higher spiritual knowledge, During his student life he

travelled far and wide throughout America, Canada, England and several other

countries. The wealth and material comforts of wordly life failed to tempt and bind

him. Then he turned towards studying the faith of his family, the Jainism. He made a

thorough study of the life, utterances and teachings of Lord MahÈvÏra. This stirred his

inner self and he made a firm resolve to renounce this worldly life and take to the life

of an ascetic.

Of course, there were many emotional pressures from the family and friends, but

nothing could dissuade him from his resolve. And, as it happens in the case of all

great men, his resolve was not uncalled for. It was this resolve, which was in future to

give to the „rama‡ sa‡gh a dynamic and enlighted spiritual leader. He entered the

„rama‡ sa×gh as a disciple of Gain Muni Ji, well known Jain scholar and exegete and

himself a disciple of Acharya¶tmÈ RÈm Ji.

Shiv Muni Ji made an intensive study of Jain philoso­ phy and theology. He got

his doctorate from the Punjabi University, Patiala, on the topic of šDoctrine of

Liberation in Indian Religions, with special reference to Jainism›. A study of this

disseration, since available in book form, would reveal to any reader the authors depth

of understanding as well as his insatiable thirst for more and more knowledge.

After a few years of his initiation into the „rama‡ sa‡gh, Shiv Muni Ji planned,

as per the directives of his Guru, to travel throughout India preaching Jain tenets. Shiv

Muni sojourned through the interiors of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,

Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Tamil

Nadu, Gujarat and other states. Wherever he visited, people welcomed him and liked

his personal piety and simplicity of life. It was during this sojourn that in 1990 the

„rama‡ sa‡gh selected him as its first YuvÈ ¶chÈrya.

One could see him apparently travelling from village to village in different parts

of the country, but in reality he was constantly on the upward move of his spiritual

journey. Through the medium of meditation, he went deeper and deeper. During the

course of this inward sojourn, he had wonderful experiences of truth and he seems to

have proved that even in this era one could realize the truth and live the truth.

Presently, Shiv Muni Ji has been busy preaching and spreading the higher

knowledge through meditation: it is through this medium that he has himself lived the

truth. Thousands of people have benefited from this endeavour of ¶rchÈrya. Demands

have constantly been pouring in from all over the country for holding meditation

camps.

The Jain world considers itself fortunate to have as its spiritual leader a person

who is so entlighted, so austere and simple and so given to meditation.

A Brief Resume of Acharya Shiv Muni Ji

Place of Birth : Malout, District Muktsar, Punjab

Date of Birth : 18 September, 1942

BhÈdo× sudÏ seven

Mother : Mrs. Vidya Devi Jain

Father : Mr. Chiranji Lal Jain

Caste/Varna : Vai–ya, OswÈl

Family : Bhaba‚e

Initiation : 17 May, 1972

Place of Initiation : Malout, Punjab

Religious Teacher : Shri GiÈn Muni Ji Maharaj

Disciples : Shri Shirish Muni Ji, Shri Shubham Muni Ji, Shri Shiyas

Muni Ji, Shri Suvrat Muni Ji, Shri Shalin Muni Ji, Shri

Shamit Muni Ji.

YuvÈ ¶chÈrya : 13 May, 1987 at Pune Maharashtra ƒrama‡ Sa×gh Acharya

Appointment : 9 June, 1999 Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra

ChÈdar Mahotsva : 7 May 2002, New Delhi.

Academic : M.A. in Philosophy and English

Achievements Literature, Ph.D., D. Litt.; Deep and thorough study of Jain

scriptural literature; ?Distinct research work in Dhyan-Yoga

Meditation.

ShrÏ ShirÏsh Muni Ji MahÈrÈj :

A Brief Introduction

Shri ShirÏsh Muni Ji MahÈrÈj is one the prominent disciples of Acharya Dr. Shiv

Muni Ji MahÈrÈj. He for the first time came in contact with the Acharya during his

stay in Bombay (Khar) for the rainy days (chÈturmÈsa) of .1987. Sitting at the feet of

¶chÈrya Shiv Muni Ji, he realized the importance of spiritual discipline and

meditation and took his teaching to heart, In fact, Shri Shirish Muni had then been on

a business trip to Bombay from Udaipur : those were the days when he was settling

down well in his business. However, reaching the pious presence of the ¶chÈrya he

felt that spirituality was the best trade he could carry out. There is no end, no apex of

the wordly business whereas spirituality itself was the highest state. Thus he dedicated

himself in the feet of the revered ¶chÈrya.

After receiving the consent of his parents, ShrÏ ShirÏsh received initiation into the

„rama‡ sa×gh on 7 May 1990 at Yadgiri in Karnataka. Prior to that, he remained for

three years as an apprentice disciple (vairÈgÏ) with the Acharya and learnt to tread the

path of spirituality under his guidance. After initiation, he went deeper and deeper in

meditation. Simultaneously, he continued to acquire academic knowledge and

acquired proficiency in HindÏ, English, Sanskrit and PrÈkrit languages. The way he

gives discourses attracts huge congregations. He is strongly in favour of socio-

religious reformation and ever continues to persude people to work in this direction.

Shri Shirish Muni Ji is a saint blessed with the qualities of humility, simplicity

and service. He is very active in furthering the noble mission of meditation and self-

study as initiated by the Acharya. He has been justifying his sainthood by working

selflessly for the amelioration of mankind.

ShrÏ ShirÏsh Muni Ji MahÈrÈj : A Brief Bio­data

Place of Birth : Nai, Udaipur Rajasthan

Date of Birth : 19 February 1964

Mother : Mrs. Sohanbai

Father : Mr. Khyali Lal Kothari

Caste/gotra : OswÈl, Ko—hÈrÏ

Initiation Date : 7 May, 1990

Place of initiation : Yadgiri, Karnataka

Religious Guru : ¶chÈrya Dr. Shiv Muni Ji MahÈrÈj

Inspiration for Initiation : Grandmother Mohanbai Kothari

Academic Qualification : M.A. in Hindi literature

Religious Study : Deep study of Jain scriptural literature; Study of Jain

philo­ sophy and thought; Proficiency in Hindi, Sanskrit,

English, PrÈ­ krit, MarÈ—hÏ, GujarÈtÏ langua­ ges.

Projects of Note : Organizing meditation camps; Efficient organization of

self-study camps and of educating the children; Helping the ¶chÈrya in all other

projects/missions.