Concentration

Author(s): Virchand R Gandhi
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/002017/1

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CONCENTRATION
Virchand Raghavji Gandhi
Sharadaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre,
Shahibag, Ahmedabad-380 004. (India)

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Shree Shwetamber Murtipujak Jain Boarding,
(Ahmedabad) series. 13
CONCENTRATION
A Series of Twelve Lectures
by
Late Virchand Raghavji Gandhi
B.A., M.R.A.C.
Sharadaben Chimanbhai
Educational Research Centre, Shahibag, Ahmedabad-380 004 (India)

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CONCENTRATION
Series of Twelve Lectures
by Late Virchand Raghavji Gandhi
B.A., M.R.A.C.
Jain Delegate to Chicago. Religious Parliament 1893.
Editors
Jitendra Shah
Chandrakant Kadia

2nd Edition, copies 750 February, 1997.
Price Rs. 30-00
Available at:
Sharadaben Chimanbhai
Educational Research Centre,
Shahibag, Ahmedabad-380 004 (India)
Jain Institute of North America 812, Charles James Circle Timber Point, MD - 21043 (USA)

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Late Virchand Raghavji Gandhi
dadd 1864-1901

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CONTENTS Subject Introduction Definition Methods of Concentration Object of concentration Breathing Practical Hints. Necessary conditions Right way of getting knowledge Avadhi Concentration for improving the conduct Concentration Proper Meditation or Spiritual beings Nervousness
.
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Appendix

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Foreword
When the conference of the world religions was held in 1893 in Chicago, the late Sri Virchand Raghavji Gandhi attended it as the representative of the Jain religion. At the conference Shri Gandhi gave a lecture on the central principles of the Jain religion. The lecture made a deep impression at the conference and as a result, Mr. Gandhi received an invitation to lecture in a number of cities in America. Virchand Raghavji Gandhi's fame as an exponent of the Jaina Religion spread fast, first in America and later in Europe as well. Mr. Gandhi, later, travelled to different centres in Europe and lectured on Jaina religion.
Mr. Gandhi also visited England. He gave a number of lectures on the practice of meditation as expounded in the Jaina tradition. It is of great interest to find that Mr. Warren, who was himself

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a distinguished scholar attended the lectures. The contents of the lectures were published in a book based on the notes taken down by Mr. Herbert Warren.
In this small book of 12 lectures by Virchand Gandhi, published in 1916, the main concept of meditation according to the Jaina tradition is most effectively stated. Mr. Gandhi here first speaks of the need for meditation to attain mental peace and to rise above feelings of worry and anxiety. Mr. Gandhi next states the basic rules governing the practice of meditation in simple and lucid terms. The small book of 12 lectures contains only a summary of the original lectures. Yet it is sufficient to give us the idea of the richness and profundity of the original lectures, which are unfortunately lost. Virchand Gandhi passed away in his 36th year and so the career of a great soul committed to the exposition of religion pre-maturely came to an end. It was a great
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loss to the Jaina religion to the world at large.
We came across a copy of this book while seeing through a collection of the old books. We were extremely delighted to come across this book; it was indeed a rare find, surprisingly, there is no reference made to this publication in the records of the writing of Virchand Raghavji Gandhi. The original publication was supported by the wellknown donor and philanthropist Shri Jagabhai Dalpatbhai of Ahmedabad.
We are extremely happy to bring out a reprint of the book now and we hope that it will be well received by the wide circle of readers of Virchand Gandhi's writings and those interested in the basic principles of meditation according to the Jaina religion.
Ahmedabad, 1997
Jitendra Shah Chandrakant Kadia

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CONCENTRATION*
1. Introduction
Concentration was defined as “the steady activity of the mind”. Therefore activity of the body or of speech is not concentration. Unsteady activity of the mind is not concentration, nor is inactivity or passivity of the mind concentration as here meant.
Unsteady activity of the mind is the state which precedes concentration; it was called a liquid state, which is to become as it were crystalised into a solid state; the liquid state is the progenitor as it were of the concentrated state.
* These lectures are the substance from H. Warren's private notes of a series of twelve lectures on concentration, given by Mr. Virchand R. Gandhi, B. A., Bar-at-law Spring 1900 in London.

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An unsteady state of the mind is where the mind hops about from one subject to another not under the control of the individual. Of liquid states two are useful (1) the liquid state preliminary to, and (2) the liquid state subsequent to (or revisionary of) concentration.
(1) The preliminary liquid state would be such a state of mind when it is asked. “When shall I concentrate, where, how long, on what subject, and for what purpose?” which is a state of mind not concentrated but going from point to point.
(2) After concentration, when an examination of results is made, and when tired, a passive state is to come.
All other unsteady or liquid states are undesirable.
There are many things upon which the mind can be steadily active; therefore arises the question : “what

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is desirable and what is undesirable concentration ? Desirable and undesirable are relative terms, therefore their meaning must be fixed. Whatever concentration forwards the life-object, that is desirable; the life object should be the development of character. There are two methods of developing the character (1) the natural method and (2) the scientific method.
(1) The natural method is to let things alone, and then in the course of millions of years the character will be developed by natural means.
(2) The scientific method requires knowledge; and can do in a short time what is naturally a very long process.
The use of concentration, its place in the universe, is this scientific development of character; the burning or leaving out of bad character and the building in of good.

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So that “desirable” or “undesirable” applies according to as the object in view is helped or not helped
There are four classes of things upon which the mind can be steadily active, and of them two are desirable and two undesirable for the development of character.
Undesirable kinds :
(1) When the steady activity of the mind is in the direction of selecting the pleasurable to the senses and avoiding the unpleasant to the senses.
The search of pleasurable sensations, and the avoidance of unpleasant sensations is not a desirable form of concentration. Nor is a concentration upon any physical pain; the constant thinking "I have a pain”.

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(2) Concentration which is injurious not only to the person himself, as is the case in (1), but when it is injurious to others; such as all criminal concentration, which injures the life or property of others.
Desirable kinds :
(1) Philosophical concentration, where the universe and man's nature are learnt about external.
(2) Concentration upon the "self", which is the most desirable kind - inner things.

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2. Definition
The definition of concentration was 'steady activity of the mind', but there is another factor; the steady activity must be instigated by the free will of the person concentrating; so that reverie, dream, trance, vacancy, abstraction, or the hypnotic state, though perhaps they might be activity along one line of thought, still they are not done by the free will of the person; the line of thought and purpose of the mental activity must be determined by the person concentrating.
In order to be able to keep the mind steadily active along a given line of thought for a given purpose the inflow of foreign thought must be prevented. Mind wandering must be overcome. One cause of mind-wandering is the not taking up of for definite pursuits at definite times so that when you sit down to concentrate there comes into the mind a host of

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ideas about other things that are waiting to be done. Therefore one thing to do towards the cure of mindwandering is to make a time-table for your activities as far as possible, and it will then be found that at times other than the appointed one ideas of other matters awaiting attention will not enter the mind.
As an exercise to help the cure of mind-wandering a system of thought can be used. For instance, you can take the character of some person and think upon it for ten or fifteen minutes, not letting the mind wander off, or if it does wander off, bringing it back again. It is better to take the character of some holy person. Examining the character you will find five qualities. These five qualities or characteristics can each be taken separately, and each one in turn be thought about for a short time, with illustrations from the person's life in support of the quality 'he did so-and-so at such a time and place towards so-and-so', etc. While thinking about any one of the qualities, thoughts about the

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remaining four should be refrained from. To prevent the action from becoming automatic after several times of using the exercise, the qualities can be numbered and the order in which they are thought about can be varied. If the action of the mind is allowed to become automatic then the mind will be free to wander, and this must be prevented.
The first day the order can be 1,2,3,4,5; the second day 2,1,3,4,5; the third day 3,1,2,4,5; and so on. Paper can be used as a memorandum at first, but it is better to do without the use of a paper note, and to help this the following method may be used; take circles, five circles, one for each quality, and in the mind arrange them thus : Middle one, top one, bottom one, right-hand side one, and left-hand side one. The mind can as it were rest upon each circle (mental circle of course) while the quality is being thought about
In this way the character of the person can be
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thought about for some fifteen minutes one quality at a time, to the exclusion of other thought, and in the course of a few weeks it will be found to have had a beneficial effect towards keeping the mind from wandering
Capital is needed for getting concentration, that which constitutes the capital for spiritual concentration is :
1. Right belief, 2. Right knowledge, 3. Right action, 4. Self-control.
We should learn to recognise the difference between belief and knowledge; between what is believed to be true and what is known to be true. It does not mean merely right religious belief, it means right beliefs about people in general everyday life.

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Self-control. To be free from habits; to be able to taste and take the sweet from the lump of sugar, and, being satisfied, to fly away and leave it, as distinguished from a fly that gets into a sticky substance mistaken for sweet, or into a sweet sticky substance from which it cannot get away when it has had enough. Do not get into a habit which demands gratifying. Right belief. The moral nature must be improved before right belief is a permanent possibility. There are four chief states of mind which prevent right belief, they are : 1. Anger, 2. Pride, 3. Deceitfulness, 4. Greed. The first two grow out of aversion, the second two out of false attachment. Or to use mechanical terms, 10

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repulsion and attraction.
Anger may be of four degrees : that intense aversion to a person which makes one feel that they could not be amiable ever towards the person, and the other three degrees have already been described in the series on karma, they being less and less intense degrees of anger. The state should be acquired where anger when felt is at once checked by the mind. A state of anger will prevent right belief, it blinds one to the true facts; so also pride will cause wrong belief about a person, it causes you to overlook their good points, it prevents you from seeing the good qualities of another person. And deceitfulness and also greed prevent us from having a right belief about people.
With regard to pleasurable sensations the reason they are injurious is because the working of the mind stops at a pleasant sensation, when the pursuit of pleasant sensations is the object of concentration

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or of life; and it stops at getting away from an unpleasant sensation — this should not be; the mind should go a little further and not be satisfied the moment the pleasant sensation is obtained or the unpleasant one removed; when a pleasant or unpleasant sensation strikes the mind the thinking should be followed up about it.
Prejudice is also a state of mind which prevents right belief; any sort of prejudice will prevent a right belief, and should not therefore be encouraged.
Right Knowledge. Study, mere study, is not knowledge. Mere book learning is not knowledge. Hearsay is not knowledge.
The differentia of knowledge is that it is consciousness; a relationship, a conscious relationship between a knower and the thing known. In order that there may be knowledge there
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must be a thing known and a knower. A lump of sugar has no knowledge. Vibrations of matter are not knowledge. Consciousness is not the vibrations of matter. Consciousness is not necessarily caused by nor does it necessarily imply vibrations of matter. It is neither the effect nor the cause of vibrations of matter. It is something independent of dead matter.
Knowledge is the essence of a man. It is the real man; immortal, existing before vibrations of matter, and after them, as well as during them.
New knowledge causes a change in the man's life. Anything learned or experienced is not new knowledge unless it produces a change in the man's moral life.
Cause and effect. Causes are of two kinds : (1) the substantial cause, and (2) the instrumental, determining, occasional cause. In every effect there
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are these two causes.
Knowledge is the substantial cause. Knowledge must be deep down in the man, it must have length, depth and breadth.
Knowledge is only right knowledge in so far as it improves social or moral nature. A man in a jungle needs no morality.
Right Action. The test of a right action is "Will it do the person good whom it is done ?" And it must be done with the least possible injury anywhere.
In getting knowledge of a thing that we do not already know, the ordinary methods should be used ask a friend, read a trust-worthy author, or go and see the thing itelf. You cannot concentrate upon a thing if you have not knowledge of it. So much then for the definition of concentration, what it is and what it is not; and we have next what

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prevents concentration, namely mind-wandering, and two methods of overcoming it; and then we have had the capital which is necessary for concentration. Now we come to some side issues or helps to be used as crutches while we are weak, namely as regards the time when to concentrate, the place, the clothing best suited, the posture, and the direction of facing.
Early morning is the best time, about or a little before sunrise, before the activities of the world begin.
Do not take a place where the vibrations are antagonistic to high thought, such as the place where a murder has been committed or where drinking goes on. It should be chosen where the noise of the house or street will not interrupt, and the place should be used for no other purpose. (If a whole room cannot be had, then one corner may be taken).

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The colour of the clothing most favourable for spiritual concentration is white, the next best is yellow. Black or dark blue should, if possible, be avoided. The best stuff is cotton, next flannel, and lastly silk, which is a non-conductor of unfavourable electricity, but its use involves the destruction of silk worms and it is not wise therefore to use it.
A comfortable posture should be taken, any comfortable position of the body, so that there is no consciousness of the position in which you are sitting.
Face north or east, as these are positive directions, and concentration is a positive activity.

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3. Methods of Concentration
In concentration there are two methods, or two kinds of mental processes : (1) analytical and (2) synthetical.
The Analytical process is for explaining a thing, for explaining knowledge of the parts, uses, and source.
Synthesis is the process for finding out new knowledge about the thing, and is the searching out of the relations which the thing has to other things in the universe.
In pursuing the analytical method, be careful to avoid running into errors from abstraction. To analyse water, to find it consists of two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen, and then to say

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that water is two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen is wrong, H,O is not water, because the formula H, O leaves out the dynamical conditions of the two gases which are necessary in order that water may be and not merely two gases. Two gases are not water. And so with a piece of flesh the chemical constituents of it are not flesh, they are chemical elements only — in order to be flesh they must be dynamically related in a certain peculiar way. And so with psychological matters; analyse anger into an excited state of the mind; the language of a certain person caused it; the state of mind before the anger, etc., these things are not anger itself. The political economist arrives by analysis at untrue conclusions through falling into the error of abstraction. He takes one factor in the make up of man, “money-making’, and from it constructs his theories. He concludes perhaps that with such and such labour conditions and such and such conditions of capital, price will rise or fall; and that therefore if you want prices to rise or fall
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you must bring about these labour conditions. These conditions being brought about, however the prices are not affected as was calculated or intended. As a theoretical abstraction his political economy was right, but not true as a fact. And the reason is because he has taken only one factor in the make up of man, leaving out all consideration of the moral nature, the emotions, passions, etc., and because in such a thing as altering prices there are other factors than the one he has taken into consideration, viz., the emotional and passional nature of man, etc.
(2) Synthesis means the finding out and learning the relation the thing in question bears with other things, and in learning these relations we get new knowledge.
Metaphysical - There are three theories of the universe, (1) that it is eternal (2) that it is transient, (3) that it is both according to which of two aspects
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it is viewed from. The philosopher starts out to find the cause for what he sees existing; he gets from solid matter to liquid, than to gaseous, and nebulous matter out of which he says the universe is made.
Or, if he is a religionist, he goes a certain distance in his analysis, gets tired, and stops. He tells you a word, he gives you an abstraction. He says God made the universe out of nothing. Here he contradicts himself because he admits when starting out that for everything there must be a cause; then there must have been a cause for his God. But the universe is not nebula, it is a living world of men, birds, beasts, vegetables, rocks, etc.
There is activity and there is substance. The substance is eternal, the activity of the matter is always changing. There is no substance that is not active, and there is no activity except in substance.
To say whether a statement is true, the aspect it is
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viewed from must always be given. From the point of view of the inside a ball is concave, from the point of view outside the ball is convex, which is contradictory of concave.
Still further with reference to the processes of the mind in concentration. There are three stages of consciousness in getting new knowledge (1) synstatis; (2) analysis; (3) synthesis.
(1) The first stage of knowledge of an object is simply a standing together of the knower and the object known; it is simply the knowledge that the thing is something'. The consciousness of it is undeveloped and vague. For example, upon first knowing an orange, you simply see that it is something round and yellow.
(2) The second stage of consciousness is a state of analysing the object, thinking separately of the things composing it, taking each one and mentally

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isolating it, also taking the aspects of the object separately and learning them.
The mind has a teleological (?) basis and so it is bound to gather knowledge and in time to develop, and by reason of its teleological (?) basis, when first coming to know of an object, the mind is not satisfied to stay, it wants to know more and more about that object, which causes the mind to analyse.
(3) The third stage is that of synthesis where all the various things discovered in the analysis are thought of or put together and viewed as one unit; each thing being recognized as having the whole unit for the cause of its existene — where it is seen that the part is dependent upon the whole for its existence.
And then comes the searching out of the relations which the object bears to other objects in the universe. To this there is no limit, for every atom in
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the universe acts and re-acts upon every other atom in the universe, and before we can say we know an object thoroughly we must know all these relations, which is to be omniscient.
These three stages may take place out of order when thinking of anything already fairly well known : but in all getting of new knowledge, the process is in the above order.
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4. Object of Concentration
Mental nervousness or unconcentrated state of mind is due to energies of the mind running out in many directions instead of in one. Attachment to other things causes this. These are the destructive forces, destroying and preventing concentration and knowledge.
To facilitate concentration, acquire the forces of building up. The repetition of religious words helps this, only do not let it become automatic. The object of concentration is to make spiritual advancement, by eleminating injurious elements and assimilating good ones.
Concentration is work, it is a concrete activity of the mind.
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There are 158 energies in us, either static or dynamic.
The capital in concentration necessary for a practitioner is partly right knowledge and right action. The science of psychology is explanatory of knowledge without judging it good or bad. Ethics is the science of right living; ethics is legislative and gives some ideal goal to which, leaving the life which now is, we should travel. It dictates the life we should follow towards other living beings. Ethics deals with values and with truth.
There are two purposes of concentration and the process is different in each case. The one is for increasing our knowledge and the other is for improving the life.
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5. Breathing
A few side Issues
Breathing
Breathing is a physiological process, of which the object is to purify the blood. Breathing is made up of three stages, namely, inspiration, retention and expiration.
1. The inspiration should be through the nostrils, full, deep, and regular, taking always the same length of time, say, four seconds; it should be full and expand the thorax sideways; it should also be deep and depress the diaphragm extruding the abdomen.
2. The retention should be shorter than the time
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taken in inhaling: one or at the most two seconds, if four are taken for inhaling. The reason is that the air after doing its work in the lungs changes and becomes carbonic acid gas a poison and if retained will injure the system.
3. Expiration should be as slow as possible, but continuous, taking longer than inspiration.
Before taking a breathing exercise or rather in starting to take a breathing exercise, first breath out the air that is in the lungs.
The body should not be bent or restrained by clothing; after inhaling the throat should be closed.
To improve the breathing a five minutes exercise may be practised night and morning as above described, starting by exhaling, then inhaling, retaining, and exhaling.

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The spiritual parallel is to expel moral impurities, breathe in love, respect for life, assimilating the love by acting to other living beings in a useful and helpful way.
The painful breathing processes taught by some schools for producing psychic. development are not desirable or useful. Right life will produce right breathing, not vice-versa. Immoral life vitiates the breathing.
Examination should be made to see through which nostril the breath goes up with most force and quantity; then, to even them up, the up-breath should be taken through the weakest and expelled through the strongest side. In passive persons the left nostril will be used the most in breathing, and in positive persons the right nostril: the two should be equally balanced.

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Food
The logical history of food with civilized man is :
1. The Fisherman 2. The Huntsman. 3. Domesticator of animals. 4. The vegetarian
1. First he catches fish on the banks of a river or sea and eats the raw fish; he is civilized by reason of his devising means to ends.
2. He goes inland and finds, kills and eats animal flesh.
3. He domesticates the animals and lives on the produce of the animal.
4. He tills the ground and becomes an agriculturist and lives on the produce.
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What should the future diet be? There are three points by which to judge namely, the hygenic, the moral, and the spiritual.
Hygenic - He needs heat and strength. The first is got from oil, starch, sugar, sweet things and nuts, and strength is got from nitrogenous foods beans, peas, lentils, etc. Meat is not necessary; that is, flesh meat.
Moral - The universe is not for the evolution of man alone; all life should have free play. The killing of animals produces a race of butchers whose feelings become blunted and whose children have little respect for life. The animal when being killed is in a state of antagonism and is sending out antagonistic vibrations which travel all over the universe and affect the weak-minded making them antagonistic. The antagonistic vibrations acting at the time of death affect the flesh of the animal and this being eaten carries the quality of antogonism into the person's body who eats the meat.
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Spiritual - Spirituality is progress, demands progress physical, mental, and spiritual, therefore food which helps the progress of these should be selected. First strength, calmness, peace and stability of mind is helped by wheat, peas, beans, lentils, rice, and milk. Second, food the nature of which makes us active industrious is the starch and fatty food, nuts, etc. Third, food which makes us slothful should be avoided, they are those dense foods close and difficult of digestion also vegetables grown underground.
So the answer to "what shall we eat ?” is “Nuts, cereals, fruit, milk, butter and sugar”, namely, a vegetarian diet is the best for spiritual and moral progress, and so, for our concentration which has for its object the development of the spiritual nature, as a side issue, the food most suitable is the vegetarian.

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6. Practical Hints
First practical lecture.
The previous lectures have been only preliminary.
The first purpose of concentration is or rather of two purposes : one is the increase of knowledge. The second is the improvement of the life. This lecture deals with the process in concentration for increasing knowledge.
There is a natural method by which man gets his knowledge of objects. Knowing what this method is we can apply it to the gaining of knowledge, and so scientifically increase our stock of the knowledge of objects.
The method is that; we come into relationship with
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an object by means of its effect on our five senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching. The sensation is observed, more sensations are obtained, they are classified, generalised, compared, inference is drawn, qualities put together, and synthesis takes place.
To do this scientifically you remove the dullness of the sense organs, eyes, ears, tongue, skin, etc., bring the object before the sight, look well and receive impressions, and ideas will come of shape, size, colour, symmetry of curves, etc., etc. In getting the observing faculties sharpened up, analysing the object into parts and aspects by means of the senses, sight, etc., classifying, generalising, synthesizing, regarding all the parts as one whole unit and tracing the use of the object, and its difference or similarity to other similar objects, and recollecting its relation in space and time, we get clear knowledge based on the senses.
Sensation is the basis of all knowledge, but

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sensuous knowledge is a limited knowledge, because it is only within a certain range that our senses will receive and respond to vibrations coming from the object. Above and below the spectrum the vibrations do not affect the sight. But sensory knowledge, knowledge built up from sensations received by the eye, ear, etc., must come into existene before any higher sort of knowledge, or before any knowledge can be received through a higher channel or gateway. Knowledge is an internal development. The eyes, ears, etc., being our avenues through which knowledge comes to us, speaking figuratively, in order to have fresh avenues of knowledge we must open these senses wider and remove the dullness of observation - cultivate observation The first gateway of knowledge is therefore through the senses. The second now comes.

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Second Gateway
In hearing words we hear symbols of ideas or knowledge and in interpreting them we get further knowledge of the meaning. Interpreting symbols is the second channel of knowledge. Knowledge by communication. Astronomy, the science of heat, and such sciences are communicated through .language, but are derived first from observation, study, classification, generalisation, analysis, and synthesis.
A first sensation is a unique sensation, and is an increase of knowledge. A similar sensation is knowledge confirmed.
The scientific way of acquiring knowledge is not an artificial way.
The stages of knowledge acquired through the senses are : receive the sensation, and then compare
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with previous sensations, it is found to be similar or different, the qualities are put together, classified generalisations are made, and synthesis is made.
(Incidental. The individuality persists for ever and continually develops until it becomes perfect.)
So we learn from this lecture that knowledge is gained from observation of physical objects. By. using the sight, etc., we get sensations from objects. By using the mind we classify, compare, deduct laws and synthesize the observations, and so get concepts and ideas.
The main idea is that the physical eye sight is to be used to examine objects, as distinguished from the practice of sitting and thinking abstractedly of and about what might be or what ought to be.
Of course, this is only the first gateway.
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7. Necessary Conditions
In order to get perception of an object the thinking apparatus must be made passive and in order to improve the sensing faculties, three rules must be obeyed : (1) there must be an earnest desire; (2) there must be an appreciation of the faculty; (3) you must work to get the faculty.
The conditions necessary in order to become conscious of an object are that the object shall be in proximity to the end organ of sense; the mechanism for receiving the vibrations from the object must be rightly adjusted; the end organ must be pervaded by the immortal entity living in the body; and the mental processes of thinking, namely, comparing the perceived sensations, etc., must remain inactive. Then will the vibrations coming from the object arouse sensations in the individual; and then the
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mental apparatus must be in readiness to become active in turning or translating the vibrations into perception, thought and ideas.
To improve the sense organs so that they may be better channels through which to receive knowledge – all knowledge of any sort whatever being built up from the perceptions known through the senses — the three things above- named must exist, namely, desire, appreciation, and work.
The desire must be no mere motive of pleasure or amusement.
It must be a yearning for the faculty, so that one is prepared to acquire it at some cost, such as giving up any pleasure of food or habits of life that hinder the acquisition of the faculty. The object of acquiring the faculty must be to have a better understanding of the universe, and to get additional knowledge so that we follow it changing our lives
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towards other people and things.
Appreciation : The appreciation of the faculty must be such as will prevent our destroying it either directly or indirectly, that is, we must appreciate the faculty wherever it is found in other people and in other living beings, and we must not destroy or kill animals in whom the faculty is developing or we indirectly destroy the faculty (of hearing by flesh eating, for instance), we must feel the value of the faculty to all beings.
Work : We must work for the faculty.

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8. Right Way of getting Knowledge Vibration is not thought. Vibration is motion.
Thought is consciousness. You can have consciousness of motion; but what is "motion of motion ?"- nothing, nonsense. Vibration can be seen; thought cannot be seen; thought can be known. In seeing an object you can see only one aspect at a time, in knowing an object you can know many aspects at a time.
The thinking activity of the mind stops sensation and is not for perceiving purposes. So that concentration differs in its definition according to the object of concentration.
Incidental. According to the Jain philosophy true. knowledge has three stages, in the first stage there is perception, we perceive an object. The most important part of knowledge is to know how it will

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affect ourselves, at present or in the future; the first stage is mere perception, merely the physical body coming in contact with the object, but no change is necessarily made in the immortal part of the man.
The second stage is that the immortal part of the man takes up the subject and decides whether the thing is to be accepted or rejected, and how it will affect the man himself.
Prejudiced and biassed people may have correct perception
If the feelings and the intentions are in the right condition the person may be in the second stage.
In the third stage the person actually determines what course he is going to take as far as that thing is concerned, and the result of it on his ultimate goal. The determination is a mental act, the action is not a mental act.
Even in perception the moral character plays an
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important part. If a man is much prejudiced about a thing he will not perceive it rightly, or if he has a dislike to certain things he will not perceive at all.
Knowledge means that you must have the knowledge of the means. Secondly, you must have the wish to act which comes from a conviction which arises from the mind. The wish to act comes from the second stage, and the third stage is the resolve to act
So that for true knowledge, as just defined, morality is necessary. Knowledge is not only the perception, it is the perception, the desire to act, and the determination to act. All these make up right knowledge (so that mere perception is not knowledge, it is only just on the surface, whereas knowledge goes deep down.)
The presence or absence of these three factors determines the nature of the individuality.
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9. Avadhi
Avadhi is the manifestation of a latent factor of the immortal part of man. In order to let it manifest the obscuring clouds must be (need only to be) removed.
The difference between this method of getting knowledge and the sensuous method is that in the latter the senses of seeing, hearing, etc., must be used, while in the avadhi you do not use the senses of the nervous system, or these need not be used at all. It is the immortal part that comes directly to know certain things.
The senses must not be despised, it is the first duty of every being to develop the sense activities.
In Avadhi it is the physical material objects that
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come to be known, whether of fine or gross matter.
In mindknowing it is not the material activity of vibrations that is known, but it is the actual knowledge that is known.
The theory of karma must be understood, because it is the various karmas which prevent the manifestation of the Avadhi knowledge, and their removal is necessary in order to have it.
Clairvoyance is about the same as Avadhi.
In knowing anything you want to see the unity and the detail; a unity of system in the variety of manifestation.
A scientific (not an artificial) preparation can be made now at the present moment to remove the karmas which obstruct the manifestation of Avadhi. To classify man into physical, mental, moral and

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spiritual is not sufficient for the student. There are 158 factors in the individual.
Concentration can be used for cultivating the memory, to improve the moral nature (character as well as the conduct). There is a difference between character and conduct. The first is internal, the second is external, and is determined by the character.
In improving the memory the process of concentration is purely intellectual. You simply revive the impressions that have been made on you in the past.
You want to be able to retain, reproduce (or recall), and to recognize.
The impression is to be revived. An impression is never known in an isolated way.

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In remembering a person's name try to relate the name to something in connection with the personality, or the circumstances of meeting that we consider important
In recognition other factors go into it whereby you come to know that it is the same person you have seen, and it is not a mere reviving of an impression.
Try to get as many aspects as possible when perceiving. All this can be done in concentration.
The process of concentration when used for improving the moral character and conduct is not purely intellectual. It is intellectual as well as ethical.

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10. Concentration For Improving
the Conduct
Concentration as a means of improving the conduct and developing the character (as distinguished from concentration for the purpose of getting more knowledge).
Before coming to details, two points should be borne in mind, first, the preliminary stage before we enter upon the state of actual concentration; second, also a capital is required, namely right belief, right knowledge, right action, control over the lower self. There must be preparation both general or remote, and immediate preparation.
The whole personality must be in the right state for going into the state of concentration. There are certain obstacles which must be removed. Excitability of mind is an obstacle which must be removed. Excitability of mind in an obstacle, tearing the mind up into pieces.
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Another obstacle, pride, or the thought that we are superior to all others. There are many human beings superior to us to whom we should be as nothing in comparison. We must have humility.
A third obstacle is deceitfulness or hypocrisy, the desire for feigning to be what we are not really. We should try to realise the truth to see that there is harmony between our thoughts and the objective world.
A fourth obstacle is greediness or identification of our real self with the lower self. It does not mean the use of money as a means, it does mean the getting of money for the sake of money. The object of concentration is to realise that the real self is not the personality.
These four obstacles must at least be controlled at the time of concentration. It is a remote preparation; must be practised for a long time before it can be attained.

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The immediate preparation is that condition of mind which is right to enter into the state of concentration, namely the desire for the development of the character and the improvement of the conduct. But this is too general an object; it is too diffuse, so we must specialise.
We may want to develop benevolence, for instance. The immediate preparation would be that state of mind which would take up the thought of benevolence at once. It is a wrong time to sit down to concentrate on developing benevolence just after having had thoughts of revenge. The mind is in a state where concentration on benevolence would be impossible. A good way is, when calm, to make a plan that at such a time you will concentrate on benevolence. Ardour, enthusiasm, fervour, sincerity, etc. should be created in the heart at the time of concentration or when planning for it.

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11. Concentration Proper
Concentration proper is nothing but the putting of the mental activities together, and the continuing upon the subject is meditation, on benevolence, for instance.
The Process
The process of meditation may be roughly divided into three stages, beginning, middle, and end.
Beginning
In the beginning, collect all the energies of the mind, not allowing them to skip from place to place. Also in reference to the subject of meditation itself, "What is it you are going to meditate upon ?" Can you continue in that state for fifteen or twenty minutes? Are there other thoughts which take away the attention or disturb ? If so, remove the cause of the disturbance, or you will be disturbed.

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Bring the subject as a whole before the mind. This is the most important part of the beginning. It is no good to merely repeat the words or a sentence. Writers have written on the subject of benevolence and speakers have spoken on the subject. As the improvement of the moral nature is a growth which has to be accomplished by ourselves deliberately and intentionally, we should bring before the mind a fine figure to us of a person who taught or who possessed the virtue (of benevolence for instance). General statements cannot be visualised, but particular instances can be visualised. Grasp the meaning of benevolence as taught by the person. This will, all take three to five minutes. Having done this and having fixed the general • meaning of the virtue, the meaning of the author, not your own meaning, then we come to the MIDDLE or meditation proper. The work is to be done through the exercise of three faculties.
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(Faculties are the modes in which the ego acts and are not something apart and separate from the ego). The three faculties are (a) memory, (b) understanding, (c) will. Memory - The first faculty to exercise is to remember the meaning of the idea (benevolence). What it means; what did the person of whom you are thinking mean by benevolence ? Then the faculty of understanding is next exercised. What do I understand by the definition given of benevolence ? “Benevolence is the desire and the determination to do good to our fellow beings”. To understand the meaning as a whole is the first function to be exercised by the faculty of understanding. After having grasped the general idea, divide it up into parts or aspects, because the idea by itself is very complex. How shall we divide it ? To take each word and think about it separately is not a true division. The essence of the idea must always remain present. It is a desire to do good to

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our fellow beings. Therefore the first part is the desire to do good to our fellow beings. The second part is the Determination to do good to our fellow beings. Third is the desire to do good, not merely to wish good. Fourth, it is a desire to do good, to somebody; as distinguished from injury. Lastly, it is a desire to do good to our fellow beings and not to ourselves alone. First meditate on the DESIRE; come to know what it means and what it is and what it does not mean. What it is and what it is not. There are so many kinds of desires. Desire for fame, desire for dress, etc. Settle the point of how the desire to do good to our fellow beings differs from other desires, grasp the full content of the idea that is contained in idea; then say what conclusion can I draw ? The conclusion must be one that can be applied to ourselves. It must be special and not general. Or it is like the aimless discharge of artillery. A general conclusion does not destroy our anger, for instance. It must be special towards a certain person, at a
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certain time, in a certain place. And so with each of the other parts. Will - The will must have a sufficiently strong force or reason presented to it before it will exercise itself. Sufficiently strong motives must be presented to the will. Therefore we must find out the motives; why we should change and manifest a different desire from fame, etc. There will be different motives for different people, each person must find his own. The human embodiment is for the purpose of securing means for the final perfection of our individuality. The manifestation of lower desires is an obstacle in securing this perfection. You miss the best opportunity if you grow grass instead of fruit trees in an orchard. The human life ought not to be wasted away by manifesting lower desires which are a great obstable to the securing of final perfection of the individuality. That is one of the motives. That it is not becoming for an individual to waste his life in low desires would be another
:
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motive. It is easier to manifest a desire to do good to others than a desire to harm others, because in harming others we create an injurious atmosphere round ourselves, and thus harm ourselves. We might find ten or twenty motives for changing our activities.
After that you must think “This is the truth. There are so many motives why I ought to do it. Then, why don't I do it ?” What are the obstacles ? No time. That can be removed at once because in our daily affairs the under-current can be changed. My mere wish is not of practical value, it must be willed. Even words of consolation or instruction can be given to others when needed, thus the obstacle of poverty can be removed. Then, I do not know how to do good. This will come later, which removes that obstacle. And so remove the obstacles. So we have the motive force there, with the obstacles removed. Then make the resolution in a particular way just at that time when the motives are there and the obstacles removed. A particular
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conclusion for a particular time, place, and towards a particular person. Then, having made the resolution, carry it out. Then you have made one step in the path of progress. The different parts can cover many days of concentration. The change of life is the practical object of concentration. The system is a complex though connected one, and we must ultimately form the connections. End - Having made the resolutions and carried them out, in reference to the various points, ultimately synthesize them, put them together, and see if you can evolve any new idea, and see more aspect which you had not seen when merely considering the parts; the relationship of the whole thing to the world. This would be more of a general conclusion than a particular one, still it should be applicable to our personality.
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12. Meditation or Spiritual Beings
When the sensation function or sensing faculty (eyes, ears, etc.) has to be developed, the form of concentration may be considered a passive states of mind.
For concentration to improve and develop the spiritual nature, use the characters of the five classes of holy persons as follows, who possess certain characteristic virtues, making special and not merely general application to oneself, trying to imitate the life.
First class of Holy man, are those who have actually worked out the injurious forces of nature and who live as human beings in the midst of society. He is a teacher to the community (and therefore a leader). You find one in perhaps a lapse of 2,000 years.
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Second class; the liberated souls who live a right
life.
Third class; spiritual instructors. These are the heads of the community during the absence of the first class. Their life is holy.
Fourth class, students. They may be instructors, but that is not their special function. Their primary function is to learn and study, and that after a certain stage of holiness has been reached. True knowledge only comes with sanctity of life.
Fifth; all holy men and women who cannot be classed under the above headings, whether in this or some other part of the world..
You must concentrate upon these persons in a particular manner, not in a general manner.
The first class of holy men have 12 characteristics.
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The Second class of holy men have 8 characteristics.
The Third class of holy men have 36 characteristics. .
The Fourth class of holy men have 25 characteristics.
The Fifth class of holy men have 27 characteristics.
One characteristic of the first class is that they have worked out those karmas which act as an intoxicant, in which state (of infatuation) we are not able to discriminate between right and wrong. They can form a correct judgment at once.
When we make misjudgments we should in concentration try to discover the real cause, the circumstantial cause, the motive, etc., and try to remove them.
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One way in which the Jain philosophy differs from others is that it considers and deals with the creative forces and the universe in general in conjunction with and not apart from morals; it says that true progress consists in adapting ourselves to the circumstances of the universe in such a way that it will be easy for us to work out the injurious forces and manifest the highest faculties that are dormant in ourselves. Therefore the Jains recommend a system of concentration on holy persons, moralities, and virtues, and not merely on the creative forces of nature.

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Nervousness
How can nervousness be removed with the aid of concentration ? We must know what nervousness is, what its causes are, and how they can be removed.
What is it? It is the leaking away of the vital or nervous force against our will. The activity of the individual is such that while you may desire to act in a certain way, you cannot, in spite of the desire. Physically the hand will shake although you may desire to hold it steady. Mentally the person who is nervous cannot think on one thing for any length of time. He has thoughts which are his own, but the determining cause of them is not himsef, but something outside. The indulging of bad habits is a form of nervousness. You may, desire not to, but you do the act.
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The cause is that we have acted in a way that has taken all the strength away from us. Also there is something wrong with the physical system, so that food instead of acting as nutrition, acts as an intoxicant, and the person easily gets irritated, with his servants or his children, or other persons or things.
The physical, mental, and moral causes must be all removed, and the practice of concentration is very helpful because concentration is just the opposite of nervousness, so while you are concentrating you are not nervous. Therefore the practice of concentration is a remedy for nervousness.
We can concentrate on our ordinary work, on dressing, walking, eating, reading, etc., to cure nervousness. Try to hold a piece of cardboard in the hand steady.
To cure nervousness there must be regularity of life,
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no dissipation of body or mind.
Improvement of memory : Memory is the faculty of bringing again before the mind that which we have sensed some time ago.
The true cause of knowledge or consciousness is the readiness of the individual to manifest his dormant characteristics.
If we wish to produce an effect we should know the causes which will produce it, of which there are always two, the substantial and circumstantial. The substantial cause is the dormant characteristic becoming active, we must know the doctrine of the philosophy with regard to causes and in every effect these two causes should be searched out. Consciousness is an activity; motion is another activity
From different points of view the same thing may
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appear opposite and contradictory. Therefore in discussion always state the point of view and define the terms. From one point of view, consciousness can, in view of the philosophy of Karma, be identified with, and from, another point of view it can be distinguished from vibration. From one point of view the spiritual entity may be identified with and from another point of view distinguished from the body.

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