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desired results. The mind of the sadhak should be suffused with meditation. The whole day, nay, one's whole life, should be permeated with dhyana. Meditation is the totality of life, it cannot be divided into segments of time and space. Its impact should be felt on every activity from the time of waking up in the morning till going to bed at night. Walking, sitting, standing, sleeping, speaking, eating, drinking, etc.-only when all these activities are seasoned with meditation, the perfection of sadhana manifests itself in conduct. It is because of this consideration that various forms of sadhana have been determined-walking-yoga, standing-yoga, sitting-yoga, asana-yoga, sleeping yoga, speaking-yoga, eating-yoga, etc. Yoga in these words is symbolic of the fact that any action when complemented with full awareness, becomes yoga.
The greatest problem that a spiritual sadhak faces is how to keep non-violent in this chaotic world of living beings? Non-violence may be his ideal, but how can he evade the inevitability of violence? Oppressed by the possibility of violence, the pupil propounds a question:
O Lord! How do I walk? How stand? How sit? How sleep? How eat and speak? So that I'm not involved in sin.
The Lord gauged the condition of the pupil's mind, appreciated his confusion and offering him a way out, said:
O pupil, walk in mindfulness, in mindfulness stay; sit in mindfulness, in mindfulness sleep; eat in mindfulness, in mindfulness speak. Thus exercising self-restraint in everything you do, you can keep yourself free from sin.
Jain Education International
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