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Lord Mahavir was a self-realized soul from birth. Still before renouncing home, he practised a life of austerity and penance for two years. Why? He had been called upon to be a witness to his own sadhana. During this two-year sadhana great valour sprouted forth from every part of his body.
Here was the ground of daily conduct, no mere intellectual play. Standing on that ground, Lord Mahavir was engrossed in contemplation of transitoriness for six months. He was so much permeated by this anupreksha of transience that the song of transience burst forth from every pore of his being. In those moments, he grew so highly sensitive and throbbing with energy that a whole current of transience with its tremendous vigour coursed out of his life, leaving behind the illumination of eternal consciousness. In order to assimilate that transcendental light, Mahavir started on a pilgrimage and kept going until he became an embodiment of light himself.
Prolonged anupreksha is a must for strengthening one's comprehension of the transience of the world. The minimum duration thereof is three months. Without practising anupreksha for three to six months, no worthwhile result is possible. Gurdjieff selected 32 sadhaks and kept them in a room. They were made to practise monistic anupreksha. When they ventured out of the room after three months, they found the whole world transformed. Even in the midst of a crowd, they experienced a sense of solitariness. This experience changed the entire course of their life. Such an experience comes about only through practice. Therefore, in order to taste or assimilate any truth, one must always remember to practise anupreksha.
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