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It can be done only in the forest, in loneliness. Is the place of meditational practice, binding?”
Mahavir said, “Child, Meditational practice can be done anywhere in the village as well as the forest. And yet it cannot be done anywhere either in the village or in the forest.”
This is the anekanta perspective of meditation.
One Acharya wove the same sutra or lesson into this language:
Ragdweshu vinirjitya kimrannye karishyasi? Ragdweshu anirjitya kimarannye karishyasi? If you have conquered passions, then what will you do going to the forest? If you have not conquered passions then what will you do going to the forest?
The basic lesson is that we should reflect on all problems from the viewpoint of anekanta. Whether the problem is a practical one or a spiritual one, a social one or a political one, they can all be solved with anekanta. With uni-dimensional perspectives, problems become more complicated, more entangled. Man falls into a stupor. He begins to think, “I am not the creator of the problems. I am only trying to save myself from them. The problems are created by some one else.” This kind of illusion envelops him.
Anekanta: The Third Eye
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