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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
the sâmâyîka meditation but once daily in the morning, for he is not able to tear himself away froin business and pleasure at that early stage in his spiritual career to be able to perform it more often ; but as he progresses onward, he takes to its observance three times-- morning, noon and evening-every day, gradually extending its duration also from one antara-muhúrta to three times as much at each time. The ascetic who has successfully passed through the preliminary stages of renunciation, as a householder, is expected to be an embodiment of desirelessness itself, so that his whole life is, as it were, a continuous sâmdyîka from one end to the other.
The quality or nature of meditation also varies with the progress of the soul, though its general features remain the same, so long as its type is not changed from what is known as dharma dhyâna (religious meditation) to that called shukla dhyâna, which is pure self-contemplation in the highest sense.
The sâmáyîka consists in, 1. repenting for the faults committed in the past, 2. resolving to abstain from particular sins in the
future, 3. renunciation of personal likes and dislikes, 4. praise of Tërthamkaras (Perfect Teachers or
Gods), 5. devotion to a particular Tirthamkara, and 6. withdrawal of attention from the body, and its
being directed towards the soul. Of these, the first two aim at the elimination of evil, or sin, the third at the development of a spirit of renun
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