Page Text
________________
1. Navakaramantra, the first and the last letter in each salutation is cerebral in nature. The first consonant letter is nam and the last one is namn. When they are pronounced, the tongue strikes against the Talu i.e., the root of mouth known as palate which produces vibrations these vibrations affect the life forces within. Hence the life forces running through the body are driven by the vibrations of mantra. The seers have found that in this process when the mantra is repeated again and again, the breath becomes natural, i.e., deep and slow. Once it is achieved all of this varied types of vibrations generate the highest intensities of rhythmic movement, the highest intensities of interwoven verbal form and positive thought substance interact and create extreme heat. This leads to detachment of Karmas.
2. Prof. MR. Gelra has discussed the cardinal concept of soul and its dimension threadbare at length. Therefore, he starts first with defining the soul. The etymological meaning and synonym 'jivanam iti jivah', means one that bears life or soul is called jiva. There are several synonyms of jiva. In the Bhagavatisutra there are many names like prana, bhuta, satva, vijna, vetta, cheta, jeta, atma, to indicate jiva. Out of these synonyms, the terms jiva and atma are indiscriminately used in Jain Agamas. We should note Atman is used for the self and Jiva is used in general for all souls.
3. Relaxation is a process through which every part of the body is systematically relaxed by command of mind. It can be performed in any posture of the body, may be standing, sitting or sleeping. It is a spiritual practice where mostly one sits down with eyes closed and tries to make every part of the body tensionless. After the relaxation of the body, mind is relaxed by watching the process of breathing and controlling the inhalations and exhalations i.e., the outgoing and incoming breath should take equal time. The optimum number of inhalations and exhalations per minute should not be more than five or six. This systematic breathing applies a sudden brake to the whole thought process, empties the mind, brings aloneness and keeps one away from pre-conceived ideas. This process seems to be scientific and reasonable because the matter used in breathing is so fine and minute that if their expansions and compressions are controlled, the other vibrations of the mind will be controlled too.
These quotes are self-explanatory
The depth and dimension of the book needs no exaggeration. The author beams flood light of scientific perception on the corpus of Mahavira's teachings. He does not forget to give a brief history of Jainism.
The monograph revolves round the pivot of soul, karma, metaphysics, ahimsa, ethics, ecology, cosmology, mathematics, art, and aparigraha. There is hardly any important subject that has escaped author's notice .He has brilliantly covered so many topics that the book becomes an abridged or comprehensive encyclopaedia of Jainism. I take pleasure in congratulating Prof. M.R. Gelra for this extraordinary book. At the same time
6
| SR No. | 034033 |
| Book Title | Jainism |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | M R Gelra |
| Publisher | Createspace |
| Publication Year | 2017 |
| Total Pages | 148 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 27 MB |