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The wide awake monk, with controlled eyes, perceives the structure of the world: he knows the lower, the upper and the
middle region. Bhāsyam Sūtra 125 In the Sūtra, the process of meditation called contemplation on the harmful karmic consequences??is shown. There is a means to surmount the desires. It is perception or the pure state of the perceiver. The person with 'widely open eyes” means the person with controlled eyes, that is, unwinking eyes. 'World' means the body!' which is the structure of the universe. This interpretation can be supported by the Brahminical works like Sivasamhitā, Tantrasangraha, and Carakasamhita (Sarīrasthāna 9/3). In these works the world is compared to the brahmānda, which is also called 'purusa' i.e. the cosmic person. In the Sūtra under comment, the word 'Loka' (world) has other meaning too. It can mean the body of a person which is a sensuous object with three parts: the lower, beneath the navel; the upper above the navel, and the middle, the region of the navel itself. Thus, the perceiver of the body is “logavipassi.” Put in another way, these three parts are: the depressed part consists of socket of the eyes, thyroid cartilage, the middle of the face (cheeck bones); the protruding part consists of knees, chest, forehead; and the plain part is the flat surface. Again the mediator should perceive the secretion in the upper, lower and middle parts of the body, which can be identified with the endocrine glands and the cakras (psychic centres) of ancient Indian physiology. The practice of perceiving the body as a whole is an important aspect of the discipline of meditation. This practice has found elaborate treatment in the Visuddhimagga(chapter 6). The Sūtra can be explained in yet another way. The experienced meditator perceives the lower, upper and the middle parts of the universe as striken with grief due to indulgence in sensual desires. Yet another way of explaining the sūtra is to discern those states of the soul which lead it to the lower realm of hells or the upper realm of heavens or the middle realm of humans and animals. The Sūtra under comment can also be explained as describing the practice
TCT
951 CS -- Fantare, 2004 C
75
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| SR No. | 524620 |
| Book Title | Tulsi Prajna 2004 07 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Shanta Jain, Jagatram Bhattacharya |
| Publisher | Jain Vishva Bharati |
| Publication Year | 2004 |
| Total Pages | 114 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Tulsi Prajna, & India |
| File Size | 5 MB |