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ÁYARO
Bhagavān Mahavira used to go in trance by meditating upon the upper, lower, and middle worlds (vide, Ayāro, 9/4/14).
Three methods of meditation are indicated by this,viz.
(1) Concentration of perception on the vault of
Heaven.
(2) Fixing the eyes on the vertical or slanting wall.
(3) Concentration of perception on the interior of
the earth.
Through the above three methods of meditation, Bhagavan Mahavira contemplated over the corresponding elements present in the three worlds respectively.
Thus, contemplation of the world has been prescribed as a medium of meditation,
Concentration of the mind on the objects present in the upper, lower and the middle world is the medium through which enthusiasm, boldness and perseverance are respectively nourished. (Cf, Namaskāra Svadhyāya,p. 249).
(4) The second interpretation of the Sutra is: a
farsighted sadhaka notices that the lower world is afflicted with misery owing to attachments to sexual pleasure. So are the upper and the middle worlds.
(5) The third interpretation of this aphorism is
as follows:
Bhagavan Mahāvira used to go in trance by meditating,
A sādhaka with vision knows full well the thought processes contributory to the elevation, degradation and medialization.
(6) The fourth interpretation can be in terms of trätaka.
Concentrating on a point with dilated and unblinking eyes is called trățaka. By accomplishment of
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