Book Title: Art of Positive Thinking
Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Health Harmoney

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Page 46
________________ THE END-PRODUCT OF THOUGHT 35 tendency. That is the order from above; if we start from below, the primal tendency as the fundamental cause, particular behaviour arising therefrom and particular results, the outcome of that behaviour, would form the chain of cause-effect in that order. We must experience these three truths together; we must concentrate our attention on these. In the field of religion, we are guilty of having committed a grave error in abandoning meditation altogether. We have adhered to things other than meditation. We do not seem to have any desire to transform our primal tendencies. We are after immediate gain. We say that a religious man must change. People often ask: "How is it that despite a great deal of religious revival, society has not changed"? But people may talk about religion for ages together, society is not going to change through mere talk. A society, a religious community which does not harbour any desire for fundamenal transformation, will continue to writhe in pain; it cannot be awakened. Meditation was primarily discovered to enable man to change the inherent inclination which gives birth to a particular disposition. Without a complete transformation of our primal tendencies, all our efforts to change the existing state of affairs are bound to fail. In the field of education, efforts are on to effect vital changes in the brain; but no effort is made to change and refine man's primal tendencies. We feel that a change of attitude and character is possible through the practice of meditation. Two kinds of delusions confront us in life - the delusion that perverts our attitude and that which sullies our conduct and behaviour - until we remove these, we shall not be able to bring about any refinement in our outlook or character. Those who have come here to practise Preksha Meditation and experience the truth for themselves, must clearly understand that their primary objective is not to annihilate anger or pride, or any other visiblc evil; rather thcy are here to investigate their true nature which alone is responsible for all that happens to them. What happens to a man happens to him because he is the kind of man he is. The man himself must undergo a transformation for the present state of affairs to change. One man said to another, “I saw your wife talking to her lover." The second man immediately flared up. He picked up his gun and said, "Where are they?" The first man said "In the garden." The other man immediately started for the garden in great rage. He would shoot them both dead, he said. Then, as he reached the garden, he recollected with a shock, "Oh, what a fool am I! I've no wife! I'm not yet married !" There is the general belief that a wise cuckolding her husband deserves to be shot dead. The mind is heavily conditioned by it, and Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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