Atma Dharma

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: Champat Rai Jain

Page 40

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for the purpose are to be mentioned the Paramåtma Prakasha, the Adhyatma Tarangini,the Atmâbodha, and the like, all of which are highly useful for * meditation.
Devotion is also a potent means for fixing the mind on one's own self. The adoration of those great souls that have risen to the Eminence of perfection in Self-knowledge and Realisation, through duly consecrated images, deemed to be invested with the Godly attributes of their divine originals, is fully calculated to inspire the worshipper's mind with confidence and courage and to impress him with the glorious nature of his own soul. Just as the likeness of a great king is exhibited and becomes the recipient of the homage and fealty of his subjects, during his absence, on certain ceremonial occasions, so are the images of those Holy Ones who have entered nirvâna and who are, for that reason, not living with us now, fit and proper objects of devotion on our part. By devotion to the Holy Ones, the devotee is led to recognize his own soul as equal to Theirs, with respect to its natural properties and attributes, and soon evolves out a longing to become like Them.
The above, briefly, are some of the principal means laid down for self-realization. Their aim is always one-to place the soul in concord with its own inner perfection. As a bee resorts to various