Basic Principles Of Jainism

Author(s): Narayan Lal Kachhara
Publisher: Narayan Lal Kachhara

Page 72

in meditation to the Law (dharma) and Truth, not desirous of enjoyment of any kind, practices samitis and guptis, subdues his senses, calm, free from passions and detached from worldly affairs.
These thought-paints change according to the degree of change in the purity of mind and thought. These changes bring in twenty six kinds of variations in six thought-paints.
It should be clear from what has been said above, that the lesyas are different conditions produced by the influence of different karmas; they are not therefore dependent on the nature of the soul but on the karmas which accompany it. What produces lesya is therefore the subtle substance of karmic matter.
Since the thought-paints vary with the intensity of passions and the activities, their presence and the degree of colouration would depend upon the stage of spiritual development of each individual. Even a wrong believer in the first stage can have white though-paint, if his passions are very mild while a right believer in the fourth stage may have black thought-paint if he is possessed of strong passions. Only the white thought-paint is formed in a person who has attained any of the stages of spiritual development from the 8th to 13th. No thought-paint is possible as there are no vibrations in the 14th stage. As it is the fruition of the karmas that gives rise to imperfect dispositions, it must follow that purging of karmas necessarily brings about a change in the thought paint.
It is possible to interpret the lesya theory in terms of modern psychology, especially of parapsychology. The bhava lesya has a psychological significance. It is an aura created round the soul due to psychic effects and yoga. It is dependent upon the activity of the mind. The six primary colours are effects of the karmic influx arising out of mental states and events. Every psychosis brings some after-effects which are both physical and psychic. It is possible to show, by proper analysis and investigation, that psychic phenomena exist and are detectable.