Book Title: Bliss
Author(s): Amarmuni
Publisher: Sanmati Gyan Pith Agra

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Page 109
________________ 94 Life of an aspirant WWW. In the past, these complex facades of the body, mind and speech were characteristics of a cunning mind. So the verse says that if you look at the face of a cunning man; it looks like a blooming lotus. A radiant expression, a welcoming smile and a soothing voice. But look into his heart and what you will find is cunningness of such a high order that it spares no one, not even his best of friends. But in the present world, these have been mastered even by those who are known to be simple and sagacious. Earlier, I spoke about those who mask their true selves in the presence of others. Such a suppression to create a façade before people is the cause of ultimate downfall. The upaśama of sādhanā is of a different nature altogether. By this, a seeker does not indulge in treachery, deceit or pretense any more, but his inner resolve is not yet strong enough to destroy the impulses. The fire of attachment and aversion that is within cannot be destroyed easily; it remains suppressed. But by the power of sādhanā, a momentary state of calmness or detachment is achieved - this is the upasama of sādhanā. Therefore, at this stage impulses are merely suppressed. And at the first opportunity, these suppressed impulses rise to the surface. In this regard, let me give you an example. Imagine your house is messy and has not been swept for many days. All of a sudden, you have visitors. So what do you do? In a hurry, you throw a beautiful rug over the mess so that your guests do not think that you have a dirty house. Thus the mess has not been thrown out but merely hidden. This explanation can be broadly used to understand the upaśama of impulses. Look at this second example. Imagine you have filled muddy water in a glass jar and set it aside for a while, without disturbing it. Shortly, the mud will settle at the bottom, the clear water at the top. But what kind of clarity is this? If the jar is shaken a little, the mud will again mix into the water and make it murky once more. When mud settles at the bottom, it is upaśama, but when it rises to the surface again, it is in the audayika state. 6 Udaya means manifestation or rise. When there is a manifestation or rise of karmas, the soul is said to be in audayika-bhava- just as dirtiness Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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