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PATHWAY TO LIBERATION
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(Chap XI) points to the ways of its gradual ascent to spiritual heights. So long as the deluding Karmas persist, spiritual progress is impossible. The secret of spiritual progress lies in the destruction of the four destructive Karmas; the task is arduous but if pursued with faith and purity, the self can attain Omniscienee. It has been previously pointed out that on the attainment of Omniscience, the soul can attain to Arhathood; when the four non-destr Karmas are also destroyed, the pure soul becomes the Siddha and dwells in eternal bliss at the summit of the universe.
The external austerities help an individual to conquer the senses, attain firmness in self-control and purge the Karmic matter from the soul. The internal austerities are: expiation of sins (prāyaścitta), politeness (vinaya), serving the guru (vaiyāvýtya), study of scriptures (svādhyāya), meditation (dhyāna), and abandoning attachment for the body (vyutsarga).5 These have been dealt with while discussing the ethics for the ascetics (Chap XVI). The object of these internal austerities is to train a spiritual aspirant for a life of contemplation and meditation. While the practice of external austerities leads to a life of detachment and purification of the soul, the internal austerities bring about total annihilation of the four destructive Karmas.
In the scheme of internal austerities, Dhyāna occupies the highest place of importance. Jainism, like other systems of Indian thought, attaches supreme importance to Dhyāna (concentration of mind) as a means of spiritual realisation. Along with its purification, the soul develops the capacity for self-concentration.
Dhyāna has been defined by Umāsvāmi as concentration of thought on one particular objcct.? It is turning away the thought from several objects and fixing it on one : it is upto one antarmuhurta or a period upto 48 minutes. In one sense it is negative in that it requires curbing of other thoughts. These are certain causes which retard concentration. Apprehensions of motive and public opinion retard one's own progress. Passions and desires, emotions and excitements to which the mind is long habituated to dwell upon, deprive the soul of its
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