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COMPENDIUM OF JAINISM
cending the body, the Yogi now loses all connection with the mind and his vital breaths come to an end while he attains the supreme goal and perfect knowledge. This is the stage in which the self becomes the higher Self, and this is the mokṣa or liberation characterized by the destruction of both 'destructive' and 'undestructive' Karmas, and free from all the limitations of birth, a condition in which the self attains its own qualities.”27
Kundakunda Ācārya has stated that he who is possessed of right faith and knowledge and meditates upon his self with concentration becomes free from the Karmas and attains the higher Self.28 Yogindudeva says that the Karmas of the ascetics who dive deep into the ocean of the highest meditation get washed away and the soul attains purity. The self which attains Omniscience and understands the Loka and Aloka will surely become an Arhat full of bliss. 29 Being in the Self, the self should contemplate the Self with full concentration after having subdued all activities of of the senses.30
Somadeva has expressed the same views. According to him, one who practises meditation should also contemplate the path of three jewels, the rules of conduct, the Anuprekşās, and the seven fundamental principles of Jainism, and the personality of Lord Jina. But the contemplation of the self is the supreme object of Dhyāna and the devotee should reflect within himself that he knows the truth and devotedly believes in the scriptures, and will : renounce all external activity and merge the self in the higher Self.31
Dhyāna or meditation is common to almost all religions. The ancient Hindu philosophers developed a theory called Yoga which is the science of self-realizations. The Yoga prescribed by Patañjali regards moral and physical discipline to be indispensable preliminaries to the spiritual progress. The Jainas are in agreement with the fundamental principles and practice of this system... The 'Jñānārņava' of Subhacandra and the ‘Yogaśāstra' of Hemacandra are valuable contributions to the study of Yoga as a science of
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