Gyandhara 04

Author(s): Gunvant Barvalia
Publisher: Saurashtra Kesari Pranguru Jain Philosophical and Literary Research Centre

Page 98

Vital energy is essential for the step-by-step development of meditation practice. To generate enough energy, abundant oxygen must be supplied and for this, it is necessary to regulate the rate of breathing. It must be made slow, deep and rhythmic.
3) Step three: Total Relaxation - Kayotsarga:
Motionless posture of the body - kayotsarga is an essential prerequisite for all types of meditation practice. This can be attained by the release of tensions by relaxation. The success of the exercise of therapeutic thinking will greatly depend on totally relaxed and tensionless state of the body. It is essential for the practitioner to reach the subconscious portion of his mind and this is possible only when he is under deep relaxation and without any mental tension..
Every muscle in each part of the body is persuaded to relax by autosuggestion. When the whole body is relaxed, there is an acute and actual perception of rest and relaxation. It is a real experience. Thus kayotsarga is not only deep relaxation but self awareness and actual contact with the subconscious mind.
Kayotsarya is the highest form of spiritual discipline. It enables one to reach the sublime experience of tranquility and bliss by overcoming not only gross passions but also subtle emotional distortions. The stage is now set for the most important exercise of experiencing the fact that the soul is distinct from the body. Thus by giving up the attachment on the body, the practitioner ceases to be a participant with the alien objects and experiences his pure sentient existence.. He merely becomes the knower (jnata) and the observer (drasta). શાળવારા
૯૧) જેનસાહિત્ય જ્ઞાનસત્ર-૪