Book Title: ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02
Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies
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SCHOOL OF
TIONAL
AN STUDIES
SELF STUDY IS THE SUPREME AUSTERITY
ध्याय परम
The practice of the fourfold virtue of Maitri (friendship with all creatures), Pramoda (appreciation of the merits of others), Karunā (compassion for those who are in trouble) and Madhyastha (indifference to those who are irrational), constitute the mental pre-requisite conditions of Dhyana.36
The aspirant should avoid those places which are inhabited by the vicious, hypocrites, gamblers, drunkards and the like, and should choose a bank of river, an island, a cave, a summit of a mountain and other places of seclusion for practicing spiritual concentration.46 For him, whose mind is immaculate, stable and detached, every posture, every place, and every time is fit for meditation.37
Many places in the body have been enumerated for mental concentration, namely, the two eyes, two ears, the foremost point of the nose, the forehead, the place between the two eyebrows.38
40
The best kind of Dhyana is to meditate upon the self by fixing one's mind in it after renouncing all other thoughts. The Dravyasamgraha regards the renouncement of bodily activity, mental activity and vocal activity along with one's own absorption in the self as the best meditation.40
36 Jñānāṛṇava of Subhacandra, XXII-20.
37 Ibid. XXVII-23 to 33, XXVIII-2 to 7
38 Jñänärṇava, XXVIII-21
39 Kärttikeyanuprekṣā, 480, (Rajachandra Ashrama, Agasa)
Dravyasamgraha of Nemicandra, 56, (Jaina Vidya Sansthana, Sri Mahaveeraji)
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STUDY NOTES version 5.0
