ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 275

INTERNATION
SCHOOL
SELF STUDY IS THE
SUPREME AUSTERITY
Pr
परम
time. Based on the available āgamic and post āgamic literature, we can broadly classify the Jaina dhyana-yoga-sadhana practices in four periods:20
Period
2.
OF
Acarya
1. From Lord Mahāvīra to Acārya Kundakunda
From Acārya Kundakunda to Acārya Haribhadra
From Acarya Haribhadra to Acarya Yasovijaya
From Acarya Yasovijaya to date
3.
4.
STUDIES
Century
6th C B.C to 1st C.A.D
1st C.A.D to 8th C.A.D
In the first period Kayotsarga, Bhāvanā, Vipassana and Vicaya were important. People practised meditation, contemplation not for days but for months and years together to accomplish self-realization and emancipation. Lord Mahavira himself fasted and meditated for 12.5 years; so did his 50,000 monks, nuns and other lay followers.
8th C.A.D to 18th C.A.D
After the 1 Century A.D, philosophical speculation paved way for scriptural study and so Dhyana-sādhanā took back seat. In the 3rd period Acarya Haribhadra and others made a comparative study of Jaina Yoga and Pātañjala-yoga and numerous texts on Yoga were written during this period.
20 Jaina Yoga and Sadhana, Jain Vishwa Bharati Lessons
21 Studies in Jaina Philosophy, N. Tatia, Pg.293
18th C.A.D to date
During the 18th century works we can see the impact of devotion (bhakti) on Yoga and so many Yoga works were written based on bhakti. The modern age is an age of scientific research and speculation, hence Yoga and meditation practices have been scientifically interpreted and thus we have Prekṣā Dhyana, Anupeha Dhyana, deep rooted in spirituality for spiritual health and welfare.
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Eight drstis of Haribhadra's Yoga
Haribhadra made a very valuable contribution to the comparative study of Yoga. He composed a number of works on the subject. 21 He wrote Yogabindu and Yogadrstisamuccaya in Samskṛta and Yoga Sataka and Yogavimsikä in Präkṛta. In the Yogadrstisamuccaya he talks of two types of attitudes towards truth viz. Ogha-drsti and Yoga-drsti. Ogha-drsti is the attitude of the souls, which have not cut the knot of perversion,
STUDY NOTES version 5.0