ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 04

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

Page 209

2.2.a
Spiritual Awakening, Devotion and Meditation: Jaina Perspective
Prof. Kamal Chand Sogani
1.0 Spiritual Awakening The pronouncement of the c ra ga' that the ignorant are asleep and the wise are awake inspires us to be aware of the highest in us, which is our Real Nature. In Jaina terminology we may say that this is tantamount to achieving Samyagdar ana (Spiritual Awakening). When we are asleep we are in the state of spiritual perversion known as Mithy dar ana.
1.1 The Role of Samyagdar ana (Spiritual Awakening) in the life of an Individual Jainism regards spiritual awakening (Samyagdar ana) as the beginning of the spiritual pilgrimage, and it is the foundation of the magnificent edifice of liberation.? Even performing very severe austerities by persons devoid of spiritual awakening do not attain spiritual wisdom even in thousands and millions of years. Just as a leaf of the lotus plant because of its own nature and constitution is not defiled by water, so also an awakened person because of his spiritual nature is not sullied by passions and sensuous attractions. Value-knowledge and ethico-spiritual conduct is acquired through spiritual awakening. The spiritually awakened self considers his own self as his genuine abode and regards the outward dwelling places as artificial. He renounces all identification with the animate and inanimate objects of the world, and properly weighs them in the balance of his awakened spirit. Thus he develops a unique attitude towards himself and the world around him.
Without Samyagdar ana conduct is incapable of surpassing the province of morality. An ascetic who bases his asceticism on the mere moral concepts cannot be said to be superior to a householder whose interior has been illumined with the light of Samyagdar ana, inasmuch as the former is paving the way for the achievement of empyreal pleasures far away from the blissful state of existence, while the latter's face is turned in the right direction, which will in due course yield whatever is worthy of his inherent nature. The spiritually awakened persons regard the auspicious bh vas as the temporary places of stay, when they find themselves incapable of staying at the pinnacle of truth and realization. These Bh vas serve as a halting place for them and not as a permanent dwelling. Thus such individuals absolve themselves even from subconscious egoism in performing auspicious activities. On the contrary, those who are only morally converted regard the acquisition of auspicious mental states and performance of auspicious activities as ends in themselves, hence they are bound to endless mundane existence, which shall deprive them of spiritual bliss for all time before spiritual awakening. Besides, their profound learning and the austere penances performed by them even for thousands of years or more are spiritually unfruitful in the absence of Samyagdar ana.
1.2 Function of Spiritual Perversion and Its Nullification Spiritual perversion acts as a barricade to soul's true life. It is the root of all evils, the seed of the tree of Sa s ra. The person experiencing spiritual perversion becomes perverted in his attitude. It poisons all our activities, so as to check the realization of the Summum Bonum of life. Moreover, it is responsible for the perversity of knowledge and conduct alike. So long as spiritual perversion is operative, all our efforts to witness the sun of self's glory are bound to fail. Thus it is to be rooted out in the interest of rendering its unwholesome function null and void. In other words, spiritual awakening is to be attained, which in turn will make knowledge and conduct conducive to the attainment of Param tman. It is only after the acquisition of spiritual awakening that the person attains the primary qualification for even marching towards emancipation from the wheel of misery. If spiritual perversion is at the root of worldly life and living, spiritual awakening is at the root of liberation.
1.2.1 Judgment of the occurrence of Samyagdar ana in the life of an Individual Now the question is: Is there any way to Judge the occurrence of spiritual awakening in the life of an individual? The answer given is this that though spiritual awakening is a subjective phenomenon, yet the Jaina C ryas have given certain individual and social characteristics that accompany Samyagdar ana (spiritual awakening).
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STUDY NOTES version 4.0