ISJS Transactions 2018 07 To 09 Vol 02 No 03

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

Page 56

depends upon I-ness) is gone and you have attained oneness with the Self as pure being. Here there is no longer a sense of being nobody or being nothing. There simply is pure being, the state of complete letting go of the ego and identification. That small 'I' has dissolved in pure being.
On the path of self-realization, aparigraha is only possible without meditation and vice versa e.g. Jain śrāvaka (male householder)and śrāvikā (female householder) with anuvratas of aparigraha and to the extent that even sadhu and sadhvi who can be aparigrahi with no passions but still attached to mind and thought and not self. However, there were examples where external possessions were still there and no internal possessions i.e. no mūrcchā or attachment with one self and they attained highest and pure state of mediation i.e. omniscience.
Aparigraha does not mean renunciation from the world for the achievement of a purely spiritual goal; it is a social goal with a social mission. Aparigraha is the concept in which possessions should include only what is necessary at a particular stage in one's life. It is a form of self-restraint that avoids the type of coveting and greed by which material gain destroys or hurts people, other living things or nature in general. Aparigraha is the opposite of parigraha, which means "the focus on material gain."52 Jains believes that the more a person possesses in worldly wealth the more he may be unhappy and the more likely he is to commit sin, both physically and mentally. Currently in society there are 20 million people who live a life on the principle of aparigraha just for social benefits and to live a happy life without any spiritual goals."
Given all this, perhaps aparigraha refers less to the enjoyment of an experience, thing, state or relationship, and more to our sense of holding it to be 'mine'. Path to liberation or selfrealization can be many but it can be attained with practice of detachment.
Are Aparigraha and Meditation.... | 47
This I-ness and mine-ness is the main possessions and it is the root of attachment. Meditation is the technique for practicing the detachment. Aparigraha and meditation are thus both mutually exclusive and inclusive. At the early stage of an aspirant's life, aparigraha starts with external detachment, moves on to possessiveness, and then slowly as he comes near truth i.e. the self all his identity with I-ness and mine-ness is also classified as non-self and all the non-self is classified as possessions.
References
1 Nayyar, Pyarelal. Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase, Vol. 2. Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House,
1958: 552. Print.
Je svarupasamajyāvinā, pāmyoduḥkhaananta/
Samajavyumtepadanamum, śrīsadgurubhagavanta// Atmasiddhi Śāstra 1.
2
3
"Jahālāhotahāloho, lähälohopavaḍdhar" Uttaradhyayana Sutra 8/17.
Acharya, Debi. "Self Realization - Part 1 - Introduction." Speakingtree.in, 14 January 2014. Web. 14 July 2018. <https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/self-realization-part-1-introduction>.
Krishnaraj, Veeraswamy. Trans. and Comm. The Bhagavad-Gita. Blooming In: iUniverse, 2002: 31-32. Print.
6 "Self Realization Art." acecolumns. info. Web. 10 July 2018. <http://acecolumns.info/image/s/selfrealization.html>.
Pravacanasara 2/55, quoted in Sau, Nguyen Van. "Theory of Karma and Rebirth in Buddhist and Jain Traditions." PhD. Thesis. Savitri Phule Pune University, 2014: 227. Print.
4
5
7
8 Ibid, 225.
Jain, Kamala. Aparigraha - The Humane Solution. Varanasi: Pārsvanatha Vidyapitha, 1998: 61. Print.