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INTRODUCTION TO JAINISM
become immortal? What is the purpose of life? Is it just a pastime, or is it meant to do something of value for myself and others? Have I been gentle to all people and other living beings – as I would wish them to be towards me? Who in the world owes me anything for my kind gestures? Can I share the troubles of others? How?
If I receive a satisfactory answer to these questions from within, then my yoga and meditation have been successful. That will bring a great change in one's attitude to life.
To end the meditation one sings again the prayers for the well-being of every soul in the universe. Naturally the needs of such persons in the world gradually diminish, and simultaneously they become more and more compassionate, milder, and quieter. Their worldly problems begin to dissolve naturally. Each day they feel better, and gradually they rise higher and higher in a spiritual sense.
Persons like these jump up the fourteen stepped ladder of the spiritual path – as described in detail by the Jains (see Chapter 9) - from the first to the fourth step, though they have not taken any particular religious vow, but their vegetarian, compassionate, caring and conscious ways of living lead them to the doorway of spirituality, at the same time relieving them from the burden of an evil mind which may before have weighed on their heart like a stone.
For quite some time they then practice trigupti, which means that up to that point they were guiding their minds intentionally towards thinking about meditation. Now they satisfy their mental activity by letting it free and by quieting their speech and their body, realizing that this body is not "me.”; hence they no longer identify with their name, their body and their speech, and no longer have to make an effort to control them. One simply observes the body with its automatic in- and outbreathing, but otherwise regards it as a corpse, a mere instrument. Such persons feel: “No worldly sensations arise in my mind any more. I am the same old
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