Jain Digest 1999 07

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 36

T
The liberation reflects the most purified state of mind-one without a single trace of craving and aversion (RAG and DWESH) round the clock. To achieve it, we must focus our efforts at understanding our thought process in depth. It is only when we understand our mind better and divert away from craving and aversion are we going to stop the influx of KARMAS and gradually move on to the path of liberation. Although this basic principle is known to many of us, the truth is that our thoughts are permeated most of the time with craving and aversion, in spite of spending a lot of time in temple worship, religious discourses, rituals and other forms of religious practices. It appears that they have not made much of an impact on us. If we critically examine the way we think and behave, we realize that we have not changed much after many years of life experiences. Unless we do something about this state of affairs, the liberation is indeed going to remain a distant dream.
Liberation through Meditation
The primary reason for this phenomenon is that we have indeed failed to comprehend and assimilate the "generic" process of how we think and subsequently act. In the corporate world, companies at least in the USA, have benefited handsomely by understanding their business processes and taking necessary corrective actions. Similarly o make a quantum jump at the spiritual front, we must step back and reflect upon the underlying process. This process understandng is very important if we wish to derive the maximum benefit from he religious practices including meditation.
The best way to understand the process is by examining the way our mind works. The typical sequence is as follows:
1. The mind gets a stimulus from any of these primary sources (a) Physical Senses (b) Memory of past events (c) Imagina tion of future events, plans, fear for the future (d) Desires.
2. Initially, the mind just receives raw data of information about the stimulus and becomes cognizant of it.
3. Then, it quickly perceives the stimulus and makes a judgment.
4. Perception results into physical sensations-pleasant or unpleasant, signaling a very close mind-body connection.
5. Reaction to the stimulus takes place.
34/JAIN DIGEST⚫ FALL 1999 Jain Education International
by Anop R. Vora, Rochester, NY
The last step is very critical. Normal reaction involves liking or disliking (craving or aversion) and takes one to passions such as anger, arrogance, deception, greed and other miscellaneous passions. These passions lead one to unwholesome conduct involving violence, falsehood, stealing, sensuous pleasures, or craze for possessions either in active form or in passive form. Some times, the unwholesome conduct shows up immediately. In a civilized society, the passions usually remain dormant in various forms such as trickery, revenge etc. only to erupt at a later date. In either case, we form new KARMAS and get entangled into an unending cycles of life and death.
Usually this reaction is not a one- time event. Most of us go through "mental gymnastics" whereby we keep going back to the memory of the same stimulus, generate the same reaction, and the same kind of passion repeatedly over a long period of time. This goes on subconsciously because of our ignorance and conditioning giving rise to a mental turmoil. The time interval between the stimulus and reaction is so fast, so habitual that we fail to notice what is going on internally. We could spend the whole life without being aware of this hidden process.
We need to understand that the stimuli are a fact of life, can not be avoided in a worldly life and mostly are beyond our control. The remedy prescribed by our seers is first to develop an awareness of how we react to stimuli. Until we become aware of what is going on, we can not improve ourselves. The difficulty with our present situation is that our life style is too hectic and allows very little time to sit back and think. From the time we are awake and till we go to bed, we just run around. Even while we are sleeping, our mind is occupied with dreams. The way to get out of this situation is by changing our priorities in life and start developing a deep
interest in meditation. It is through meditation that we can calm our minds down, reflect upon how we react, and get answers to our questions from within. Perhaps the meditative postures of our Tirthakaras (and also of many religious leaders) have been giving us the same message for ages. It appears we have been too blind to recognize it.
Once our mind becomes tranquil, we can tone down our reactions to the stimuli with an attitude of detachment, equanimity, forgiveness, humility, straight forwardness, contentment, and compassion. We can start understanding the real nature of ourselves. When we run into pleasant or unpleasant situations, we can start thinking that everything that happens is due to the past karmas. We can start controlling our habitual reactions of RAG and DWESH in such a way so as to minimize the formation of new KARMAS. When we read the story of Lord Mahavir, we realize that this is the same path he followed and achieved the liberation. If meditation is the