Jain Digest 2005 01

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

Page 16

The meaning of Upvaas......
begins the process of developing an understanding of separa tion between body and soul; however, this process cannot be completed till we go to the next level.
So the body is quiet and still and the senses are under some control, what do we do next? Is the upvaas complete? No, the mind is still free to roam and restless. The food of mind is thoughts; thoughts of passions and possessions. To keep mind still and calm, we have to stop feeding the mind with all sorts of thoughts. This is harder than the other two aspects of upvaas. While one can deny one food and may close eyes, ears and mouth to prevent them from engaging in unnecessary activities and stay within prescribed physical boundaries of space, possessions and wealth, it's not easy to keep the mind free of thoughts. While the physical and sensual upvaas can be attained independently, the mental upvaas cannot be achieved by first attaining some mastery over the other two. To attain mental upvaas, one has to learn to control the flow and direction of thoughts. At the beginning of the mental upvaas, one must mentally start disengaging oneself from the material world. Just as body is not fed the material food, the mind not be fed the mental food. For this, one does not need to go to forest or lock one-self up in a room but one needs to reduce the actions and attachments of all sorts. Even if one has to perform actions, they should be performed with total detachment to the resulting fruits of the actions, following the principles outlined in Bhagavad Gita. An action so performed will not leave any impression on the mind and, therefore, will not bind any karma. While it is important to be aware of our actions and underlying motives and intentions at all times, it is even more so on the day of upvaas. If the motives are not pure, the effectiveness of upvaas will be reduced towards progress of the soul to realize its true self.
Once, one has attained some mastery over physical and sensual faculties, one can embark on the mental upvaas. Once the flow of thoughts is first controlled and then slowly stopped, the contemplation on the soul can begin. Contemplation on the soul is not a forced process like reading a book or working on a research problem where one is consciously thinking about it. Contemplation on the soul is possible only when the question about the nature of soul, its functions and its relationship with the material world arise naturally as one slowly detaches from the material world. One can consciously force the mind to think about all these questions but that would not lead to real understanding because these questions then would be answered by the mind that is still bound to the world, and therefore, the answers would be colored by the state of mind. The real answers are obtained when the question arises naturally and the answer is arrived at intuitively. That state can arise when the mind is free from all thoughts and in its purest state. So when the mental upvaas is complete one is able to comprehend the meaning of such questions. It
is easy to understand why our tirthankaras, siddhas and other kevalis undertook such long upvaas before they attained the Keval-jnana. The purpose of their long upvaas was not to mortify the body but conquer the mind. Once the mind is reigned in, the lower forms of upvaas do not make any difference. Whether they ate or not did not make any difference because the purpose of the physical upvaas had been served. What we have observed is only their physical upvaas in terms of how long they did not take the food but we also have to understand that during this process they developed tight leash on their senses. We have no way of observing their mental upvaas but their achievements should be enough to convince us that their mental upvaas was of the highest quality. It is important to realize that physical upvaas is only the first step, though a very important one.
Once the body is quite and the mind is calm, the mind can engage in the contemplation on the soul, what is the nature of the soul, why I am here, how I came to be here, the nature of the material world, its relation with the soul, etc.? Here, the real upvaas has begun. The mind is detached from the lower material world, turned upward; it is residing in the higher consciousness and ready to comprehend the true nature of the soul. The knowledge and insight gained during such time is the real knowledge. While the physical upvaas may last for a day, a few days or even longer, the real upvaas will only be observed when the mind is contemplating on the soul, however, brief that period may be. While the physical upvaas is evolutionary, the mental upvaas is revolutionary. It leads to a revolutionary change in the state of mind. Ordinarily, the mind is too restless and attached to physical objects and, thus, unable to comprehend subtle principles. However, the mental upvaas removes these attachments, frees the mind of its self-set boundaries and sets oneself up on the path to realize true potentialities of the soul. Now the mind is staying upwards, in the state where questions of mundane life have become irrelevant. Mind is keen and able to explore the mysteries of the soul, comprehend its nature and its relation with this world. At this point, our very existence is questioned. These very fundamental and essential questions can be asked in earnest and their true nature can be understood only when mind is free of thoughts and in its purest state. The mind must go beyond its current boundaries to develop the capabilities to comprehend the nature of the soul and, eventually, this revolutionary process will lead to the ultimate demise of the mind itself when Keval-jnana is attained.
Thus, when upvaas is performed in its proper spirit at physical, sensual and mental levels, it has all the ingredients that can lead one to the final destination of the human life. Upvaas, as long as it remains at mundane level, encourages us to set boundaries on our conduct; however, once we lift ourselves up and stay there, it removes all boundaries and brings us face to face with our true self.
14/JAIN DIGEST⚫ Spring 2005