Jain Journal 2001 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 10

JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXVI, No. 2 October, 2001 impermanent. Change is one of the few constants in life, or rather the only constant is change. Everything is in the process of change and growing. To stop change is to cease living. Without change there is no growth. Change adds to newness and freshness in life, without change life will be dull, monotonous, boring. In fact, one does not know or realize the value of health unless one falls sick and one does not really experience happiness unless he has been through hardships and misery. Possessions and objects of pleasure (house, wealth, etc.), positions of power and physical strength or health are all temporary. Likewise, the coming together or association of parents, relatives, etc. is accidental and fleeting like a bubble of water. The plain truth about these facts of life was clearly brought home in the recent Gujarat earthquake of January 2001 when several millionaires became paupers (karorpatito roadpati) and in a few seconds or minutes a large number of people not only lost their hearth and homes, but also their kith and kin, near and dear ones. Even our own body which is closest to us, its youth or beauty does not remain with us for long. Separation of what is pleasing to us and association of what is not to our liking is an inevitable fact of life. The moral of this is that we should not feel dejected or disturbed in adverse circumstances which should be faced with courage and patience, and should try to maintain our cool, calm and balance in all situations.
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Contemplation on the transitoriness (anitya bhāvanā), also signifies that we should not be too much attached to relations or even one's own body and possessions and about objects of pleasure, because as their separation is inevitable, attachment to wife, relations or possessions will only bring misery and dejection in its trail. Thus, reflection on this bhāvanā instils in us a sense of detachment, equanimity, self-reliance (puruṣārtha), self-restraint (samyam), and control of passions (kaṣāya) and emotions. The greatest delusion (moha or mithyatva) and the cause of misery (dukkha) is that we are prone to believe and take for granted impermanent and temporary things (anitya), such as power, position and prosperity etc. as permanent and lasting (nitya). Contemplation on the impermanence of things makes us reflect on our inner self, to search for the changeless reality behind the ever-changing, the quest for seeing and experiencing the real "I", other than the "I" of body and senses, which has gone from the body. It thus leads to spiritual awakening and enlightened view (Samyag darsana).
In conclusion, it may be stated that the concept of Paryāya is quite significant from several points of view: