Jaina Culture

Author(s): Mohanlal Mehta
Publisher: P V Research Institute Varanasi

Page 97

JAINA CULTURE
does not concentrate upon various characteristics of a particular phenomenon. In the third type, the mental as well as the vocal activities of the meditator are completely arrested. He possesses some subtle physical activities only. Thus, excepting certain essential physiological activities all the activities of the mind, the verbal. sense-organ and the gross body are totally stopped at this stage of meditation. In the last type which immediately and necessarily follows the preceding one, the remaining physical activities, too, are stopped. In this state of spiritual evolution, or say spiritual realisation, the self exists in its pure nature. This is the .consummation of meditation. In it, the inflow of new karmic matter is absolutely stopped and the annihilation of the accumulated karmas is complete.
Stages of Spiritual Development :
There are fourteen stages of development through which the soul gradually delivers itself from the state of complete dependence upon karma to that of complete dissociation from it. These stages are known as the states of virtue igunasthānas). Here the term 'virtue' does not mean an ordinary moral quality but it stands for a spiritual quality, such as knowledge, belief etc. Through these fourteen stages the soul gradually frees itself, firstly from the worst, then from the less bad and finally from all kinds of karma and manifests the qualities of knowledge, belief etc. in a more and more perfect form. The owners of these stages are the following: 1. One who possesses wrong belief (mithya-dışți). 2. One who has a slight taste of right belief (säsoždana
samyag-dışți). 3. One who has a mixed belief (mišra-dışți). 4. One who possesses true belief but has not yet self-discip
line (avirata-samyag-dsșți). 5. One who has partial self-control (deśa-virata).