Jaina Gazette 1927

Author(s): J L Jaini, Ajitprasad
Publisher: Jaina Gazettee Office

Page 28

CONCENTRATION
13 heart. When they are not in order one must think where they are. In this of course it is not necessary to use any piece of paper, and the mind is not liable to be drawn away to unimportant things.
There are other ways to assist us, though many people do not understand the meaning of these ways. We resort to these only for the purpose of assisting concentration. Suppose we have a certain passage which contains a very spiritual idea, and we have to repeat that passage for 108 times; if we have actually to count, our thoughts are not on the meaning of the words but more or less on the counting : but when the rosary is used we slip one bead down at the end of each repetition of the text, and so are enabled to know without counting whether we have repeated it a certain number of times or not. So all these things are in a sense physical and mental helps to concentration. The different postures also assist us in concentrating our thoughts. When a person is sitting in silence and thinking on one subject he is liable to be fatigued, and if he is sianding he is liable to fall down, therefore we assume the position of sitting with the legs crossed, and even if one becomes fatigued that position will itself be a support to the body, After a short practice even those not accustomed to this posture will find it easy. There are many other postures, most of which are connected with occult powers and are meant only for the Yogis whose life is of a peculiar kind, and whose humours have been altogether dispelled from the system and therefore whose life current runs smoothly through all the parts. But those who live in a different way, rush and push and move during the whole day, should not assume these postures; it would rather be injurious to them. Concentration assists us also in worldly business. It is necessary that we should be able to concentrate our thoughts on our business. A person engaged in an office or a store, it he is not able to sit down and concentrate his thoughts, and work constantly without any division of attention, is liable to be dismissed. I have heard of a young man who was employed in a dry-goods store. He was so negligeni and would be influenced by so many different forces, and would talk so wildly in some Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat