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110
JAINISM
That is the end of concentration to improve our conduct. The process can be carried over from one sitting to another; the whole process need not be gone through on one occasion.
Concentration for developing or improving the sensing faculty, that is, the sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, or feeling (touching), would not be an activity of the mind, but a passive state; because, in order to get sensations by the eye, skin, ear, etc., the mental activities must remain passive: comparison, etc., must be stopped for the
moment.
Concentration to improve and develop the spiritual nature can be upon the five classes of holy men already mentioned (page 44). Their lives should be imitated; we should think of their characteristic virtue and make special (not general) application to ourselves.
Concentration can be used also for getting equanimity of mind, and consequent spiritual illumination. The process of meditation here would again be different, as follows:
Here, the position of the body should be such that the back of the head, between the shoulders, and the small of the back are in a vertical line.
Movement of the limbs, head, and trunk should all be stopped, also speech; in a place neither hot nor cold, where there are as few sounds as possible; the eyes should be closed; and there should be no scent or other smell, and the sense of taste should be inactive. Suppress mental images, including recollections of sounds, tastes, smells, and contact. There will then be a consciousness of blackness; try to lose it.
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