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great annihilation of karmic bondage in short periods of time. It is only to be expected that these advanced practices would be much more tedious than the normal ones. There are several kinds of advanced practices, undertaken by those who dare, all of which require a complete detachment from the bodily cares. Here, we describe those twelve advanced monastic practices and the special conditions under which they are observed as given in the canon ‘Daśāśruta-Skandha’of the conduct genre.
The special conditions that are equally applicable to all the twelve advanced practices are as under: - 1. The practitioner of these advanced monastic practices
must, generally, remain silent only and speak only on one of the four occasions such as a. To beg for food and water, b. To enquire the route, etc. c. To seek permission for staying at a place, and
d. To answer the asked question. 2. The practitioner of these advanced practices must not leave
a place once stayed in on the occurrence of any afflictions such as burning by somebody, etc. He must stay calm and composed and maintain a state of equanimity of mind
even under such murderous and fatal afflictions. 3. He must not take out any insect that may fall in his eyes
nor must he rub his eyes for any relief. 4. He must remain engrossed in his meditation even if
provoked by some person(s) for sexual intercourse. 5. He must not bother about and endeavour to take out if
some thorn or wooden wedge gets lodged in his feet while
on his monastic tours. 6. On his way from one place to the other he must stop and
take shelter, even under a tree, as soon as the sun sets. 7. He must not sleep on the bare ground even for the wink
of an eye.
284 : JAINISM: THE CREED FOR ALL TIMES
