________________
LET US SEARCH TRUTH OURSELVES
151
wandering about and that it is difficult to control it. This is the first stage.
The second stage consists of emptying the mind. This will lead you to a state of happiness and joy. A concentrated mind ceases to be fickle.
In the course of lasja meditation the meditator comes to see a glow of light. He perceives something dazzling. The world within hin begins to vibrate, shining colours begin to appear before his eyes and he enters into a state in which the mind ceases to function and becomes as good as dead. So far as the mind functions, we remain conscious of time. The sense of time disappears as soon as the mind has been emptied. An hour appears as short as a minute. A state of mindlessness is free from the sense of time. In this state we do not remain confined within space. We become free from the limitations of space and time. A state of mindlessness is a state of thoughtlessness. But it is not easy to attain this state. It is attained by self-exertion. It needs a lot af patience and practice.
The modern man is impatient. He wants to reap the crop before it is ripe. He wants immediate results and returns. This attitude is a great obstacle in sādhana. A genuine sādhaka eschews hurry. A certain gentleman who had put on shoes too tight to wear easily was walking on a road. A passer-by saw him walking uneasily and asked what was the wrong with him. The gentleman replied. “How does it concern you?” Pointing out at the tight shoes the passer-by again asked, “From where did you procure these shoes ?” The gentleman, seemingly annoyed, replied. "I plucked them from a tree." Jokingly the passer-by remarked. “You could have very well waited till the shoes became ripe.” Unripe sādhanā is fraught with difficulties. Success in sādhanā takes a long time to achieve. The state of mindlessness cannot be achieved in a hurry. A steady mind, a pure ideal and a one-pointedness of the currents of the mind will certainly bear fruit. Above all, the practitioner will have to rely on his own experience.
Said Mahāvīra "Search Truth yourself.”
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
