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156
THE MYSTERIES OF MIND
and roads paved with glass? There is nothing wonderful in the breathing process. Such thoughts distract the mind of the practitioner. He relapses into a state of delusion and forgets that he has to exert himself for self-realization. He will have to divert his mind and re-engage it in the task of self-transformation. It takes time to achieve success. Sometimes the practitioner has to continue exerting himself for the whole of his life, nay even for a number of lives to achieve success.
What the practitioner needs is a change of faith before he begins sādhonā. Sraddha means a push, will and determination Devotional surrender or dedication also plays an important role in it. There can be no success without dedication. There is no place for reasoning in sādhanā. Even an insignificant man can become great by the sheer force of dedication and even a great man becomes insignificant if he lacked dedication.
We produce the sound Arham in the beginning of our exercises. We dedicate ourselves completely to the ideal symbolized by Arham. We orient ourselves completely towards the ideal and make it the receptacle of our faith. The sound Arhum begins to vibrate in the atmosphere and produces an echo. After this has been done, we begin the exercise. We express our dedication to and faith in the ideal at the end of the exercise also and pronounce the sacred formula : 1 surrender myself to the Arihanta, to the sådhus and to the truths comprehended by the kevalīs. This pronouncement expresses a complete dedication to the ideal. The Arihanta is not a person. The siddha is not a person. The sādhu is not a person. Dharma is not an object.
The term Arihanta symbolizes the highest stage of the development of the soul. It symbolizes the ideal of equality. It symbolizes the ideal of purity which is the highest accomplishment of the soul. Dharma means a complete dedication of the self to the ideals of knowledge, supersensual perception and spiritual conduct.
Prince Konika got engaged in a battle. In the course of the fighting he came to realize that he would be defeated. He, therefore, surrendered himself to Indra. It was now for Indra to fight the battle on behalf of Koņika. No enemy could stand
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