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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND
of sound enter into our mind and produce thoughts. Take, for example, a group of persons sitting together. There may be good or bad men among them. The thoughts of the good men spread in the sky and influence the entire company. In the same way those of the bad men also influence the whole company. This influence is due to the force of thoughts. Pudgala particles emerging from the mind spread in the sky. They strike the minds of other men and influence them. That is why it has been said that one should keep company with good men only.
The Acārānga says, “Don't keep company with bad men." To avoid the effects of bad thoughts we have to take precautions. The first is to subdue bad tendencies. Meditation of faijasa and padma lèśyās purifies mental tendencies. The second is not to allow evil thoughts to arise in our minds. Meditation on the sukla lasyā stops the rise of such thoughts. Meditation on the white colour wards off evil thoughts which enter into our minds from outside. Meditation on red and yellow colours stops evil thoughts which rise from within the mind itself. Once we have shielded ourselves from external and internal sources of thoughts, our minds become the abode of good thoughts only which are helpful to us in our spiritual pilgrimage. Although lèśyā itsell is a wave, yet it carries us to a state of calm.
Perceptive meditation on breath enables us to control it. Perceptive meditation on the body enables us to perceive the vibrations of the body and the perishable nature of them. This perception leads us to contemplative meditation (anuprekśā) on the transitory character of the world. Here begins the search for the immutable which leads to the next stage of perceptive meditation on the centres of consciousness which is a source of enlightenment.
There are two centres of the manifestation of the transcendental soul in our body, the brain and the centres of consciousness. It is through these centres that the soul sends forth the rays of its light on the outer world. The practitioner who meditates on the centres of consciousness comes face to face with the light of the soul. Once he has got a glimpse of this light, he will never go astray. Even a short experience of calm and a few moments of right perception
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