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Chapter - 16
PEACE THROUGH MEDITATION: MEDICAL ASPECTS
Meditation has an important place in most of the religious systems of the world. The Jaina system is no exception. It is one of the important technique through which one acquires not only visible physical effect but also the improvement in spiritual status leading to the ultimate goal in the achieving the salvation from the woes of this weary world. The meditationists propound that it leads to equilibrated and pacified mental state in the current stressful and aggressive world. Let us see how this could be explained.
The word 'Dhyāna' (meditation) is derived from the root 'dhyai having the meaning of flow, movement, stationing and monochannelisation of mental propensities. It increases the intensity of flow of oxygen in the body leading to improve the mental states. In general, meditation has been defined in different terms over the periods.' (a) In canonical period, the concentration of physical, mental and spiritual propensities was called meditation. (b) In post-Kundakunda period, it was taken as the concentration of mind only. (c) In post-7-8h century period, it was again defined on a widened scale as an effort to stabilize and control the propensities of body, mind, and brain. This is the definition accepted today the world over.
Though it is not detailed in earlier texts, but the mention of processes of relaxation, reflection, introspective reflection, different postures indicate its pre-valence in those periods. It is said to improve physical, mental, and spiritual energy and life-style. One gets relief from stresses and lead to pacified life.
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