Perspectives in Jaina Philosophy and Culture

Author(s): Satish Jain, Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Ahimsa International

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JAINA YOGA
Dr. Mohan Lal Mehta
The Jaina holds that the self possesses an innate capacity of activity known as energy (Virya) On account of the rise of power-obscuring Karma this innate capacity is distorted This distorted energy is manifested in the form of the activities of body, speech, and mind These three types of activities are called Yoga in the Jaina system Thus, the traditional meaning of the Jaina Yoga is directly opposed to that of the Patanjali Yoga Patanjali defines Yoga as the cessation of mental activities, whereas according to the Jaina, Yoga is nothing but the activities of mind, etc The later Janna writers have defined Yoga also in the sense of the control and arrest of activities Mental Activities
Mind is the internal sense organ It cognises all the objects of the external senses The Jaipas hold that all our mental activities can be classified into four kinds true, untrue, true and untrue, and neither true nor untrue A true mental activity corresponds to its object A mental activity that does not corespond to its object is untrue A mental activity is said to be true and untrue if it is partly true and partly false Our desires, purposes, inclinations, etc, are of the fourth kind Such activities of thought are neither true nor untrue, since they have no corresponding objects Vocal Activities
Vocal activity is in the form of speech Speech is a particular form of sound resulting from the rise of physique-making Karma The activities of speech are also of four kinds true, untrue, true and untrue, and neither true nor untrue These four kinds of speech are exactly like those of mental activity Physical Activities
According to Jaina conception, there are five types of bodies gross, transformable, projectable, electric and Karmic According to different combinations of these five types, the Jainas recognise seven types of physical activities activity of gross body, that of transformable body, that of projectable body, that of Karmic body, activity of gross body mixed with that of Karmic body, activity of transfor