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THE PRACTICAL DHARMA
. 4. Constant meditation on the following twelve forms of reflection (bhāvanā) : (i) Anitya bhāvanā.- All things are transitory in the world;
'no condition of existence therein is everlasting; it is useless to be attached to the forms of perishable things; they can only cause pain and suffering; dharmu (religion) alone is one's true friend; friends, relations, health, wealth, beauty, strength and the like shall all desert one some day; ātman (spirit) alone is eternal; he alone has to taste the fruit-sukha (happiness) and duḥkha (misery)-of his actions; therefore, one's ātman alone is the fit object of
attachment.' (ii) Asarana bhāvanā.-- None can help the jīva in his troubles ;
he alone has to bear his pain and suffering; friends, relations, wife and children are powerless to combat suffering and disease; religion is the only protector of the helpless; it enables the jīva, by his own power, to surmount all obstacles; therefore, it should be practised under all circumstances. One should also be devoted to the five kinds of Teachers (Arhanta, Siddha, Achūrya, Upūdhyāya and Sadhu), who
preach the true religion.' (iii) Samsāra bhāvanā.- Endless is the cycle of transmigration;
painful is every form of life; there is no happiness in any of the four conditions of existence; devas, human beings, animals and residents of hells are all involved in pain and misery of some kind or other; mokşa alone is blissful and free from pain; the wise should, therefore, only aspire
for mokşa; all other conditions are temporary and painful.' (iv) Ekatva bhāranā.-- Alone does the java come into the world;
alone does he leave it to be re-born elsewhere; alone does he bear the consequences of his karmus; therefore, one
should bestir oneself for the destruction of karmas.' (v) Anyat va bhāvanā.- Soul is distinct from the body; it is also
distinct from one's wife and child; at the moment of
