Preksha Dhyana Basic Principles

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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Perception of Thoughts-Equanimity
The psyche itself is not directly perceptible. Its characterstic being conscious activities, "to know" and "to perceive" are its performances. The body and the mind are the instruments of its performance. All spiritual disciplines aim at unadulterated conscious performance, i.e. pure knowledge and pure perception. This is also a state of infinite bliss and pure happiness. Delusion, however, perverts our perception and makes our knowledge fragmented and piecemeal. Then, our perception, being contaminated with the emotions of likes and dislikes, cannot be impartial, Equanimity, can be achieved by impartial (uncontaminated) perception, or we can say that pure perception is equanimity itself.
We hear, see, smell, taste and touch, through our respective sense-organs and mind. Our mind is also the instrument of conceptual thinking. Attachment is produced towards what we like and aversion is produced towards what we dislike. One who is impartial to both, i.e. like as well as dislike, is equanimous. That is to say, only he is equanimous whose perception is pure and uncontaminated by attachment and/or aversion. Practice of Prekṣā-dhyāna progressively develops equanimity. As we progress, pleasant and unpleasant sensations fail to produce the emotions of like and dislike. Consequently the feelings of attachment and aversion, gradually disappear. This, in turn, further develops our capacity for purer perception. The cumulative effect ultimately leads to totally pure knowledge and pure perception.
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