Preksha Dhyana Contemplation and Auto Suggestion

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

Page 19

various facets of eternal truth to choose from. An experienced practitioner would know which facet he should contemplate upon. Thus the practitioner would be able to maintain his equanimity and balance even under the most aggressive state of the enemy by practising contemplation.
Dual Status of Relationships
The coctrine of anuprekṣā (contemplation of transceendental or eternal truths) is a powerful inspiration for making one's life happy and free from turmoil. There are twelve themes for contemplation (see Appendix). They constitute a potent armoury of weapons for demolishing stupor and delusion. One, who does not practise contemplative meditation cannot free himsel from the vicious effects of stupor and delusion. His ability for decisionmaking is faulty and he never realizes the realities of life. One of the twelve themes for contemplation is "Solitariness".
Man must live a social live. One cannot just abandon one's social status and declare "I am alone; I am solitary". One has one's parents, family, kith and kin, community, nationality, property etc.-a long chain of relationships. Everybody is enmeshed in an indestructible web of associations-bound up so tightly that it is not possible to experience solitariness even when one is physically alone. This, indeed, is an empirical reality and none can deny it. But this is not the ultimate truth, the transcendental reality. And it would be unwise to ignore this fact. Keeping the social status in the foreground, one must also imcorporate the transcendental reality in his way of life. One, who accepts only the apparent and ignores the ultimate reality, would be in trouble at one time or another. To avoid trouble one must accept the duality of his status.
Wisdom teaches us to accept a dual way of life. The social life is necessary because without it one cannot obtain the necessitites of living and would not survive. Without a family, when there is none to cook, wash, do the shopping,nurse in sickness or provide a myriad other comforts of life, it would not be worth living. The family and social life is thus essential to live comfor
-
12