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SELF AWARENESS THROUGH MEDITATION
Same has been expressed in the Yoga Darshan in the following words:
Maitree karunaa muditopekshaanaan sukhadukhapunyavisha yaanaan bhavaanaatshchitta prasaadanam
"By having friendship with the happy, compassion for the distressed, delight for the meritorious, and tolerance towards the sinner, one conquers craving and aversion, defilements like anger and jealousy and the mind becomes pure and stable".
How much similar are the two stanzas! Love, kindness, sympathy and cheerfulness are inseparable parts of our effort to attain enlightenment. If these sublime emotions are not there, we have certainly missed the path. According to Buddha, one realizes infinite delight and infinite kindness after meditation. Aspirant is asked to express 'Mitta Bhavanaa' (emotion of friendliness) for all beings of the world after Vipassana meditation wherein he expresses his friendship and lack of enmity towards them and wishes their welfare. In Jain too, aspirant seeks forgiveness from all beings after going through ‘Pratikramana' (seeking penance for actions of the day) in the following words:
Khamemi savve jeeva, savva jeeva khamantu me, Mitti me savva bhuyesu vairan majjhan na kenayi
I seek forgiveness from all beings May all beings forgive me,
I have friendship with all beings I have no enmity with any being
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Happiness, kindness, sympathy, equanimity, love are the emotions that give eternal happiness. They make our life happy and delightful and are also the means to attain peace, rest and eternal freedom.
Let us all attain what has been described below by Aachaarya Amitgati:
Bodhi Samadhi parinaamashuddhi Swaatmopalabdhi shivasaukhyasiddhi.
"May I attain wisdom, peace of mind, purity of thought, selfrealization and everlasting perfect happiness."
