Transmutation of Personality through Preksha Meditation

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

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Ans. The even flow of the tradition of meditation was
— certainly obstructed. But before going into the causes of obstruction, we must take note that even many Jains today do not know that meditation had once an important place in their tradition. Until that is clear, the question of going into the causes of obstruction does not arise. Because if a tradition never existed before, how could it be impeded? We must first of all clearly establish that a technique of dhyana did flourish in the Jain tradition. Then we could go on to discuss the obstructions met with.
For a proper appreciation of these obstacles, we shall have to take a journey into the past. Because, without understanding the context, no historical tradition-its rise or decay-could be justly evaluated.
The roots of the Jain tradition of meditation are found in the Agamas. In the traditional system, dharmya-dhyana and shukla-dhyana have been considered to be very beneficial from the religious point of view. For centuries, the importance of these fundamental modes was highly estimated. Dhyana Shatak, composed during 7-8th century is a representative document of this ancient tradition. Later, Patanjali expounded the Ashtanga-Yoga, which combined the elements of pranayama, asanas, dharana and samadhi, etc. with dhyana. Also during this period, spells and incantations spread extensively. All this could not but affect the tradition of dhyana prevalent at that time. A study of the books written by Acharyas Haribhadra, Somdev, Shubhchandra, Hemchandra, etc. and all other volumes influenced by Yoga-Darshan and Hatha-Yoga, reveals that the Jain acharyas tried to adopt the preponderant tradition of Hatha-Yoga. In the course of these efforts, the ancient
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