Twelve Facets of Reality

Author(s): Chitrabhanu
Publisher: New York Dodd Made & Company

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xvi Preface nas. The insights which have arisen from his authenticity of experience and which he shares with us here can help us stop clinging to a distorted or dogmatic view and correct our vision.
To the Jains, the ultimate experience of reality is one, universal, unfragmented. Like a perfect diamond, it is radiant, luminous, reflecting its source, that in each of us which is flawless, enlightened, pure, conscious.
When that conscious reality comes into manifestation, it has a multitude of facets, countless rays of wisdom. Individually, each living being experiences that heart of the Self in his or her own unique way. That is why an integral part of the Jain philosophy and practice is anekantavada, a deep respect for others' viewpoints, an honest appreciation of the complementary nature of many approaches to truth. Behind this recognition, there is the feeling of wordless oneness which experiences the unity amidst all diversity. As the third in a trilogy of Gurudev's books, Twelve Facets of Reality: The Jain Path to Freedom reflects this principle, for it complements and completes its companion volumes, Realize What You Are: The Dynamics of Jain Meditation, and The Psychology of Enlightenment: Meditations on the Seven Energy Centers. Supportive to one another, these books take a person from the beginning steps in meditation to progressively deeper levels of practice and greater dimensions of awareness of life.
Gurudev's purpose in elucidating the bhavanas is to offer contemplations, pathways, open windows from which to see and feel the freshness of life. In each chapter, Gurudev presents a different pair of angles of vision, different facets of reality. When you plunge into the meaning of each one, a moment comes and your mind calms down. It hushes its chatter and ceases to breed dissension, friction, doubt and fear. It stops clinging to