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The Unknown Pilgrims
In vyavahāra-dhyāna the dhyeyas (that upon which one fixes one's concentration) are various: nāma, sthāpană, dravya, bhava.47 We are going to give particular consideration to nama-dhyeya, because of the new elements in the practice of dhyāna added here to those cited by the Dravyasamgraha and also because of its popularity. Of the other three dhyeyas we shall note simply the content.
i) Nama-dhyeya
384
Nāma means name, noun; in this context, however, näma means mantra. The text indicates several mantras and the new element is the mental image which is to accompany the recitation and concentration.48 Here is an example taken from the Namaskaramantra where the nama is of five syllables: a, si, ā, u, sā, standing respectively, for: arhat, siddha, ācārya, upadhyāya, sādhu. Simultaneously with the murmuration of the syllables, the mind becomes concentrated and the mental image forms. What is this image? The lotus of the heart possesses four petals; at the centre of the lotus the letter a (arhat) is to be seen and on the four petals si, ā, u, sā; all five syllables are luminous, and each one makes a pradakṣinā (circumambulation from left to right) as a sign of veneration for the parameṣthin it symbolises.49
ii) Sthapana-dhyeya
This consists in concentration on the mental icon of a jinendra. This icon may be kṛtima, non-natural, artificial, as, for example, an image or statue of Mahavira belonging to some well-known temple or akṛtima, original, that is to say, a mental image conforming to a
47
Ibid., 100. These ideas have already been introduced among the āvaś yakas.
48 Ibid., 101-108; among the range of mantras a special place is reserved for arham (for arhat), for hrim, the siddha-mantra for the 24 jinas, and for bijākṣara, the first syllable of a mantra.
49 Ibid., 102.
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