Vardhaman Book on Jainism

Author(s): Jayshree Menon
Publisher: Bennete Coleman & Co Ltd

Page 29

editation is the art of living in the no pain or sorrow, only eternal happiness. present. We normally choose to From ancient times, numerous methods of
recollect our past or predict the fu- meditation have been practised, one amongst ture, rather than think about the present. This them is Preksha Dhyana which means 'see thyleads to a vicious circle of hopes, failures, re- self'. Seeing, in this case, does not mean extergrets and tensions. Meditation allows us to stay nal vision, but a concentrated impartial percepwith the present, keeping us away from the past tion; a mental insight. The word Preksha is deor future.
Through meditation, we can control the emotional area of the brain. Today, we are over
The various types of whelmed by the fear of being
Preksha Dhyana ousted in the race for survival. However at the same time, we
Svasa Preksha (awareness of breaths) strive for more luxury, more
Inhaling and exhaling are automatic actions. With
some practice, we can increase the interval between wealth, more success. We crave
one breath and another and lower the count of our intellectual knowledge. In fact,
breaths. Svasa Preksha causes amazing results not we strive for superiority in every
only on our neuro system but also on our internal orarea of our life. But we never
gans. When our breathing rate is regular, the efficacy bother to delve deeper into the
of the mind is increased. reasons behind our feelings of
Sharira Preksha (perception of the body) anger, greed and fear. That's
In Sharira Preksha the various organs and body parts where Preksha Dhyana (medita
are observed minutely one-by-one with closed eyes. tion) comes in.
The mind studies the whole body from the top of the Dhyana means the concentra
head to the toes of the feet and focuses on each and tion of our mind on one object.
every body part one by one. The mind is sharpened by At any given point of time, the
the act of observing and acquires healing powers. mind is cluttered; however when
Chetanya kendra Preksha (perception of the the mind is made to detach it
physique centres) self from all distractions and fo
Preksha of the endocrine system is called Chetanya
Kendra Preksha. Our body is surrounded by an electrocus on one entity, then concen
magnetic field. There are specific zones in our body tration occurs. According to
that are influenced by these electro magnetic fields. Hatayoga, dhyana is the most
Once we concentrate on these parts through Chetanya 'important gate to attaining
Kendra Preksha, we can overcome our anger, fear and samadhi (eternal happiness) and
endless worries. By meditating on the navel, our the ultimate aim of yoga is to at
adrenaline glands get activated. Lain this happiness. Samadhi is that state of mind where there is
leer Bliss