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Jain Meditation
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mahatma; and from mahatma, he became paramatma. Atma means soul. Mahatma means great soul, like Mahatma Gandhi. Paramatma means the supreme. That is, you are upgrading yourself; the purpose of life is to upgrade, to evolve.
L.M.: That is the purpose of life. Not just to be bound to, attached to the false self, which is the typical, normal way we live.
S.C.: Yes, not to be bound. I have to live like a lotus flower. The lotus is in the water; it is in the mire, the mud. Still it keeps its head above that, and looks toward the sun, and opens its petals. So we live in the world with our family. But our heart is not in the maya. It is not in lust, not in hedonism. It is a beautiful feeling that I have to love humankind without condition. Accept others as they are, and not judge them. That is not my business. Because everybody comes with their own karmas. Your business is to perceive them as they really are.
L.M.: Do we have to begin by knowing ourselves first?
S.C.: Yes, yes, it starts with the self, and goes on expanding. That is the role of meditation. That meditation we call dhyana.
L.M.: Contemplation.
S.C.: Yes, and from it came Zen. And so, dhyana is—the first thing is—the mantra. When a meditator learns meditation, at that time a mantra is given: "Namo arihantanam."
L.M.: And that means?
S.C.: Namo means I bow; ari means inner weaknesses, inner enemies. Ari has two or three meanings. The main meaning is enemy. Another is that your weaknesses are your enemies. They are within you.
Hantanam means destroyer, or remover. You are conquering your inner weakness. How do you conquer your inner weaknesses? By destroying them.
L.M.: How do you destroy them--is it a violence?
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