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p.193). The practice of meditation differs from one system to another, but all agree regarding the importance of meditation for spiritual progress.
Williams (1963) describes Jain Yoga as spiritual practices, such as vows, model stages', rituals and the worship of householders and ascetics. It is to the credit of the Jain seers that they integrated yoga, meditation and other spiritual practices into the daily routine of both laity and ascetics. When the duties of equanimity (saamayika), penitence (pratikramana) and the regular veneration of images (pujaa, caitya vandana) are practised as part of daily life, attending special yoga and meditation classes, so popular in the modern age, becomes unnecessary.
In recent centuries, yoga and meditation have become widespread as part of the daily practices of both Jain ascetics and laypersons. This has happened through the efforts of great 'yogis' (mahaayogi) such as Anandaghana (seventeenth century), Buddhi Sagara and Srimad Rajchandra (late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) Bhadrankarvijay, Sahajananda and Mahaprajna (twentieth century).
Yoga The religious and spiritual path, which leads towards liberation, is known as yoga and all Jain ascetics and lay aspirants practise this noble path. The Aacaaranga, Tattvartha Sutra and other scriptures have described this path both for ascetics and for laypersons, but it was Haribhadra (eighth century CE), Subhacandra (tenth century CE) and Hemcandra (eleventh century CE) who gave detailed expositions on yoga. In his book, Yogavinshika, Haribhadra describes five types of yoga: The yoga of postures: such as padmaasana, siddhaasana, veeraasana, and kaayotsarga The yoga of spoken words in the religious activities and rituals The yoga of the meaning of these utterances The yoga of meditation on objects such as images of tirthankaras, siddhas, ascetics The yoga of deep meditation on the soul (Sukhlal 1991: p.65)
Of these five, the first two are physical activities (karma yoga or kriyas) and the last three are 'knowledge activity' (naana yoga). Postures such as the posture of 'five limb bowing' (khamaasana), the posture of 'two palms together touching the forehead' (muktaa sukti mudraa), the posture of the Jina-modelled sitting or standing (jina mudraa), the posture of detached body' (kaayotsarga mudraa), and yogic postures such as padmaasana and veeraasana are important in Jain rituals. Jain rituals are required to be carried out with the correct postures and precise pronunciation of the utterances if one is to achieve maximum benefit.
Jnaana yoga requires that one understand the meaning of what one reads or says. To enable the mind to concentrate, Jain experience has found the aid of the images or their symbolic representation to be useful. Love, devotion, sentiments and the sounds which one utters, all play a role in yoga. Continuous practice is necessary for progress on the path of liberation, and all spiritual activities and rituals should be performed conscientiously.
Haribhadra wrote extensively on yoga in his Dharmabindu and Yogabindu. In another important work, Dhyanasataka, he describes meditation in considerable detail. Hemcandra's Yoga Sastra is the most significant work on religious practices based upon the principles of Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct; it describes the corpus of rules, which regulate the daily life of laypersons and ascetic life. Similarly,
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