YJA Convention 1996 07 San Francisco CA

Author(s): Young Jains of America (YJA)
Publisher: Young Jains of America YJA USA

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in our scriptures, for mind, speech, and body. The ten mental lapses to avoid are: doing Samayik without respect for Dev, Guru and Dharma, or for fame and prestige, or out of desire for wealth, or with fear or pride, or for other material reward, or with doubt, anger, or impertinence, or even under compulsion.
⚫ Ten Verbal Lapses: The ten verbal lapses to avoid are: Speaking bad words or speaking without thinking, talking or singing songs which raise uncontrollable emotions, indulging in quarrelsome language, gossips, mocking language, irrationality, or in doubtful (mixed) speech, uttering incomplete words or letters, or uttering speedily without clarity.
Twelve Physical Lapses: The twelve physical lapses to avoid are: Sitting uncourteously with crossed legs or with one leg over another, with unsteady posture, with unsteady eye-sight, by leaning against something, with hand on the head or forehead or in a sorrowful posture, doing domestic work, stretching body, hands, or legs lazily, or drowsily, making sounds by cracking knuckles, or scratching dirt from body or rubbing, itching parts, or sleeping.
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Sneezing, yawning, burping and other natural bodily function are prohibited during Pratikraman. The reason for this is that these bodily function may disturb other people who are trying to concentrate upon the Lord. When their concentration is broken, they hence entertain stray thoughts which cause pap (sin). When you cause another person to get pap, you get pap also.
ENDING PRATIKRAMAN
In the end, we wrap up the Pratikraman by finishing the Samayik in a proper manner. Then, we rise and say "MICHCHHAMI DUKKADAM" to each other. These two words are the most significant ones, meaning "I beg for your forgiveness." They are recited throughout and at the end of the Pratikraman.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIGAMBAR AND SWETAMBARS
The steps and definitions in the Pratikraman explanation listed are derived from the Swetambar Pratikraman. There are a few differences between the sects. For example, the Digambar Pratikraman is done less frequently.
The daily Digambar Pratikaman sutra takes about 60 minutes. However, Pakshika pratikraman, occurs once every 15 days and is three hours long.
The Digambar Paryushan last ten days and on the eleventh day they have khamavani.
SPECIAL NUMBERS
One question we had was why do we do certain amounts of namokars and logassas during certain parts of the Pratikraman(for example, in one place, we do 161 navkars). This number corresponds to our breathing cycles: We generally take eight breaths to do a Navkar mantra, and 25 breaths to do a Logassa. For example, if we do 161 navkars, which is also 40 logassa and 1 navkar, we take 40 x 25+ 1 x 8 breaths = 1008 breaths. All of the numbers of breaths at different parts are multiples of nine. In Jainism, there are many such "nines" found, which corresponds to the nine substances(Jiva, ajiva, pap, punya, asrava. bandh, samvara, nirjara, moksha). In fact, the namokar is also called the navkar mantra("nav" means nine)
GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND MEANINGS IN PRATIKRAMAN
Mupatti: the mupatti is a cover for the mouth, so that we do not harm any air beings with our breathing. When you sweep your body with the mupatti, you're ensuring the positive nature of the soul, because the mupatti is the symbolic cleansing of the soul.
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