Self-realisation in Hinduism, Jainism
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Some Hindu-Jain methods
With our sense organs, we understand and experience the world. With meditation, we understand and experience the Self. It is commonly believed that to understand the world is far more important than to understand oneself. This is in spite of the fact that this is the age of self-help books.
Meditation is by far the best self-help tool. Spending a little time to know the Self, will go a long way in bringing success in all fields.
The first principle is to understand: Who are we? Ramana Maharshi encouraged meditation on this question: Who am I? The first chapter of the Acharanga Sutra dwells on this question and associated ones like, where we come from, where we go from here, and so on. Meditating on such questions will give us a larger perspective of life.
The second principle of self-management is to hold a mirror to oneself. Why do i decide thus? What makes me change my decision? We will soon find that we decide on the basis of the beliefs and opinions that we hold. We think that some things are bad and some others good, and we choose accordingly. This is based on the opinions we hold. We have to assess our beliefs and opinions. Are they well founded? Are they objective? This analysis will help to centre us.
The third principle of self-management is not to understand oneself on the basis of other people’s opinions and views. Praise may boost one’s ego and give a false sense of superiority. Criticism can give one an inferiority complex. Do not regard yourself as either inferior or superior. Get to know yourself by yourself, not through the eyes of others.
An important principle of selfmanagement is developing one’s competence. One has to learn to make a realistic analysis of one’s strength and weaknesses. It is important to always keep improving one’s capabilities. All ambitions should be adequately supported by competence, only then it has meaning. On the basis of your strengths and weaknesses, develop your competence, will power, imagination, cognition, memory and insight. One should develop one’s imagination, but not abuse it. Choose the right time for the right work. All this is improved with Preksha dhyana (meditation).
Contrary to the idea of multitasking, the Thanam Sutra, another Jain text, says, let the mind concentrate on only one thing at a time. The skill to plan and manage things in this manner is best acquired through meditation. Practice only one thing at a time, but give it your hundred per cent.
Weak memory is a setback. The reason lies in obstructions to remembering things, which weaken and impair our memory. In this area too, meditation helps. And focussing on one thing at a time also helps a great deal.
Finally, a life based on needs and not wants can optimise one’s energy in the right direction. Acquiring wealth is essential. So are food, water, clothing and shelter. But along with these, proper ordering of one’s needs is also essential. We mistake all our needs as necessities. What is the criterion for defining our necessities? A little reflection will limit our needs reasonably.
Finally, the clinching aspect is to build good communication skills so that one reaches out to the other with charm. This is the defining skill of living.
Ramana Maharshi’s Jnana Marga
Anup Taneja, May 2, 2019: The Times of India
Integration Of Karma, Bhakti And Jnana Though Ramana Maharshi was an ardent votary of Jnana Marga, Self-inquiry, to attain Self-realisation, he was aware that not every seeker was blessed with subtle intellect to follow the path of Selfinquiry, the direct method of realisation. The mind needs to be refined and rendered pure to be able to delve into the innermost recesses of being and get connected with the Supreme Self.
The Maharshi suggested that till the seeker is ready to pursue the direct method of Self-realisation, he should include in his spiritual sadhana, practice, indirect methods like the paths of bhakti, devotion; pranayama, breathregulation and karma, action. He said: “If, however, the aspirant is not temperamentally suited to ‘vichara marga’ – the introspective analytical method – he must develop bhakti to an ideal, whether it be God, guru, humanity in general, ethical laws, or even the idea of beauty”.
‘Upadesha Saram’ of Ramana Maharshi verse 3 reads as follows: “Work which is performed as an offering to the Almighty, and done without any expectation of the fruits thereof, helps in purification of the mind and thereby leads one to liberation.”
This verse explains the very essence of karma yoga and highlights the efficacy of this yoga in bestowing Self-realisation upon the seeker. ‘Karma’ means action; ‘yoga’ means union. Put simply, karma yoga includes those actions which bring about union with the Supreme Self. No one can escape action; it is the demand of nature that human beings must engage in action. Also, an action cannot be performed in isolation; one action will definitely require that further actions are performed. This leads to the creation of a vicious circle of bondage, making it virtually impossible for the seeker to attain liberation. How to extricate oneself from the quagmire of the unending process of transmigration? In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishna advises Arjuna to perform every action in a spirit of devotion, for common welfare, without being attached to the fruits of action (3:25). Actions that are performed as offerings to the Lord are not binding because they are done without expectation of any personal gains and with a sense of unconditional surrender. What you do is a part of you; it is the expression of what you stand for. Our life-work truly reflects our ideals – in fact, our real selves.
Krishna further advises Arjuna that he should make efforts to merge his individual consciousness into that of Supreme Consciousness through meditation and by adopting an attitude of surrender. This would infuse in him the spirit of ‘anasakti’, non-attachment, which would enable him to get rid of all sorts of desires that lead the seeker astray. The mind that is purged of impurities is able to see things in their right perspective. This pure mind will enable you to do your karma as a matter of duty in a spirit of surrender to God, says the Gita, 3:19. Thus, only that seeker wins deliverance who, apart from performing his duties to the best of his abilities, fills his heart with love for fellow humanbeings and God. He renders service to humankind with the understanding that the Divine spark is present in all. This is complete yoga which brings about integration of karma, bhakti and jnana and makes the seeker worthy enough to follow the direct method of realisation, via Self-inquiry.
