Posted on 10.10.2021 07:12
Penance is Part of Dhyan:The meditation family includes Anupreksha, chanting, swaadhyaay, aasanas, pranayam and penance as its members.
A man asked, "| want to do one day fasting. Should | fast during meditation workshop?" | replied, "Of course, if you dont do it during meditation workshop when else will you do it?" We have all heard about long penance Lord Mahavira practiced from two days to six months. It is interesting that we have latched on to Lord Mahavira’s practice of penance, but ignored the reason why He did penance. He did not do penance for the sake of penance, rather He did it for the practice of meditation. Just imagine, if He wanted to do meditation for ten days, how could he eat and also do meditation during those entire ten days? Naturally, ten days of meditation led to ten days of fasting. We did not understand the necessity of penance as a part of meditation and as a result we engage in penance but not in meditation.
All the practices of penance — dhyanasyeva tapoyogah, sheshah parikaraah mataah —are part of the meditation family and when one does meditation, other members of the family automatically fall in line.
~Acharya Mahapragya
#meditation #spirituality #acharyamahapragya #prekshameditation #yoga #peace
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