Acharya Mahaprajna
What is the ego?
The ego is the Consciousness of qualities, possessions, status etc. It is implied in the adjectives like 'my', 'mine' etc. Once the adjectives have been removed, what will remain is self-consciousness, the consciousness of self-purity, self-existence, and sublimity. This is the purest state of Being. There is no ego in this state. It should not be confused with the feeling of inferiority, which is born because we are not conscious of ourselves. The pure state of the soul is too luminous to allow the ego and the sense of inferiority to enter into it.
Cannot long breathing and the maintenance of rhythm in inhaling and exhaling go together?
They can. The two have been mentioned separately in order to explain them. Breathing can be long as well as rhythmic. You can take long breaths and maintain the rhythm of breathing.
How can the mind be made strong?
There is a greyish matter in the brain. It is the source of the entire energy of the body. Psychologists have also suggested that we should contemplate or meditate on the grey colour in order to make the mind powerful.
Which is the best time for Japa?
The morning and evening hours are very good hours. You may perform Japa in midday also.
Can we return to the normal functions of the mind after having entered into a state of thoughtlessness? Is not the thoughtless state the highest state of the mind?
Do not think that one who has entered into a state of thoughtlessness cannot return to the normal state of the mind. But one who has arrived at the highest point in thoughtlessness cannot return. In the course of the practice we do return to the normal state of the mind after we have entered into the state of thoughtlessness. The state of thoughtlessness is a state of direct experience. Secondly, whatever those who had entered the state of thoughtlessness have said had been said on the basis of their experience. They said what had been actually experienced by them directly. Such people did not need any intellectual conviction like those who had only indirect knowledge. Direct experience can, however be repeated. Sense perception passes through several stages like Avagraha (perception), Iha (speculation) etc, which are irrelevant in case of direct experience or super sensory perception.
How do those have reached the highest stage of thoughtless meditation and are, therefore, unable to return to the normal state of the mind, become aware of those who are still at the stage of thinking?
There is no question of awareness. Such persons have direct knowledge; empirical knowledge belongs to a category lower than that of direct experience. Those who have arrived at the highest state of thoughtlessness become seers. They become seers of their own self. They have seen and realized the self. It is such people who have described the highest truth. One who is absorbed in the soul will have the knowledge of the self as well that of material things. He has no feeling left in him. He is beyond feeling.
It is said that no body in this age of Kali can have Kevala Jnana? Is it also true of Manahparyaya Jnana?
I have already said that Kevala Jnana or pure knowledge is possible even today. You can attain pure knowledge just now. This is also true of Manahparyaya Jnana, which means the knowledge of minds other than our own. This is also called telepathy. It enables us to know the mental states of those who are thousands of miles away from us.
The time factor has no meaning in matter of pure knowledge or Kevala Jnana. What we mean by saying that pure knowledge cannot be obtained today is that it can be gained only gradually. It is the implied meaning of the statement, which is important. When I say that you cannot reach America, what I mean is that you cannot go to America on foot or on a bullock cart. I do not mean that you cannot reach America at all. The statement is a relative statement. This applies to pure knowledge also. We should not stop our endeavour to attain pure knowledge, even if it may take a long time to do so. It is not unattainable.
Moksa can be attained only after death. How do you then say that it can be attained during one's lifetime?
Umasvati says: "Moksha lies just before you. It can be attained at this very moment by those whose conduct has become pure." It means self-experience or knowledge of the pure self which can be attained by a complete detachment from worldly considerations or through complete freedom from passions. We should try to understand every thing from the relativist point of view. Take, for example, an earthen pot. We say that it has come into existence only after it has been removed from the potter's kiln. Did it not come into existence when the potter had prepared the clay lump? Did it not come into existence when the potter had placed the lump of clay on the wheel? Mahavira said that an action has been completed as soon as it has begun. In fact, the pot comes into existence as soon as the potter has conceived it. Moksha too is not an end product. It becomes attained during those moments when we have begun attempts to attain it in right earnest and not after we have died. Those who think that it can be attained only after death will never attain it. A child who does not die at the moment of its birth will never die. Generally we declare that someone has died only when the end moment of life has arrived. This smacks of sheer ignorance. This applies to Moksha also. Generally we say that Nirjara or the stopping of fresh Karma begins at the moment when the shackles of action have been cut. Does not the state of emancipation begin at the moment of the beginning of Nirjara? It does. The time factor is only a convenient device for thinking. We should understand this point clearly.
Has there ever been an end of the world process? Will it ever happen?
Nobody created the world, nor is they’re any preserver of it. Nor will anybody ever bring it to an end. Every one of us is the creator, preserver, and destroyer of the world. It is man who created and exploded the nuclear bomb. Who produced the atomic catastrophes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Was it the producer and exploder of the nuclear device or the device itself? It is not the device but the producer of the device. It is man alone who creates and destroys. There are, however, two elements in the world, the conscious element and the non-conscious element, the soul and matter. No body created them, nor will anybody be able to destroy them. The mass of atoms of which the world is composed neither increases nor does it decrease. The atoms remain as many as they are and have been.
