Acharya Mahaprajna
The practice of anupreksha in the technique of preksha meditation is for dissolving false assumption. There are two words - preksha and anupreksha. I wondered for days as to why 'anu' had been prefixed to preksha. Then it occurred to me that to see what is true, to contemplate upon it, is anupreksha. See the truth. Do not look at it with your pre-conceptions. The fish conceived of man as a being with his head down and his feet up; it looked at man with this pre-conception. This is not anupreksha. Do not look at truth with your pre-conceptions and prejudices. Do not look at it in the light of your illusory views. Only observe the truth, the reality, the what is. Witness the truth, the event that is taking place right now. Only that. Anupreksha means the contemplation of what is true, of what is real, of the actuality of the moment. Let not borrowed ideas condition your vision. Rather concentrate your attention on the truth, the actuality, the present event. Anupreksha thus implies that we say good-bye to our pet notions, our pre-conceptions, and see only the real, the factual, It is this kind of anupreksha which is practised in the technique of preksha meditation, so that we learn to observe the truth without any conceptions, obsolete conventions and pre-conditionings. What constitutes the biggest difficulty is that a man does not look at the truth directly, but only through the spectacles of his pre-conceptions. If what he sees does not suit his fancy, he tries to distort the truth so as to make it conform to his ideas.
The doctrine of anupreksha is the doctrine of dedicating oneself to what is true. Surrender yourself wholly to truth. Give no importance to your own notions. Receive the truth as it is, accept it - that is anupreksha.
There is the story of a spiritual practitioner sitting naked on a snowy Himalayan peak. All around him there is snow. He begins an exercise to imbibe heat. After an hour, his body is all wet with perspiration. Perspiration in the midst of snow! It is not a natural occurrence. Had it been natural event, not only one man would be wet with perspiration; all other men would also perspire. But here is a case of one man perspiring with heat, whereas all others are left shivering with cold. This is no common occurrence. It is an exercise in the articulation of sound, an exercise of will-power, an exercise of the spirit. It involves an emotional transformation, not a change commonly wrought by nature.
Imagine summer time; It is terribly hot, with hot winds blowing. The spiritual practitioner aspires after a bit of cool. He uses his will- power to produce cold and his body is permeated with cold. He begins to shiver. A woollen blanket is put upon him, yet the shivering continues. This is not natural; rather it is a change wrought by the spirit.
There is a man yet alive who places himself on the cross every Friday. Both his hands are covered with wounds. The blood begins to flow. The blood even flows out of his heart. It so transpires every Friday. Here is a change wrought by the spirit. That person wills himself to become Christ, and his will materializes.
One has chilblains on one's feet. It causes pain. This is no season for chilblains to appear, but you might undertake an experiment in the use of will-power. Whether the chilblains appear or not, the feet would certainly begin to ache. If willing can produce pain, it can also still it. Both these things are possible.
