Acharya Mahaprajna
A question arose in the mind: Man has two eyes for seeing; why does he need a mirror then?
It was suggested: The eyes are meant to see others, the mirror to see oneself.
A counter-question arose: Does an individual see himself in the mirror?
The Resolver of problems fell silent.
The same problem was posed before Lord Mahavir: "O Lord! What does the observer of the mirror see? The mirror? Himself? Or an image?"
Mahavir said: "He sees neither the mirror, nor himself; he only sees an image."
In the language of science it is said:
We see an image reflected in our eyes. We do not see the thing in itself; we only see its image. It is not possible to perceive the real.
Similar is the note of philosophy:
We observe the mode, not the substance.
To indulge in formalism or illusionism is tantamount to merely perceiving an image. According to Jainism:
He whose knowledge and vision are conditioned, cannot see reality. Only he can apprehend the real whose knowledge and vision arc wholly unconditioned.
The soul constitutes reality.
The body, speech and mind constitute the image thereof.
The soul dwells in the body, but it is not the body. The body is the medium of the soul's manifestation; but it is not the soul.
The truth is this:
A man does not see the body, he merely sees the physical image momently created by the body.
He does not hear a sound, merely its echo.
He does not apprehend thought, memory or imagination; he merely apprehends the material aggregates manifested in contemplative and reflective modes.
Modern scientific inventions have confirmed the following fact:
A man sitting in a particular place, gets up and goes away. The spot he has vacated can yield us his photograph.
Whatever a man utters, gels recorded in space. It is possible to apprehend the sound waves of his speech even after hundreds and thousands of years.
Whatever a man thinks leaves its imprint in the brain. In the case of a man visualizing a multi-storied building, the photograph of his brain taken with a highly sophisticated camera, yielded a picture of that building.
The inventions of modern science and the results thereof can resolve many Agamic and philosophic problems. A serious student of Mahaprajna's corpus can well apprehend this fact.
In order to apprehend reality, it is necessary to know the image and go beyond it.
To come to know tne image is to attain an understanding born of the union of sense organs and matter.
To come to know reality means to have an insight into the pure nature of the soul.
- A question arose:
Is it possible to directly experience reality?
Is it possible to penetrate to reality by probing the image?
Through what mirror can reality be seen?
- Yuvacharya Mahaprajna says:
It is possible to apprehend reality.
It is possible to penetrate to truth underlying an image.
Preksha is the mirror in which the real can be perceived.
The technique of preksha meditation is the technique of self-realization.
Its celebrated aphorism is, "Observe the soul through the soul." Which means, the soul itself is the mirror; the soul in itself constitutes reality.
Acharya Mahaprajna is wholly responsible for the evolution and further refinement of preksha meditation.
To resurrect the lost tradition of Jain meditation is Acharya Mahaprajna's great achievement.
The title of 'Resurrector of Jain Meditation' bestowed upon Mahaprajna by Ganadhipati Sri Tulsi is just appreciation of this achievement.
This great contribution of Mahaprajna offers a solution to the problems of the human mind; it is a singular initiative in the pursuit of a pacific and pure philosophy of life.
The present volume Apna Darpan Apna Bimb [entitled in English, The Mirror Of The Self] evaluates the whole process of preksha meditation; in it lies broadcast golden rules for the apprehension of reality in the mirror of the self.
We believe that this book would prove to be specially valuable for those who wish to seek a solution to their problems within themselves.
Jain Vishva Bharati Ladnun - 341 306
Muni Dhananjay Kumar
