Acharya Mahashraman
A beautiful saying in Jain Agam goes:
Sampikkhae appagantappaenatn - See your 'self through your 'self.
The fundamental maxim of Preksha Meditation is to perceive the self. The natural function of the eyes is to perceive the physical world but man should practice to see inside the self. The meaning of seeing inside is to perceive one-self, and to move towards self-realization. The person, who analyses himself, knows his weaknesses and strengths. When he tries to enhance the strengths and reduce the weaknesses, he makes progress not only spiritually but moves forward in his practical life and progresses in a variety of ways. The spiritual goal is to realize the soul through the practice of self-perception. Many spiritual people have this aim of self-realization.
The question may arise that who can achieve self-realization? Self-realization is possible for the person, whose mind, which is like water, does not get wavy due to the mental waves of his
likes and dislikes. Attachment and aversion cannot lead a person towards self-realization. Suppose someone wants to see the bottom of a pond full of water. If the water in the pond is wavy, it becomes practically impossible to see the bottom. It is not possible to see the bottom if the water in the pond is dirty irrespective of presence of waves or not. The bottom of the pond can be visible only if the water is still and clean.
Suppose, a man wants to see his face in a mirror, but if the mirror is not stable, then there may be difficulty in observing the face in a mirror. If the mirror is stable but not clean or if the person is visually impaired, the face cannot be seen. To see one's reflection in the mirror, seer must have healthy eyes and the mirror should be stable, clean and uncovered. Now let's understand the mechanism of self-realization.
Man is - in a sense - multi-minded. He goes through many ranges of moods and emotions. Sometimes he is focused and other times unfocused. In fact, there are three states of mind:
- The unfocused mind,
- The focused mind and,
- The thoughtless mind.
The mind which keeps wandering on numerous issues is called unfocused. The mind that can hold attention on a specific matter or object is a focused mind. The third state is the thoughtless mind. In this state, man goes beyond "the activity of his mind". It is said in Bhagavad Gita - The senses work at an external level. The mind is beyond the senses, the intellect is beyond the mind, and the soul is beyond the intellect, which is ultimate entity. Man wants to "realize" the self, but until the emotions of attachment and aversion are overcome, the self cannot be realized.
Self-realization can be easy as well as tough. It is easy because self-realization happens as soon as the feelings of attachment and aversion are relinquished. It is difficult because it is not so simple to separate one's self from attachment and aversion. Self-realization needs bearing the hardship, doing hard work, practicing austerity and purifying the mind to attain the state of a thoughtless mind.
Self-realization is a far reaching but attainable goal. Man should try to recognize self-weaknesses prior to self-realization. The finger-pointing which is being done towards others, if pointed towards the self, can solve many problems typically attributed to others. For a progressive life, man should recognize, realize and work to remove his weaknesses. It is also a kind of self-realization. Gurudev Tulsi and Acharya Mahapragya have propounded a technique of meditation for self-realization known as-"Preksha Meditation". Meditation brings a paradigm shift from instability to stability, from the external to the internal, from activity to non-activity. The person moves from unrestraint to self-control and from darkness to light. Many people combat their problems through practice of meditation and evolve towards spirituality.
A wonderful catch phrase given by Acharya Mahapragya is, "Stay inside (within you), live outside". Man lives outside to express his behaviour. In maintaining his worldly relations, man should learn to stay within. He should learn to observe the happenings around him and within himself; he should develop the state of mere perceiver-observer (gyata-drashta bhav).
There are two types of people:
- One who lives in the world outside of himself and uses material objects to achieve a false sense of personal fulfilment and
- One who lives within one's self and consumes material objects only to fulfil basic needs.
Man should use worldly things with detachment, develop the state of an observer, purify the mind and try to live a life free from attachment and aversion. If this is achieved, self-realization becomes possible.
