The
goal of most religions is self realization because it is the soul which has been lost for so long and has to be
discovered. It is the technique for the
same which differs from one religion to other.
What exactly is
self realisation ? Simply speaking it is
that state of the self in which one can
stay 24x7 once it has been realised. Because if one is experiencing happiness
and bliss then why would one want to come out of it ? This is precisely what
Jain Tirthankaras experienced. However
at lower levels, process starts by experiencing self as different from all
others.
First
of all, self cannot be experienced through anger, deceit, greed or pride etc. One can attempt being angry as much or
as strongly as he wishes , he will find that it takes him away from his own
self as far as possible but nowhere near the self. This is so because these
emotions are non self , dependent on others , not belonging to own nature. So
one has to disown them altogether to realize himself.
Practices
of fasting, praying or pilgrimages cannot help in experiencing the
soul since each of these are foreign to
the nature of soul. In reality they are activities of the body. The emotions
experienced during these acts will also
fall within the bounds of pride , greed etc (although to a lesser degree)which
truly keep him away from realizing the self.
Knowledge
of the others also does not enable experiencing
the soul. Because the moment that one is
knowing any other object, he is not knowing the self. Therefore one can keep on
knowing as many things as he wishes , he would still not know the self.
The
soul is experienced by self by immersing in self. This is the only technique by
which self can be realized and known.
One has to disown all other emotions and concentrate on knowing the self as the
object of contemplation. It has been described as Dhyan , yoga by different
religions. All claim to be successful also. So one has to decide which one is
most efficient probably by the result one can achieve. After all the self
realization should lead to eternal happiness and bliss. If one claims to
achieve the same then they are welcome
to it.
In
Jainism the entire scriptures are directly or indirectly leading to the
technique of self realization. Self cannot be experienced without understanding
the form and greatness of self. Definitely one cannot experience happiness if
one’s object of contemplation is a sinner or a material object. Surely it leads
to perturbation. Therefore Jainism firstly teaches the true nature of the soul being the same as that of the
omniscient who has described it for the
benefit of others. When one accepts his own nature being as magnificent as that
of the god and tries to establish his oneness with the same then alone he can
experience unwavering peace and tranquility within the self. This is something
which is distinctly lacking in other religions. No one has described the
process of purification of soul in the spiritual way , as well as classical
mathematical manner as done by Jainism. Only by knowing the true nature of self
, at the same time excluding the nature of others can one truly contemplate
upon the self. While Samaysar describes the spiritual purity of the soul,
Dhavla describes the journey of the soul when he climbs the ladder of spiritual
growth identifying the milestones reached on the way and left behind. This is
the only manner all those who have attained Moksha have travelled , and there
is no other method, nor is there a shortcut. Although it is quite possible that
one may traverse those steps in shortest time while others may take thousands
of years.
Moksha
is the unification of soul with its own nature of pure belief, pure knowledge
with utmost stability.
Then
there is nothing further left to achieve.
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