Yoga as well as Meditation, both words have been misused
extensively at present times, so much so that the actual meaning of the words
have been lost. These have become bait for money making businesses, and are
status symbols for people desirous of showing off their closeness to heavens.
In casual talks people like to throw these words casually for effect and love
to watch the listeners gape with open mouth at their proficiency. However this
article is not concerned at criticizing others for what they are doing, but to
describe and understand the implication of these words in Jain philosophy.
Yoga
Contrary to popular understanding , the term yoga in Jainism
has nothing to do with exercise or even pranayama. However it has far reaching
implications and is quite complex. Just
for comparison we look at the online dictionary meaning of the term Yoga: “a school of Hindu philosophy advocating and
prescribing a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining
liberation from the material world and union of the self with the Supreme Being
or ultimate principle.” With this as background we proceed with Jain meaning.
Yoga in Jains is a property of soul i.e. quality of soul and
belongs to its nature. Its definition is “ the vibration of soul space is
called Yoga”. Actually it is a negative attribute. The vibration of soul space
is indicative of activities which may be arising in soul which results in activation of mind, speech or body. Thus when
a person wishes to speek, the soul space vibrates indicative of bhasha yoga and with this as nimitta or
catalyst, the vocal chords of the person activate resulting in speech. When the
person thinks , the mana yoga induces the mind to function into corresponding
thoughts. Lastly when he desires to carry out a body function, the kaya yoga
acts as nimitta for the body to carry out the task. Thus the soul space
vibrates every time the soul desires of a specific activity and with it acting
as nimitta the Jiva carries out the task with
the mind,speech or body. Thus the yoga is of three types which gets
further divided into fifteen types when detailed. The desire to do something itself may be
arising out of fruition of some karma. For example, karma particles pertaining
to anger are fructified which causes a vibration of soul space , under the
influence of which the person may desire to abuse or beat somebody. Thus yoga is
indicative of the desire element within the soul. Even the desire to fast or
prey causes corresponding vibration in the soul or the yogic activity. Thus we
find that the meaning and characteristics of yoga are entirely different from
the conventional one. It is yoga which causes influx of karma particles within
the soul known as asrava, which get gets divided into eight types of karmas and get bonded to the soul.
Yoga decides the nature of karma to be
bonded as well as the quantity of
particles to be bonded. However the duration of bondage and its intensity is
decided by passions.
Being vibration free is the true state of the soul implying
perturbation free or ayogic state which is the true nature. However in worldly
state the soul in accompanied with body which cause yoga of the three types
within soul leading to influx of karmas and bondage. Thus the yoga operates in
a negative manner to acquire karmas. Hence yoga is vaibhavik or abnormal nature of soul.
Why does the vibration of soul space occurs? Scripture says
that it is from beginingless time that the soul is accompanied with a body and
correspondingly there is fruition of Sharir Nam Karma. This acts as the
nimitta for the vibration of soul space
for conducting activities of the mind, speech or body. These activities in
conjunction with the ignorance, wrong belief of the jiva cause bondage of
future karmas. Four types of parameters ( pratyaya) are responsible for bondage
of karmas. These are named as Mithyatva ( wrong belief), Avirati ( lack of
control), Kashaya( passions) and yoga. These four are named in specific order
since on the spiritual ladder these parameters are overcome in the same order.
Mithyatava is overcome in first Gunasthana or first step itself when a person
starts climbing on spiritual path then Mithyatva would be overcome and it won’t
be responsible for accrual of karmas. The Avirati is overcome in 5th
Gunasthana when person starts practicing controls to avoid injury to others.
The Kashaya represents the anger, pride, deceit and greed which are overcome in
the 10th Gunasthana. Still the Yoga is present and is responsible
for accrual of karmas at subsequent stage. Thus yoga is inherently present in
all stages from first to 13th gunasthana due to which karmas are
accrued. Specifically speaking the yoga is responsible for nature and Pradesh( quantity)
of karma particles accrued, while Kashaya is responsible for duration and
intensity of the same. Interestingly we can now see that once the Kashaya is
overcome by 10th gunasthana , the yoga is the only parameter which
is responsible for accrual of karma but it
controls just the nature and quantity of karma particles, but not the intensity
and duration. Therefore the karma accrual at later gunasthana is more of
academic activity since as soon as karma is accrued, it is discarded. This is
why in 13th Gunasthana the Arihant or Omniscient Jiva , in spite of
having accrual of sata vedanaiya karma has
duration of one samaya , therefore it is discarded immediately. That is why it
is compared to attachment of dust to a dry wall which falls immediately as soon
as it is attached.
The 13th Gunasthana is the last where yoga is
still active hence it is named sayoga kevali gunasthana implying the yoga
activity. This activity is of two types. One is the speech i.e. the divya dwani
or the message of liberation which is characteristic of Tirthankara. By
listening to this message only his disciples pass on the message down the order
in the form of scripture. The speech is also assisted by presence of mana yoga
which is considered to be present in a formal manner. In reality due to
presence of omniscience , the Kevali Bhagwan does not need assistance of mind
since he knows all simultaneously. However the yoga activity causes the divine
speech for passing on the message of liberation to all.
This yoga activity is altogether stopped in 14th
Gunasthana named Ayoga Kevali, meaning that the kevali bhagwan is now devoid of
yoga. The duration of this stage is
minimal and he discards the body and becomes Siddha or liberated soul
immediately. The Siddha bhagwan also does not have any yoga and he enjoys
eternal bliss in this form for ever.
Does it mean that lesser the yoga, the better it is for the
soul? No, it is not exactly true. Yoga
represents the capability to induce influx of karmas , but that capability is
also dependent upon the type of body he is having. For example an ekendriya
jiva with just one sense alone, has minimal yoga but does not imply that he is
a happier soul! His capability to bond karmas is also minimal ( duration of 1
sagar for Mithyatva , as against 70 crore crore sagar for the same in five
senses humans). The yoga is definitely highest in five sensed jivas. It is in
this state the process of overcoming karmas take place by climbing the
spiritual ladder.
Thus we see that yoga represents a negative attribute of the
soul. Presence of yoga represents vibration of soul space resulting in accrual
of karmas. The process of liberation involves overcoming the desires and
passions etc so as to reduce the yogic activity more and more. Ultimately the
liberated soul does not have any yogic activity which results in eternal bliss.
Nevertheless yoga is an attribute of the soul , although in a negative sense
since zero yoga implies peace.
How does it it compare with the conventional meaning of yoga
? It is difficult to compare , except the objectives are the same. Both lead to
liberation. However in Jains the mechanism of yoga is pretty detailed with a
clear definition of the term yoga as vibration of soul space. Therefore the
objective is to reduce the vibration till it is vibration free. It is
definitely not by carrying out exercises. The path to ayogic state is through
right belief, right knowledge and right
conduct only.
Continued…..
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