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Jain meditation
Jain meditation (Sanskrit: ध्यान, dhyana) includes various practices of reflection and meditation. While Jainism considers yoga and dhyana as necessary practices, it has never been a fully developed practice, but "an adjunct to austerity" to still mental and physical activity. According to the Jain-canon, the only means to attain liberation is sukla-dhyāna, but essential knowledge of dhyana may have been lost early in the Jain-tradition, and the Tattvārtha-sūtra (2nd-5th c. CE) "states that pure meditation (sukla-dhyāna, e.g. samadhi) is unattainable in the current time-cycle." Nevertheless, sāmāyika (equanimity) is an essential practice in Jainism.
The oldest descriptions of Jain yoga and meditation can be found in the Acaranga Sutra (300 BCE), which describes the solitary ascetic meditation of Mahavira. It mentions Trāṭaka (fixed gaze) meditation, and uses the phrase "kāyaṃ vosajjamaṇgāre" (ĀS1, 9.3.7.), "an ascetic who has given up the body," which may be an early reference to Kayotsarga, "giving up the body," an essential Jain meditative practice, in which one stands motionless, signifying the death of the body, achieving tranquility and purity of mind, resembling the three limbs of dharana, dhyana, and samadhi of Patanjali's eight limb yoga. The Sutrakritanga (2nd c. BCE) mentions preksha (self-observation), and states that "the ultimate means for emancipation are dhyana, yoga and titiksa (tolerance). It also states that yoga and meditation can be completed by kayotsarga.
Texts attributed to a Kundakunda (collective authorship, ca. 450 to 1150 CE) incorporated samkhya, Buddhist and Advaita Vedanta influences. The 8th century Jain philosopher Haribhadra wrote the Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya, developing his own unique system that "depart[ed] from the scriptures," assimilating many elements from Patañjali's Yoga-sūtra into his new Jain yoga. The 20th century saw the development and spread of new modernist forms of Jain dhyana, including prekṣā-dhyāna of the Śvētāmbara Terāpanth-sect, which sought to rediscover Jain meditation; and the stress on direct recognition the self or atman by various teachers, and by Digambara lay-movements who are inspired by texts attributed to a Kundakunda (450-1100 CE).
Paul Dundas notes that Jainism never “fully developed a culture of true meditative contemplation.” According to Dundas, Jainism
...never fully developed a culture of true meditative contemplation, because early Jain teachings were more concerned with the cessation of mental and physical activity than their transformation, and meditation did not lose its original role as little more than an adjunct to austerity until the early medieval period, by which time it had become a subject of essentially theoretical interest. Certainly it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that later Jain writers discussed the subject only because participation in the pan-Indian socio-religious world made it necessary to do so.
According to Dundas, while earliest Jainism may have had a tradition of stilling the mind inherited by highly accomplished kevalins, the knowledge of these skills was lost at an early date in the history of Jainism, leaving Jains incapable of attaining these states.
Jainism has been influenced by other Indian religions and traditions, including yoga, samkhya, Buddhism, and Advaita Vedanta. Texts attributed to a Kundakunda (collective authorship, ca. 450 to 1150 CE) incorporated samkhya, Buddhist and Advaita Vedanta influences. The 8th century Jain philosopher Haribhadra assimilated many elements from Patañjali’s Yoga-sūtra into his new Jain yoga.
According to Sagarmal Jain, "the Jain sadhana of the canonical age was centered on a three- or fourfold path of emancipation, i.e. right faith, right knowledge, right conduct, and right austerity." Meditation is a form of austerity and ascetic practice (tapas), which is a central feature of Jainism. Ascetic life may include nakedness, symbolizing non-possession even of clothes, fasting, body mortification, and penance, to burn away past karma and stop producing new karma, both of which are believed essential for reaching siddha and moksha ("liberation from rebirths" and "salvation").
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Jain meditation
Jain meditation (Sanskrit: ध्यान, dhyana) includes various practices of reflection and meditation. While Jainism considers yoga and dhyana as necessary practices, it has never been a fully developed practice, but "an adjunct to austerity" to still mental and physical activity. According to the Jain-canon, the only means to attain liberation is sukla-dhyāna, but essential knowledge of dhyana may have been lost early in the Jain-tradition, and the Tattvārtha-sūtra (2nd-5th c. CE) "states that pure meditation (sukla-dhyāna, e.g. samadhi) is unattainable in the current time-cycle." Nevertheless, sāmāyika (equanimity) is an essential practice in Jainism.
The oldest descriptions of Jain yoga and meditation can be found in the Acaranga Sutra (300 BCE), which describes the solitary ascetic meditation of Mahavira. It mentions Trāṭaka (fixed gaze) meditation, and uses the phrase "kāyaṃ vosajjamaṇgāre" (ĀS1, 9.3.7.), "an ascetic who has given up the body," which may be an early reference to Kayotsarga, "giving up the body," an essential Jain meditative practice, in which one stands motionless, signifying the death of the body, achieving tranquility and purity of mind, resembling the three limbs of dharana, dhyana, and samadhi of Patanjali's eight limb yoga. The Sutrakritanga (2nd c. BCE) mentions preksha (self-observation), and states that "the ultimate means for emancipation are dhyana, yoga and titiksa (tolerance). It also states that yoga and meditation can be completed by kayotsarga.
Texts attributed to a Kundakunda (collective authorship, ca. 450 to 1150 CE) incorporated samkhya, Buddhist and Advaita Vedanta influences. The 8th century Jain philosopher Haribhadra wrote the Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya, developing his own unique system that "depart[ed] from the scriptures," assimilating many elements from Patañjali's Yoga-sūtra into his new Jain yoga. The 20th century saw the development and spread of new modernist forms of Jain dhyana, including prekṣā-dhyāna of the Śvētāmbara Terāpanth-sect, which sought to rediscover Jain meditation; and the stress on direct recognition the self or atman by various teachers, and by Digambara lay-movements who are inspired by texts attributed to a Kundakunda (450-1100 CE).
Paul Dundas notes that Jainism never “fully developed a culture of true meditative contemplation.” According to Dundas, Jainism
...never fully developed a culture of true meditative contemplation, because early Jain teachings were more concerned with the cessation of mental and physical activity than their transformation, and meditation did not lose its original role as little more than an adjunct to austerity until the early medieval period, by which time it had become a subject of essentially theoretical interest. Certainly it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that later Jain writers discussed the subject only because participation in the pan-Indian socio-religious world made it necessary to do so.
According to Dundas, while earliest Jainism may have had a tradition of stilling the mind inherited by highly accomplished kevalins, the knowledge of these skills was lost at an early date in the history of Jainism, leaving Jains incapable of attaining these states.
Jainism has been influenced by other Indian religions and traditions, including yoga, samkhya, Buddhism, and Advaita Vedanta. Texts attributed to a Kundakunda (collective authorship, ca. 450 to 1150 CE) incorporated samkhya, Buddhist and Advaita Vedanta influences. The 8th century Jain philosopher Haribhadra assimilated many elements from Patañjali’s Yoga-sūtra into his new Jain yoga.
According to Sagarmal Jain, "the Jain sadhana of the canonical age was centered on a three- or fourfold path of emancipation, i.e. right faith, right knowledge, right conduct, and right austerity." Meditation is a form of austerity and ascetic practice (tapas), which is a central feature of Jainism. Ascetic life may include nakedness, symbolizing non-possession even of clothes, fasting, body mortification, and penance, to burn away past karma and stop producing new karma, both of which are believed essential for reaching siddha and moksha ("liberation from rebirths" and "salvation").