Preksha Dhayan
What Is Preksa? : The word preksa is derived from the root iksa, which means 'to see'. When the prefix ‘pra' is added, it becomes pra+iksa=preksa, which means 'to perceive carefully and profoundly'
Here, 'seeing' does not mean external vision, but careful concentration on subtle consciousness by mental insight. Preksa Dhydna is the system of meditation engaging one's mind fully in the perception of subtle internal and innate phenomena of consciousness.
Sampikkhae appagamappaenam This aphorism from the Jain canon Dasavealiyam forms the basic principle for this system of meditation. It simply means : 'See you thyself'-Perceive and realize the most subtle aspects of consciousness by your conscious mind. Hence, "to see" is the fundamental principle of meditation. The name Preksa Dhyana was therefore assigned to the present technique; thus this technique is basically not concentration of 'thought' but concentration of perception'.
To know and to see are the characteristics of the consciousness. In its mundane state, being contaminated by Karmic matter, the faculty is not fully manifested, but it can be developed.
The term dhyana (meditation) is usually defined as the concentration of thinking on a particular subject for a length of time. Now the mind is the instrument of 'thinking' as well as 'perception'. And, therefore, when linked with Preksa Dhyana becomes 'concentration of perception and not of thought. While it is conceded that both thinking (conception) as well as seeing (perception) assist in ascertaining and knowing the truth, the latter is more potent than the former. In the tenets propounded by Bhagavan Mahavira 'perceive and know' is given more prominence than 'think, contemplate and know'. This is because perception is strictly concerned with the phenomena of the present; it is neither a memory of the past nor an imagination of the future; whatever is happening at the moment of perception must necessarily be a reality. The process of perception, therefore, excludes a mere 'appearance'.
One commences the practice of this technique with the perception of the body. Body contains the soul. Therefore, one must pierce the wall of the container to reach the content (the soul). Again, 'breathing' is a part of the body and essence of life. To breathe is to live; and so breath is naturally qualified to be the first object of our perception, while the body itself would become the next one. The vibrations, sensations and other physiological events are worthy of our attention. Our conscious mind becomes sharpened to perceive these internal realities in due course, and then it will be able to focus itself on the minutest and the most subtle occurences within the body. The direct perception of emotions, urges and other psychological events will then be possible. And ultimately the envelope of karmic matter, contaminating the consciousness could be clearly recognised.
As stated above, our conscious mind is capable of two categories of functions viz. thinking and perceiving conception and perception. But it is incapable of being engaged in both the categories simultaneously. One either thinks or perceives. Exclusive perception of a single object can thus become an efficient tool for steadying the ever wandering mind. If one concentrates in perceiving any external object, he finds that his mind has steadied and his train of thoughts has almost halted. Similarly when one concentrate on the perception of his own internal phenomena such as sensations, vibrations or even thoughts, he will realize that the mind has stopped its usual meandering and is fully engaged in perception. Continued concentrated perception of intrinsic processes will ultimately enable one to perceive the subtle bodies.
In 'preksa' perception always means experience bereft of the duality of like and dislike. When the experience is contaminated with pleasure or pain, like and dislike, perception loses its primary position and becomes secondary.
Impartiality and equanimity are synonymous with Preksa. Preksa is impartial perception, where there is neither the emotion of attachment nor aversion, neither pleasure nor displeasure. Both these states of emotion are closely and carefully perceived but not experienced. And because both are perceived from close quarters, it is not difficult to reject both of them and assume a neutral position. Thus equanimity is essentially associated with preksa.
Our sense-organ of sight is merely an instrument of perception of an object; it is neither responsible for its existence nor does it derive pleasure (or pain) from it. The same applies to the purely perceptive consciousness. He, whose 'perception' and 'knowledge' are pure, does neither attract new karmic matter nor does he suffer the effect of the old accumulated karmas.
Aim of Preksha Dhyana : The main purpose of the practice of preksa-dhyana is to purify the mental states. Mind is constantly choked by contaminating urges, emotions and passions. This hampers the flow of wisdom. The hurdles of uncleanliness must first be removed. When the mind is cleansed peace of mind automatically surfaces. Balance of mind, equanimity and the state of well-being are also experienced simultaneously.
As we shall see later, manifestation of "Taijasa Lesya" is the commencement of purity of mind. The state of' well being is ever associated with Taijasa Lesya. Thus "Taijasa Lesya" brings about the state of well-being; "Padma Lesya" brings about peace of mind; and "Sukla Lesya" results in purity and equanimity.
It should always be remembered that the ultimate aim of sadhaka is purity and equanimity-freedom from contamination of passions. The state of well-being is not our ultimate aim, it will inevitably ensue; nevertheless, it is not the objective. Similarly peacefulness is also a secondary benefit and will always be achieved, but not the aim. We have to transcend both these mental states to reach our ultimate purpose, viz. total purity of mind and goodness.
Preconditions of Preksha Dhyana
Initiation : At the commencement of the meditation session, all sadhakas shall assume a posture of cross-legged position, totally relax the body and mind to remove the tension, and with folded hands, recite the following aphorisms
1. abbhutthiomi arahanae
I dedicate myself to the practice of Preksha-Dhyana.
2. maggam uvasampajjami
I initiate myself into the path of Spiritual Practice.
3. samattam uvasampajjami
I initiate my self into the practice of Internal Perception.
4. samjamam uvasampajjami
I initiate myself into the practice of Spriritual Experience.
Thus the sadhakas initiate themselves into the practice of preksa-dhyana.
Five Disciplines of Initiation
1. Bhavakriya (Synchrony of Mental and Physical Actions)
This is three-fold :
1. Present-mindedness.
2. Complete awareness of one’s actions.
3. Un-interrupted (spiritual) vigilance.
Present-minded action is contrary to mechanical (absent minded) action. When one is engaged in doing some thing, it is not proper to be carried away by one's imagination which is not connected with the work in hand.
Habitually, one wastes his time and energy in useless recollection of the past or irrelevant imaginations of the future. But neither the past nor the future is real. Only the present exists and is real. One who lets the present slip away, is never able to re-capture it, and hence, Bhavakriya is the only means of capturing the reality of the present. It means present-minded action.
Bhavakriya also means complete awareness of one's action. Habitually, again, one thinks with 'half a mind', that is fracturing the mind, and engaging only a piece of it in the work in hand, while the rest of it is allowed to wander about. When the mind is totally engaged by the work in hand, the result is Bhavakriya. Synchrony of mind and body saves much waste of efforts and energy, increases efficiency and results in greater success.
Another meaning of Bhavakriya, is constant vigilance. One must be continuously aware of his ultimate aim, which is twofold : (a) Purification of mind and (b) Awakening the supine Will and other inherent powers.
2. Act - Do not "Re-act" : Habitually we react to external stimuli, that is, we are generally overwhelmed bv retaliatory emotional forces within us demanding appropriate action. But, surely this cannot be called "action", it is, in fact, "re-action". Discipline of the reasoning mind controls the re-active forces and results in appropriate "action", rather than "re-action", One should endeavour to establish control and avoid retaliatary behaviour.
3. Amity : Behaviour of a sadhaka should radiate friendliness, compassion and sympathy. This is possible only when one is able to countermand one's reactive tendencies by reasoning and avoid retaliatory thoughts and actions. Subjugation of retaliatory impulse results in friendly and compassionate behaviour. The sadhaka should be ever vigilant in this respect and cultivate amity.
4. Dieting : Dietics is an important facet of meditational practice. Intake of food deeply influences not only our physical health, but also mental tendencies and emotional states. Habitually we eat too much. This overloads our digestive system and results in indigestion etc. This in turn, further weakens not only the digestive organs but vitiates the entire organism, including mental tendencies and emotional states.
Sadhaka should be vigilant towards his diet, avoid over-eating. He should particularly abstain from such foods and drinks as are unsalutary to one's health, physical as well as mental.
5. Silence : The last discipline of the initiation is controlled speech or complete silence. We speak in order to communicate with one another. However, habitually we speak too much and too long. Sadhaka should be careful to effect full control over his speaking mechanism. It should be used only when necessary. His speech should be modulated and measured.
Recitation of Arham : A precondition of meditational practice is a build-up of a defensive armour to protect the practitioner from the onslaught of evil influences of external environment. The process of the build-up is repeated loud recitation of the syllable "arham". Synchronised with the recitation, there should be a mental projection of the step by step build-up of the protective shell. The shell is being woven from the crisscross of the electromagnetic radiations, emanations from the sound waves thus produced. The radiations ultimately merge together and build an impregnable armour-like, enveloping the practitioner, keeping him safe for the duration of the practice.
Spiritual Vigilance : Spiritual vigilance, i.e. awakening of the consciousness and its constant alertness is an essential constituent of meditation. Only he who is alert can be vigilant: only he who is vigilant can concentrate and only he who is able to concentrate can practice meditation. One who is not vigilant is prone to be assailed by fear from all directions. On the other hand, one who is alert, and hence fully vigilant, is never perturbed by fear.
An alert mind never burdens itself with unnecessary memories of what is done. Man is habitually bothered more by the memories of the past actions rather than the work on hand. For instance, when he takes his meals, instead of concentrating on eating, his mind is agitated with umpteen other, mostly irrelevant, memories and/or plans. He who keeps his mind fully engaged by whatever is being done at the moment, is the true sadhaka. Complete harmony of body, mind and speech is indeed very rarely achieved. And where there is no harmony between the body and the mind, the result is agitation, tension and restlessness. In fact, real sadhana comprises total harmony of thought and deed - call it concentration, meditation or whatever you like.
Meditation does not mean suppression of mental function. Any attempt towards its suppression makes the mind more restless. The question then arises, what to do to achieve concentration? The answer is simply-‘See yourself and realise the Self’.
As already stated, breath is an essential constituent of the self. Realizing breath is a step towards realizing the self. And so he who realizes his breath is a wise man. He may not be a scholar but he knows his self, and is, therefore, wise.
Normally one pays no attention - makes no efforts to breathe. Nevertheless breathing does not stop. Proper breathing is very important. He who is indifferent to how he breathes is ignoring his own self. Breathing, internal breathing, sense organs, body and mind are all qualified to become objects of concentrated perception, without which peace of mind cannot be achieved.
Today we live in a world of mental tensions. Even routine chores like buying one’s necessities from a ration shop or commuting, by public transport in a crowded city, produces enormous dangerous tensions. The question is- what is the remedy? How to avoid the injurious effects of the daily stress? Modern life-styles are unlikely to change for the better. We must therefore find the remedy within our own selves. Fortunately we do possess an innate protective mechanism tropotrophic or relaxation response-which when triggered can produce conditions diametrically opposite to those of stress. Regular practice of 'easy-to-learn meditation technique’ is a potent remedy for relieving mental stress and achieving peace of mind. It can also prevent the onslaught of dangerous psychosomatic diseases.
Preksa Dhayana is such an uncomplicated, easy-to-learn technique of meditation. It is comprised of the following
1. Kayotsarga (Total Relaxation).
2. Antaryatra (Internal Trip).
3. Svasa Preksa (Perception of Breath).
4. Sartra Preksa (Perception of Body).
5. Chaitanya Kendra Preksa (Perception of Psychic Centres).
6. Lesya-dhayana (Perception of Psychic Spectrum).
7. Perception of the Present Moment.
8. Perception of thoughts.
9. Self Discipline.
10. Bhavana (counter vibrations).
11. Anupreksa (Contemplation).
12. Concentration.
Relaxation with Self Awareness : Bodily movements, speech and mental functions are three-fold activities of our organism. One of the facets of meditation practice is reduction or total cessation of each of these activities. Three types of meditation practices thus ensure from the trinity of activities. Kayotsarga, and its associates such as Kayagupti, Kayapratisamlinata etc. come under one of these three types.
Kayotsarga literally means ‘abandonment of the body coupled with high degree of conscious awareness’. In practice, it is conscious suspension of all gross movements of the body resulting in relaxation of the skeletal muscles and drastic reduction of metabolic activities. This physical condition results in relieving mental tensions and is an essential precondition for meditation practice. It becomes, therefore, the first phase of Preksa Dhayana must be practised for a few minutes at the commencement of all types of this technique. Apart from this, Kayotsarga may be independently practised daily for longer periods, If one learns and practices systematic relaxation everyday he would remain relaxed, calm and unperturbed in any situation. Physically it is more restful than sleep, and is the most harmless and direct antidote to psychosomatic maladies resulting from tension. Spiritually, in this process, the lifeless body is cast off, while the consciousness upwards freed from and outside its material shell.
Method of Kayotsarga : Choose a comfortable position; 'Lotus-posture' is ideal, but other ones can also be adopted. Keep your spinal cord, neck and head in a straight line without causing tension. For longer period, lying flat on a hard ground on a blanket is more suitable. Relaxation commences with the total cessation of the voluntary movements. Since breathing and relaxation are linked together, be aware of your breathing. If it is shallow, hasty and irregular, regulate it until it becomes even, slow and rhythmic. After this, it may be forgotten altogether. Next persuade every muscle in each part of the body to relax by auto-suggestion. Keeping the body entirely motionless, allow the mind to move in small steps keeping in mind that the technique is that of patient persuasion, and not forced by strong will-power. Auto-suggestion is followed by an experience of relaxation in each part. When the whole body has become relaxed, there is an acute and actual perception of rest and relaxation, which is no longer auto-suggestion, but is real experience. Once this stage is reached, the body is cast off and forgotten, and the conscious element reveals its separate existence. Thus Kayotsarga is not only total relaxation, but actual perception of the self, quite apart from the material non-self i.e. the body.
Internal Trip : The second step of Preksa Dhyana is Antaryatra (Internal Trip). It follows the Kayotsarga. Exertion in systematic meditation discipline needs good deal of nervous energy, and it is, therefore, essential to generate it. Susumna, i.e. the spinal cord is an important part of the central nervous system. Its bottom end is in the vicinity of sakti kendra i.e. centre of energy. In the practice of Antaryatra the conscious mind travels from Sakti-kendra to Jnana-kendra (centre of knowledge, top of the head) via the spinal cord. This internal trip of the conscious mind is repeated several times, and results in an increased flow of the vital energy (prana sakti) upwards. Repeated practice of this process assists in better generation of the nervous energy necessary for further meditation practice.
Nervous system is an essential and very important component for the functioning of conscious activities. It permeates the entire body through a network of nerves. The spinal cord and the brain are the commanding stations of the entire system. The former extends from the centre of energy situated in the lumbar region of the spine and enters the latter at the base of the skull, and is connected to it by the brain-stem and pons. These, therefore, are the chief centres of consciousness and the seat of the conscious mind. The nerves from the sense-organs also converge here. Sensation, motor action and perception converge to or are radiated from here. Sensory nerves and motor nerves are energized and activated by it.
Man represents the culmination of the process of evolution in the entire cosmos. Human mind alone possesses the capacity for conscious reasoning. Lower organisms do not possess a rational reasoning mind. Man’s ability for rational and conceptual thinking is derived from his reasoning mind. Thus man alone is capable to direct the flow of his spiritual energy in an upward direction. If the flow is downwards, the behaviour will be guided by psychological distortions such as cruelty, greed, fear and hate; on the other hand, if the flow is reversed, these distortions will disappear. This will immensely strengthen the power of the unique human attribute-rational thinking and conscious reasoning. It is the direction of the flow of the spiritual energy which is a decider of the human behaviour.
Perception of Breathing :It is impossible to canalise and concentrate the mental functioning if the breath is not adequately regulated. Breath is essential for metabolic functioning of the body. It is also linked with conscious mind. Since mind is ever restless, it is extremely difficult to steady the wandering mind directly. An efficient and easy way to control mental activity is concentrated perception of breath-Svasa Preksa.
Proper regulation of respiration by the conscious mind results in the development of the controlled activity of the mind. To stop the restlessness of the mind, and canalise its functioning, it is essential to be aware of breathing. Shallow, hasty and irregular (spasmodic) breathing must first be regulated to be deep, slow, calm and rhythmic. Even in Kayotsarga, breathing is not stopped, but is made subtle.
Deep, slow and rhythmic breathing is an essential condition for regulating mental process. Very slow inhalation and complete exhalation (by the use of diaphragm) is called dirgha svasa deep breathing or diaphragmatic breathing.
Complete awareness of breathing and nothing else but breathing is the basis of Svasa Preksa. Attention can be kept focussed on a single point in the respiratory tract, e.g. nostrils or it can travel the entire tract during inhalation as well as exhalation. Various facets of breathing, such as movement of the diaphragm, rate of breathing and depth of breathing can conveniently become the object of Svasa Preksa.
Svasa Preksa can be practised in two ways viz. dirgha svasa and samavrtti svasa.
Dirgha Svasa Preksa : As already explained above, Dirgha svasa is slow and complete exhalation and deep inhalation. The first step in this process is to regulate the rate of breathing by reducing the number of breaths per minute. Normally a healthy adult's rate of breathing is 15/17 breaths per minute (b.p.m.). By practice of diaphragmatic breathing, this rate can be drastically reduced. Even casual practice can easily bring it down to 10/12 b.p.m. And further regular practice can reduce the rate to 6, 4 or even 2 or 1 b.p.m.
Regulation of breath, reduction in its rate, and the rhythm results in steadying the mind. Simultaneously, urges and impulses, emotions and passions and their impelling forces--the primal drives -- all become amenable to control. When the breath is shallow and its rate high, primal drives and passions are aroused, strengthening the urges and emotions. Quick breathing acts as a vehicle for all these distortions. One can easily pacify the passions by regulating the breath. If one slows down the breath-rate and commences rhythmic breathing, the passion forces would at once be retarded. This is because they are deprived of the vehicle, and without a transport they cannot make much headway. A practitioner of meditation would, in due course, be able to perceive in advance the onslaught of rising passions, and thus will be prepared to nullify their attack by resorting to 'dirgha svasa'. The rising passion would then begin to subside. Thus by blunting the sharpness of their attack, a sadhaka saves himself from being the victim of the dreadful urges and emotions.
Breath is a reality of the present moment. Practice of Svasa-preksa leads the sadhaka to live equanimously and impartially. He will also get rid of tension as a side benefit.
As stated above, Preksa Dhyana is the technique of seeing one's own self. Breath is the gate-way to the self (consciousness). To commence the internal trip, one must pass through the main gate way of breath. And when mind and breath become inseparable, companions, the journey begins. In theory breath is a part and parcel of the self; and so one can realize the goal of reaching the self via the breath. In practice, seeing oneself simply means perception of all aspects of breath by the conscious mind.
Samavrtti Svasa Preksa : Like Dirgha Svasa Preksa, Samavrtti Svasa Preksa is also an important process of this meditation system. Here breath is exhaled through one (say, left) nostril and inhaled through the other (right). Then exhaling through the right, it is inhaled through the left. Throughout the process, the perceptive mind is closely linked with the breath. As in Dirgha Suasa Preksa, breath is regulated to be rhythmic. In due course by the practice of this, one can develop the inherent capacities of the subconscious mind such as extrasensory perception, clairvoyance etc.
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