Samayik Swadhyaya Mahan - Book Summary

Here's a comprehensive summary of the provided text, "Samayik Swadhyaya Mahan" by Bhanvarlal Pokharna:

The text, an excerpt from a publication honoring Acharya Shri Hastimalji, emphasizes the paramount importance of Samayik and Swadhyaya (self-study) in Jainism for spiritual upliftment.

Human Potential and the Need for Spiritual Science:

The text begins by stating that humans are a link between divine and demonic states. Through virtuous tendencies (sadvrittis), humans can attain divinity, while negative tendencies (asadvrittis) can lead to a lower state.
Humans possess immense power through their mind, speech, and body (man, vachan, kaya). With these, they can create any kind of life, but modern advancements and sensory pleasures have made humans enslaved by their desires, turning them away from their true spiritual strength.
Beyond these manifest powers, humans possess a greater, often unknown, spiritual power that, if neglected, leads to spiritual poverty.
Just as worldly knowledge requires literature, schools, and teachers (like science, schools, and professors), spiritual knowledge also necessitates its own specific literature, institutions, and spiritual guides.

The Superiority of Spiritual Education:

Worldly education leads to temporary professions like doctors, collectors, and barristers. These positions and the knowledge acquired often cease to exist with the current life, providing only sensory gratification.
In contrast, spiritual education leads to exalted spiritual states like Shravak (lay follower), Sadhu (ascetic), Upadhyaya (preceptor), Acharya (head of the monastic order), Arihant (liberated being with residual karma), and Siddha (fully liberated being). These spiritual positions are so revered that all worldly dignitaries bow before them.
This spiritual knowledge is eternal, transcending death and continuing into future lives, regardless of the soul's transmigration.

Acharya Hastimalji's Legacy and the "Samayik-Swadhyaya Mahan" Movement:

The text highlights the core message of the late Acharya Shri Hastimalji: "Uplift the soul through Samayik and Swadhyaya." He dedicated his life to spreading this message across the nation, establishing numerous study groups and inspiring a spiritual movement.
Acharya Hastimalji is described as a "great fragrant elephant" (mahan gandh hathi), whose eloquence captivated listeners. He presented an ideal to the Jain world, leading the monastic order with the strength of a lion.
He proved that Samayik and Swadhyaya are unparalleled practices for spiritual liberation.

The Essence of Samayik:

Samayik is defined as the pure practice of equanimity (samatva bhava).
During Samayik, the mind becomes as calm as an ocean of milk, preventing the accumulation of new karma.
By remaining steadfast in one's true self, the practitioner can shed existing karma (nirjara).
Acharya Haribhadra states that through the pure practice of Samayik, one can destroy debilitating karma (ghati karma) and attain Kevalgyan (omniscience).
Samayik is undertaken with purity of substance (dravya), place (kshetra), time (kal), and intention (bhava), along with purity of mind, speech, and body.
It is the first of the six essential duties (shadaavashyak), and without it, the other five cannot be performed. All six duties are encompassed within Samayik.
Samayik is also the ninth of the vows (vrat), and the first ethical vow (shikshavrat) and the first character trait (charitra) undertaken by a spiritual aspirant.
It signifies the renunciation of sinful activities and impure thoughts (savadh yoga).
The term Samayik itself means "excellent conduct" (shrestha acharan), derived from sama (equal/excellent) and ayan (conduct). It is about detaching from uneven emotions and dwelling in one's true nature.
Equanimity is equated with "yoga" in the Bhagavad Gita, making Samayik the most supreme practice.
Acharya Jinbhadra Gani Kshama Shraman described Samayik as the essence of the fourteen Purvas (ancient Jain scriptures).

The Significance of Equanimity and Self-Realization:

Just as the fragrance is the essence of flowers, equanimity is the essence of spiritual practice. Without it, practice is hollow and merely nominal.
Worship without equanimity is mockery.
Samayik involves both substance (dravya) and intention (bhava).
Samayik is the act of touching the soul (atm-sparshata), mastering oneself, and realizing the soul's inherent qualities.

The Purpose and Power of Samayik:

According to the Bhagavati Sutra, Samayik is the soul itself, and the soul is its purpose.
Acharya Nemichandra states that Bhava Samayik (internal Samayik) occurs when the soul's consciousness, turning away from external objects, engages with its own true nature.
Shri Jindasgani Mahattar considers Samayik to be the primal auspiciousness (pradya mangal).
A soul that has undertaken Bhava Samayik even once will not transmigrate for more than seven or eight lifetimes. It is described as a touchstone (parasmani) that transforms.

The Interplay of Substance and Intention:

Samayik requires both outward ritual (dravya) and inner devotion (bhava).
Dravya without bhava is like a blank clay token, which has no market value. Bhava without dravya is like gold without a stamp – it has intrinsic value but isn't recognized as currency.
Dravya with bhava is like stamped gold currency.
A practitioner of Samayik that combines both dravya and bhava naturally embodies truthfulness, duty, regularity, integrity, and simplicity – qualities inherent to the soul.
Lord Mahavir cited the example of Punia Shravak to illustrate the importance of Samayik, stating it can liberate one from the sufferings of hell.
A practitioner of true Samayik possesses discriminatory knowledge (bhed vignani). While general Samayik is practiced by lay followers (at the fifth stage of spiritual development), discriminatory knowledge occurs at the fourth stage.

The Role of Swadhyaya (Self-Study):

Swadhyaya is the essence of life and is crucial for acquiring knowledge.
It involves studying scriptures that contain self-knowledge.
Simply put, Swadhyaya is the study of the self (swa).
The fruit of Swadhyaya is reflecting on, contemplating, or putting into practice what is learned, thereby internalizing it.
Without Swadhyaya, understanding the soul's nature is difficult. The two paths to understanding the soul are a guru's teachings and Swadhyaya.
While finding a guru and their guidance is rare, one can access scriptures. Scriptures are a flowing stream of knowledge available at home.
Consistent, even small, study of scriptures can lead to profound knowledge. Swadhyaya of righteous scriptures is like light in darkness.
However, mere reading is not enough; contemplation and bringing the thought into experience are essential for beneficial Swadhyaya.
Experiencing the knowledge is challenging – much less is experienced than contemplated, and much less is contemplated than read. True experience is beyond intellectual grasp and is a matter of the soul itself. Swadhyaya aids in attaining this.

In conclusion, the text passionately advocates for Samayik and Swadhyaya as the fundamental practices for achieving spiritual liberation and realizing the true nature of the soul, a message powerfully propagated by Acharya Shri Hastimalji.