Paryushana has begun. This is a great time for reflection. A good time to think about the Bhavanas.
So what’s a Bhavna? Well…Jainism puts a significant emphasis on the thought process of a human being. A person’s behaviour and his actions are the reflection of his internal thoughts, day in and day out. Our thoughts and actions result in the accumulation of Karma. Thus we should be mindful in our thoughts. Jainism expresses a need to make room for pure thoughts, and to drive out the impure ones. A way to do this would be through reflecting or meditating on the twelve thoughts or Bhavnas.
Bodh Durlabha Bhavana
This Bhavana is about bodh. Bodh means imparted wisdom. We can only hear this from someone who has truly experienced their soul i.e. has achieved samyak darshan. Thus we need to find someone who has this experience and we need to contemplate on his/her wisdom so that we can obtain correct knowledge. This is not an easy task, especially in today’s world.
The good news is that there’s plenty of material available, produced by those who have experienced their soul. This nurtures contemplation and is a step in the right direction to achieving our goal of moksha. Thus we should consider ourselves to be fortunate as we have access to this literature and we have opportunities to hear the bodh (wisdom) of learned souls.
This in itself, is not enough to stop our soul from wandering the 14 worlds. We must also change our thinking and conduct. We can do this with the guidance from a learned soul.
