15 WAYS TO BECOME SIDDHA

Jain philosophy describes that the process of liberation can happen in various ways just as we can reach New York from many different directions. There are fifteen different ways one can attain liberation.

1 Jina Siddha: In this process, an individual acquires Tirthankar Karma, which is a part of the body making Karma (Nam-karma) in the third life from the last. The individual becomes a Tirthankar in the last life, re-establishes the Jain congregation, and then attains liberation.

Examples: All the Tirthankars, to name a few, Lord Rishabha, Lord Ajitnath, Lord Shantinath, Lord Neminath, Lord Parshva, and Lord Mahavir, etc.

02 Ajina Siddha: This way, a person does not gain the Tirthankar Karma but becomes Kevali (Omniscient) and attains liberation. Example: Gautamswami

03 Tirtha Siddha: In this category, the individual attains liberation, after taking the shelter under the Jain congregation established by the Tirthankar.

04 Atirtha Siddha: In this, one becomes Kevali even before the Jain congregation is established by a Tirthankar, and also attains liberation before the Jain congregation is established. Example: Mother Marudevi and Lord Bahubali.

05 Gruhastha ling Siddha: These are the people who may live life as a householder but from within they are totally detached. They do not have any attachment or hatred for the things happening around them and as their level of spiritual attitude improves, they eliminate destructive karma and become Arihantas. If their life span karma is exhausted then they go to the salvation in about one intra Indian hour (Antarmuhurta) or if their life span is longer, they take up monk-hood and may oblige the world by spreading religion until their nirvana and liberation. Example: Sovereign king Bharat, Kurmaputra etc.

06 Anya ling Siddha: Any saintly person observing the right code of conduct, has the right faith and the right knowledge, and puts them to practice can attain liberation. Example: Valkalchiri, who was the ascetic of the other religious group

07 Sva ling Siddha: A monk who is practicing the right faith, right knowledge and right conduct and attains liberation. Example: Lord Rama, Monk Prasannachandra etc.

08 Purusha ling Siddha: This is when a man attains liberation.

09 Stree ling Siddha: This is when a woman attains liberation. Example: Lord Mallinath, Mother Marudevi, Chandanbala, Mrugavatiji, etc.

10 Napunsak ling Siddha: When a person with neutral gender attain liberation. Example: Monk Gangeya

11 Pratyeka Buddha Siddha: In this case, a person by self-awareness eliminates the destructive karma triggered by the reason of the surrounding or old age and becomes Kevali then becomes Siddha. Example: Monk Karkandu, Lord Hanuman, etc.

12 Svayam Buddha Siddha: In this case, a person by self-inspiration eliminates destructive karma and becomes Kevali then ultimately becomes Siddha. Example: Kapil Kevali

13 Buddha bodhit Siddha: When some one gets enlightened by a spiritual teacher, then renounces the world and then follows flawless life, attains liberation and become a Siddha. Example: Gautamswami, Vayubhuti etc.

14 Eka Siddha: Here only one soul (person) attains liberation at a time among the group of the monks and nuns. Example: Lord Mahavir

15 Aneka Siddha: Many monks attain liberation together at the same time. This means that it so happened that those who attained salvation together had their lives ended at the same time. Example: Lord Rishabha and other monks with him

Therefore, from here it will be now clearer that salvation definitely does not have set boundaries. It depends on the individual capacity and the surroundings, which make it easier to attain salvation. One attaining the salvation may fall into one or more than one of the above categories. As Jainism teaches us to be a compassionate, honest, humble person and control passions to achieve salvation, anybody; Jain or non-Jain following this type of life can also achieve salvation. As per Jainism, the practice matters.

FRUITS OF ANGER

Lord Mahavir has said that, “Anger causes degradation of soul.” Even religious person, a spiritually raised soul can fall into the endless cycle of birth and death because of anger. Anger creates a slope that leads the soul to the lower life forms. In the Jain history there are many stories clearly stating bad results by anger. In this article I have mentioned two stories.

The first story is of Monk Khandhaksuri. He lived in the times of the 20^th Jain Tirthankar Lord Munisuvrat. Khandhaksuri was the disciple of the Lord and there were 500 disciples under him. He was observing strict way of austerities and deep meditation. Before he renounced the world he was a prince and listener of Lord Munisuvrat. He was very much interested in the Jain Philosophy and he used to give lessons to those who were atheists. He had converted many peoples to the path of Lord Munisuvrat. There was a cruel person named Palak. He was king’s minister and was against Jainism. One day he was preaching against Jainism. By hearing about that, Khandhak went to Palak and stopped him to do so. Palak became so angry to him and decided to take revenge. After sometime, Khandhak became Lord Munisuvrat’s disciple and renounced the world.

One day, Monk Khandhaksuri asked for permission from Lord Munisuvrat to go to his sister’s abode along with his 500 disciples in order to convert her and her husband to Jainism. Lord Munisuvrat, in the power of his Omniscience could see that Khandhaksuri will face death in the way so he said him to stay. Monk Khandhaksuri asked the Lord, “Will I attain Liberation?” The Lord replied, “All your 500 disciples will attain Liberation except you.” Upon hearing this reply from the Omniscient Lord the monk thought, “For the beneficial of 500 souls I shall not look for my destiny.” So he started his journey toward the village of Kumbhkaraktak where his mundane sister was living.

The king’s minister Palak was informed about that and he decided to take revenge. He ordered the soldiers to hide the weapons in the ground. After that Palak went to the King and said him that Monk Khandhaksuri is an imposter who is sent here by the neighbor king. He has buried weapons in the land. The King said, “If this is fact then the monk will be punished.” On his way Monk Khandhaksuri was stopped by the soldiers and was blamed to be an imposter. The soldiers found weapons in the ground. The king became angry and ordered Palak to punish the monk. The monk realized that this web is created by Palak in order to take revenge. He decided to remain silent. Palak constructed a huge mixture to kill the Monk and all his 500 disciples. He ordered them all to jump in the mixture one by one. The Monk Khandhaksuri told his disciples not to be scared. He taught them that,

“Oh great souls, whenever you jump in the mixture don’t concentrate on the pain but contemplate that, I’m not this body but I’m a soul which is imperishable, eternal and beyond all other objects of the Universe.”

Every Monk, one by one followed his master’s instruction and just before they depart from the body they all attained Omniscience and attained Nirvana. This was continued until the 499 monks attained Nirvana. Now Monk Khandhaksuri and a teenager monk were left. Monk Khandhaksuri requested Palak that he will jump in the mixture first because that monk was very young, so he won’t be able to see his death. Palak didn’t accept his request and ordered the teenager monk to jump first. The monk jumped in the mixture and he too attained Omniscience and attained Liberation. Now before falling in the mixture, Monk Khandhaksuri became very angry at Palak and thought, “If my austerity has power then I want to kill this man (Palak) in every birth!” Thus he too jumped and died but because of anger he couldn’t attain Liberation and fell in the dark well of endless cycles of birth and death. He was the cause behind his all 500 disciples Liberation but he himself couldn’t gain it because of anger.

Now, the second story is about Chandkaushik Monk. He also was a well learned monk but there was absent of equanimity in his spiritual pursuit. He had a disciple who was a kid. One day they both went for alms. Unknowingly the head monk mashed a frog. The child monk told him for repentance for that mistake. The head monk’s pride stopped him to do so and he mentally thought, “How can this child monk dare to say me that!” Again at the time of night the child monk reminded him for repentance of killing the frog. Now the head monk loses his mental balance and decided to strike the child monk by the stick he was holding. So he ran after him to strike him but in the darkness he crashed with a pillar and died. In his next birth he became a mendicant. He possessed a huge farm and used to bring fruits from the farm and did austerities. He brought his previous birth’s angry nature in this birth too. Some boys used to steal fruits from his farm and he was always in rage for the boys. One day he decided to catch some boys and punish them so he lurked behind a tree and waited for them. He was holding an axe and as soon as he got chance he rushed toward those boys but unfortunately he fell down and his own axe pierced into his head and he died in agony. As a result in his third birth he became a snake who could kill anyone by looking at them by its ferocious glance! Thus we can see that his anger multiplied in every birth and pushed the soul deeper in the mundane world. Fortunately by the help of Lord Mahavir the snake learned to forgive and its anger vanished and it reincarnated in the 8^th Celestial World.

Matter, Essence and Modes: CONSERVATION OF MASS

Here I am going to put some facts of the Universe. It is explained by our Tirthankars (Ford-makers or Enlightened Masters). I love physics and astronomy and I found the Jain philosophy very close to physics… In fact, we should say that physics is rather close to the Jain Philosophy!

Lord Parshva, the earliest Jain leader whose historicity has been accepted

The last two Tirthankars Lord Parshva (877-777 B.C.E.) and Lord Mahavira (599-527 B.C.E.) were very close to us and we have their teaching recorded in the scriptures. People all around the world will have some basic knowledge of physics. We know that everything what we can see, smell is made of particles or atoms. Atoms get together and create some state of matter (i.e. liquid, gas, plasma or solid). Everything is made of particles. A table, a chair, water, a star, or a galaxy everything is made of particles. Now according to Jainism, the Universe is made of six Dravyas or substances. They are Soul, Pudagal, Medium of motion, Medium of rest, Space and Time. All these six are eternal. Nobody has created them and nobody can destroy them. Bhagwan Mahavir said that all these six Dravyas are eternal. The second Drayva Pudagal means atoms and molecules. “Pud” means “to accumulate” and “gal” means “to depart”. Atoms are getting together and depart. This process is eternal. By getting together they form some state of matter like liquid, solid, gas etc. Our sun is a giant ball of plasma, our earth is solid, the water is liquid etc. But they don’t last forever. Their present state will change and some new form will emerge. We are the first Drayva, the soul.

new stars are taking their shape from an emission nebula

Like sub-atomic particles, our soul is also eternal. Our soul also goes through the process of change. It gains various bodies according to its Karma. But such soul can be liberated and can be free from the cycle of birth and death.

Lord Mahavir has said that, “everything emerges, everything vanishes but their essence is unchangeable. For example, many particles accumulate and form a cloud in the sky. You will see a cloud but after sometime it will disappear. The particles will disintegrate. Infinite particles create a star (or sun) and after billions of years due to the chain-process the star will lose its previous form and will gain a new form (a planetary nebula). But the total amount of the particles will remain the same hence their total density is constant. That is called dravya (substance or matter), guna (essence) and paryaya (modification). The total amount of the particles remains constant.

We all in this world focus directly on paryaya (form or mode). We take paryaya different from dravya but actually both are same. We are soul and we possess a physical body which is ultimately made of particles and thus it is Pudagal. We take this body as our self but in fact, our real self is consciousness, the soul. So whenever we face death we become unhappy because our focus is on the body (paryaya). Whenever we experience paryaya (change of form) we become either happy or unhappy.

A person will like a thing made of gold and will value it more than a stone. If someone steals gold from him then he would be unhappy but if someone steals a stone then he won’t be unhappy that much. In fact both the gold and a stone are made of same particles (electron, proton and neutron)!

The sole cause behind everyone’s happiness or sorrow is paryaya (form). If we change our vision and take paryaya and dravya to be same then all the problems can be solved and we can attain the state of perfect equanimity. All the Tirthankars and other Shramanas gained Omniscience or Perfect Knowledge by practicing the highest equanimity. They take their helper and enemy to be same. They take a bacteria and an elephant the same because they directly focus on their essence, the soul or the conscious energy. We should not feel happy on good occasions and sad on bad occasions because now we know that whatever happens is the change of state but the essence remains the same. Thus we can attain Samyak Darshan (Right Vision) and Samyak Darshan is the root of Omniscience (Kewal Gyaan) and thus the final liberation.

QUEEN RUKMANI

Whatever happens with us is due to our own karma (good or bad deeds). It is like action-reaction and we have to pay for whatever we have done. They don’t give instant result but it takes time to give results.

There is an inspiring story of Rukmani. She was a queen and wife of Shri Krishna. According to Jain accounts, Shri Krishna was a cousin of Lord Neminath, the 22nd Jain Tirthankar (Ford-Builder). Lord Neminath was younger than Shri Krishna. By seeing the animals which were to be slaughtered for his marriage, Prince Nemikumar had developed great compassion and after releasing those innocent animals he announced his decision for renunciation.

Meditating on mount Girnar for 54 days, he attained Omniscience and became the 22nd Tirthankar of the present era. He gave his first sermon in the magnetic voice by sitting on Samavasaran (A Divine Preaching Pavilion created by the Heavenly Beings). Thousands of people were present there including Vasudev Shri Krishna and his wife queen Rukmani. By seeing the great power of Omniscience, the absolute knowledge that allows one to see everything in the entire Universe, Queen Rukmani could not stop herself to ask her problem to Lord Neminath. Her son was kidnapped by the time of birth and returned to her after 16 years.

She asked Lord Neminath, “Oh Lord! What mistake I have done in my previous lives so I had to suffer 16 long years without my son?”

Lord Neminath said, “Oh queen! We are the only cause behind our misery and happiness. In your one of the previous lives, you were married to a rich family. Few days after your marriage you went into the jungles with your friends to enjoy the beauty of nature. You all were happy, some one was singing, some one was dancing.”

“After some while you all waited to rest. Just beside the place where you were staying was a nest of a peahen and there were two eggs. By hearing your voice the peahen became threatened and immediately left the nest. You approached the nest and just in fun you carried those eggs in your hands. Your palms were painted with color called mahedi (in India, in many occasions girls and women pain her palms with color). And because of that, those eggs became colorful. You put them back but didn’t notice that the eggs are now colorful.”

“After a short while the peahen returned back to her nest when you left that place. She could not identify her eggs as they were now looking ruddy. The peahen became sad and started to look around for her eggs. The peahen started crying and tears began to flow from her eyes.”

“After sometime the sky became dense of dark clouds and the rain started. The color from the eggs was now removed by the rain and the peahen immediately identifies her eggs. She began dancing in joy and started to hatch her eggs again but because of your mistake, oh queen, the peahen didn’t hatch her eggs for 16 ghadis (1 ghadi =24 minutes). So that’s why, in this birth you suffered without your son for 16 years.”

By hearing this, the queen became shocked and thought, the mistake was 16 ghadis and the punishment is 16 years?

By reading her mind, Lord Neminath said, “yes!”

All the people present there learned about the law of causation and took various vows to get rid of the endless cycle of birth and death.

REAL NATURE OF MUNDANE WORLD

There once lived a traveler. He got lost and no one could give him exact direction where to go. He got lost in the dense jungle. Four robbers chased him but the traveler could escape easily by lurking in the dense forest. In the forest an elephant chased him. To save himself from the elephant the traveler jumped down into a well. He grabbed a branch of a tree which was just beside the well. Below him, in the well, were an alligator and four snakes. Up, he saw two rats, one black and the other white. They were chewing the branch on which the traveler was hanging.

Then, at the same time few honey drops from beehive fell in his mouth. The elephant that chased the man approached there and began to shake the branch violently. Now, as the tree was shaking, a few bees stung the poor traveler but as he licked the honey, he would forget his problems (the snake and alligator, the elephant and the rats and the bees).

Now, at that time an angel couple was flying by. By seeing the miserable position of the traveler, angel offered him help. The traveler, now absorbed in taking taste of the honey drops asked the couple to wait for a second until he tasted the next drop of honey, so they waited. Then angel asked him again and the traveler said for wait for few seconds and this went on. The couple got tired of waiting and eventually they left. Few minutes later the mice cut down the branch and the traveler fell inside the well and ultimately died.

1. The story is symbolic for the troubles of any living being.

2. The traveler represents a worldly soul.

3. The elephant is death, something everyone must face.

4. The four snakes and alligator represent the four passions (anger, deceit, greed and pride) and rebirth respectively.

5. The branch cut by the two rats represents the life-span of a living being which is continuously being reduced by the day and night. The white rat represent day and the black rat represent night.

6. The bees represent daily problems.

7. The honey represents sensual pleasures in which all living beings are absorbed.

8. The celestial couple who offered the traveler a shelter represents True Religion.

Thus, enlightened beings have given the above simple example to describe the real nature of mundane world. We would realize that how unsafe it is to be absorbed in the sensual pleasures instead of indulging in our real self. One can get rid of the cycle of birth-death and rebirth only by realizing his/her real self and by destroying all karmas by performing external and internal austerities.

PREVIOUS BIRTHS OF LORD PARSHVANATH

Lord Parshvanath, the 23rd Jain Tirthankar or Ford-Maker had taken 10 births after attainment of Samyak-Darshan or Right View. Here is the detail of his 10 births.


1. Marubhuti- a Brahmin and King’s minister

2. An Elephant

3. Birth in the 3rd Celestial World called Sahasrar
4. King Agniveg

5. Birth in the 12th Celestial World called Achyuta

6. Emperor Vajranabh

7. Birth in the higher groups, dwelling in the Mid-Greveyak (There are 9 Greveyaks above the 12 Heavens as per Jain Cosmology)

8. Emperor Anand

9. Birth in the 10th Celestial World called Pranat

10. Birth as Tirthankar Parshvanath (877-777 B.C.E.) in our part of the Universe

DIWALI: A CELEBRATION OF NIRVANA

Jains all over the world celebrate Diwali in remembrance of Nirvana of Lord Mahavir, the 24th Tirthankara. We celebrate this occasion with lights and feel the absence of that enlightened light that departed us in 15th October 527 B.C. Lord Mahavir was a great warrior who conquered the inner enemies like Anger, Deceit, Pride and Ego. These are our permanent enemies always present with us. He who destroys these enemies is Mahavir.

Words are unable to describe the beauty of Lord Mahavir. His glow, his knowledge, his strength, his compassion, his inner peace were infinite. He was a living temple. The day he departed us and attained liberation the people felt darkness because the light was gone. It is mentioned in the scriptures that 16 kings, 9 Malla, 9 Lichachhavis along with thousands of people celebrated the day of Lord Mahavir’s Nirvana with lighting lamps. In the same day his chief disciple Indrabhuti Gautam Swami attained Omniscience, so that day was very special in Jain history.

The oldest reference of Diwali is a related word, Dipalikaya, which occurs in Harivansha Purana, written by Acharya jinasena. The meaning of Dipalikaya is “Light Leaving the Body”.

ततस्तुः लोकः प्रतिवर्षमादरत् प्रसिद्धदीपलिकयात्र भारते

समुद्यतः पूजयितुं जिनेश्वरं जिनेन्द्र-निर्वाण विभूति-भक्तिभाक्

(The gods illuminated Pavanagari by lamps to mark the occasion. Since that time, the people of Bharat celebrate the famous festival of "Dipalika" to worship the Jinendra (i.e. Lord Mahavira) on the occasion of his nirvana.)

The purpose behind this celebration is to remind the absence of Lord Mahavir. He taught us to overcome inner weakness, fear, anger, attachment, delusion because all these things bind the soul with the never ending cycle of birth-death-rebirth. Lord Mahavir also taught that each soul, whether it is human, animal, plant or one-sensed micro organism, each has potential to get rid of this endless cycle of rebirth. The human body is the supreme machine that can lead the soul to liberation and it is rare and very hard to being born as a human. One should never waste any moment of this precious human birth. Because if we will waste this rare occasion of being born as human then the soul will again go through countless births in the other form of body. So each moment one has to be aware. Every moment we are emitting bad vibrations to the Universe. These vibrations are full of lust, desires of mundane life etc are the cause of bondage and the soul attracts Karmic particles like a magnet attracts iron particles. When these vibrations reflect to us we feel bad and good happenings with us.

So it is important that in this occasion of Diwali one has to remember the teaching of Lord Mahavir and develop desires for Liberation.