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Reflections BHAVANAS
ANITYA
bhavana Thinking of the transitory nature of things.
REFLECTIONS BHAVANAS
havana means thinking. One
should entertain and expand auspicious and useful thoughts. One should not allow one's soul to get entangled in the various events taking place around oneself. In the Jain Dharma sixteen kinds of bhavanas are mentioned; and they enable people to attain mental peace and tranquillity. If we lose our tranquillity and equanimity on account of some events, no unhappy things will take place, if we can allow our minds to travel on the sublime waves of noble thoughts. The mind will remain calm and stable. These bhavanas are also called Anupreksha.
hen we are bereaved; i, e.,
when someone dear to us dies and when we lose something we should think that in this world, the body, wealth, family, relatives, status, etc., are transitory. All things of the worldly life, all substances are perishable; and we should think that nothing is permanent; and that it is futile to lament over the loss of those; and to lose our mental peace and emotional poise. 51
