CHAPTER-37

GANADHIPATI TULSI

THE AURA

Tejoleshya's influence on the mind is divine;

From the bright envelope of light, joy flows!

How fascinating is the sweetly-smiling face!

Like a new spring blossoming in autumn!

Q.Tejoleshya, tejolabdhi and tejas-shakti are all synonyms. Labdhi and Shakti are found in many books. But leshya perhaps is a technical word of Jain philosophy alone. What new facts do the words leshya and tejoleshya allude to?

Ans. The doctrine of leshya in Jain philosophy is very comprehensive and of far reaching influence. Tejoleshya or kundalini is a form thereof. It is the door to spirituality. Without the awakening and activation of tejoleshya, one cannot enter the field of sadhana. Nor can there be any progress in spirituality. When the vibrations of this leshya arise, they exercise a divine influence upon the mind. The experience of these moments is so beatific that it beggars description. With the activation of this leshya, the envelope of light surrounding a person gets purified, producing sweet sensations such as can never emanate from material objects. In the individual whose tejoleshya is developed, all regret and malice produced by worldly contact comes to an end. He is invested with a natural grace and becomes a centre of attraction. The more extensive his tejoleshya, the more purified are his feelings. He is totally free from anxiety and a sweet smile spreads on his face. Anyone who comes into contact with such a man is naturally drawn to him. The man whose tejas-shakti is awakened, becomes spontaneously incapable of bad contact and behaviour. He never thinks ill of anyone nor does he cause pain to anyone by his actions.

Leshya or tejoleshya is a kind of subtle physical force which forms the basis of one's inner feeling. One's conduct is determined by the kind of leshya one possesses. From the point of view of both personality and spiritual development, the field of leshya is very extensive. The colour, smell, taste, and touch of physical leshya are also typical, and it is therefore helpful in the development of personality.



Q.Are leshya and the aura one and the same thing?

Ans. The sun is a mass of brilliant atoms. Its rays spread out from and are again incorporated in the source. Tejas-shakti or tejoleshya can be understood only in this way. It is within the body. During meditation, it's rays come out. The diffusion of the atoms of these rays gives rise to an envelope of light. Leshya is of two kinds-- psychical and physical. The former is connected with the soul (the flow of emotions). Physical leshya is a formation of radiating material atoms. This is the aura, the envelope of -light. Its dimness or brightness depends upon the psychical leshya. If the psychical leshya is pure, the aura would be bright and if it is impure, the aura would be dim.

The aura forms not only in man, but also in the vegetable kingdom. There is consciousness in the vegetable kingdom, but the aura exists even in unconscious matter. The material objects may not possess life, but at least they do have electricity. The aura of conscious beings is changeable, because with a change in their emotional current their electrical field also undergoes a change. But the unconscious has no current of feeling, consequently its aura is unchanging. Where certain materials have innate attraction for others, the cause is to be found in their aura. Some people have no physical beauty. Neither are they well formed nor fair-complexioned, and yet they become a centre of attraction. The physical structure of certain people is very elegant, they are also fair-complexioned and have a robust body, yet no one seems to be particularly attracted towards them. The main reason for this is the quality of their aura. The brighter a man's aura, the more attractive, impressive, helpful, and estimable he would be. This is a fact, tested and confirmed.



Q.Does a man's aura remain for ever what it is, or is it possible to change it? How can we make it more radiant?

Ans. The aura is directly related to the purity of thought and feeling. As a man's feelings become purer, his aura gets brighter. The less a man is dominated by negative emotions like anger, hatred, envy, malice, etc., the weaker the feelings which incite in him destructive tendencies like violence, sabotage, arson, plunder, etc., the better and more radiant his aura would be. In the language of Jain philosophy, the purity of leshya means the purity of the aura, and in the language of practical conduct, the purity of thoughts is a factor in the radiance of the aura. Thought is invariably characterised by comparison, and this everlasting sense of comparison affects the aura too.

Meditation, of course, is a strong factor in making the aura radiant. Study, contemplation, discourse, discussion and thought are ever efficient means of ensuring purity. He who deliberately sets about broadening his thinking effortlessly succeeds in making his aura radiant.

A visitor from Calcutta related how he got a good idea from Maharajna Yuvacharya. "I must always preserve good thoughts in my mind". He got hold of this idea, and was very much alive to it all the day long. His practice matured. Bad thoughts dissolved of themselves. His relatives and acquaintances now feel that if all people become like him, there will never be any tension in the family. All the time he reminds himself, "I'll not entertain any harmful thought and I shall do nothing which might hurt another!" Such firm resolves help to make one's aura brighter and still brighter.

An unclean aura makes a man selfish, arrogant, immoderate, cruel and obstinate. Such a man does nothing in his life which might help him in his spiritual development. His consciousness is extraversive, his thinking is partial, his decisions have in them a touch of aggressive pertinacity, and he can never be intimate with another.



Q.Is there a criterion for determining the quality of a man's aura? A sadhak carries on his practice, but without knowing whether he is tending, what progress he has made, how long will he continue on his path?

Ans. That a man should practise sadhana and it should not beat any fruit is impossible. Every good or bad action of man produces a result. If the results are gross, one comes to know them roughly; but if these are subtle, one sometimes has no inkling of them at all. In such a situation, how is it that a man is not keen to know the results of his evil disposition? There are many in contact with us who are impatient to see the results of their sadhana in the very initial stage itself, but they never think and say to themselves, "I've deceived that man, I've called him bad names, I've divested another of his livelihood, I've indulged in anger, in conspiracy, and God knows what else! What will be the result of all this? Who will come forward to share with me the results of these evil actions?"

It is an indisputable fact that every action is followed by certain consequences. At a very subtle level, the radiance of his aura may not be perceptible to a man. Nevertheless, it is true that no evil impressions can easily be transmitted to a pure aura. A man with a pure aura, is not influenced by wickedness at all. He also remains immune from the effects of evil practices. He experiences pure bliss. Then comes to him total freedom from fear. The chief source of fearlessness is right vision. Right vision makes the aura bright and a radiant aura destroys the feeling of fear. Only that man's morale keeps high who is utterly fearless. The worship of the deity, spiritual development, surrender to the soul, introversion, a mind free from contradiction, etc. are numerous points which constitute a powerful testimony of the radiance of the aura. On the basis of these consummations any man can rightly appraise his aura.