Part -17
A journey into infinity
Anamika was now freed of her sufferings and was proceeding in her meditation with immense happiness. Previously, when she was undergoing the cycle of visualization and disruptions, there often arose the possibility of raising questions during the visualization of the divine soul to obtain answers to queries. However, now, when everything was going on smoothly and without any hurdles, I smothered my curiosity and only watched her progress with a neutral outlook.
According to the beliefs of Jainism, similar to Earth there is another plane of existence, known as the Mahavideh Kshetra, where, much like in this finite plane, people exist. However, the Mahvideh Kshetra has its own distinctions – for instance, the environment there is extremely peaceful and calm. The people living there are extremely simple and peace-loving. Even more that, the place is the residence of the Teerthankaras and people receive their blessings and sermons at close quarters. This is in stark contrast to the Earth, where after Lord Mahavir, the last Jain Teerthankara, there is no possibility of another Teerthankara gracing the Earth for a very long period.
To this end, while on the Earth there is no scope for attaining salvation until the arrival of the next Teethankara, in Mahavideh Kshetra, one can attain salvation in the present. Hence, if one has performed good karmas in this life, then there is a possibility to be born in Mahavideh Kshetra in one’s next life and proceed towards salvation. In Jain tradition, even in the present times, some sages have described their journey into Mahavideh Kshetra.
Anamika was most definitely not aware of this belief and one day, during a discussion, I told her that if she so wanted, then she could proceed in this direction with her meditation. So it was that during one of her meditation sessions she requested the divine soul to take her on a journey of Mahavideh Ksehtra. To this, the divine soul responded by saying that when the appropriate time arrived, they would assist Anamika in undertaking that journey.
After some time, I reminded Anamika of this assurance by the divine soul and asked her to make another attempt in this direction. Anamika then requested the divine soul to help her and soon after, one day during her evening meditation, she felt as if she had entered another world. There she saw several people in extremely simple clothing. She also saw a divine soul there in Digambara state, who was radiating a brilliant aura and was seated on a naturally high dais. Around him, people and animals were grouped together, listening to his sermon. According to Jain beliefs, when a Teerthankara delivers a sermon, due to their sheer charm, people, animals and all other living beings come together to listen to it and make sense of it according to their abilities.
Anamika also visualized several divine forces, saints and sages, Acharya Mahapragya, and others in that place. According to her, the entire scene was so captivating and pleasing that there were not enough words to describe it aptly.
From time to time, Anamika was able to visualize the divine forces in the infinite or Mahavideh Kshetra, whose details she would discuss with us after the completion of her meditation. Here, I was waiting for her to complete 100 days of her penance to seek the answers to some more of my unresolved queries from the divine soul. Till then, I did not wish to present any distractions in her mediation.
On the 100th day of her meditation, Anamika once again visualized the divine soul. That day, she was told that since her penance was coming to and end and her end goal was not the visualization of the divine soul, henceforth, she would not be able to see them. In this manner, silently giving her blessings to Anamika, the divine soul vanished.
When I will be able to find an answer to my curiosities is something now no one can tell.
This anecdote, described in 16 parts, may find enough naysayers among readers. Many may find it hard to believe and even call it a figment of imagination. I shall make no plea to such persons to believe this truth as we saw it and I completely respect and accept their point of view. With this, I bring this entire narrative to a close.
THE END