Samayika is one of the important religious rituals of Jainism. It forms the most prominent and extraordinary strength of Jainism. No other religion has mentioned it. At certain places Jain religion is identified as `samayika dharma`. According to this even if someone performs just samayika with devotion, it is regarded that he or she has observed the main tenets of Jainism. The word Samayika originated from the word `sam`- which means equal or balanced. The word Samta is connected to `Sam`. Thus both the words samayika and samta are closely related and connected to each other. At times it also appears that both the words are interchangeable but there is a definite difference which is very important. Samta is always present during samayika, but samayika may not be present when someone is in sambhav.
The first step in Samayika is Samta and the total purity of soul is the end result of Samayika. According to this every moment in an individual`s life is undulating or visham. Any complex situation or even a common incident in a person`s life makes him very uncomfortable and sore but he is hardly aware of it. If one thinks about all the incidents in one`s life he would realise that the whole life consists of reactions to things, people and circumstances. When one begins a samayika the first condition is to make oneself balanced, i.e. to remain in samata. For 48 minutes in Samayika, a vow is taken to keep away from any activity, which leads to violence. Here it does not mean an obvious violence but any activity that is related to Kashays. Passions building up within a person will definitely hurt others but it also causes injury to one`s own soul as well. One can attain kashay-free state, only when balanced state is existent.
The word Samayika is also related to the word `Samay` meaning time. Lord Mahavira had also used the word samay for Atma or soul. According to him Samayika means to remain in Atma for that much time which is very delightful and enjoyable. In this way one`s chetana or conscious stabilizes in time i.e. kaal. Here only current time is concerned, the past and future both are absorbed. The past is memory and future is imagination. When one`s conscious gets stabilized in the current time, it starts fading kashayas. This state is known as Samayika. In shuddha- samayika one need not perform activities like dhyan (concentration), jap (meditation), reading etc. one just needs to discontinue all the activities of mind, speech and body (yoga) and experience the internal peace.
Every person cannot attain shuddha samayika but if one can absorb and understand it then he will not deviate from it. At the onset one might take the aid of various means like kriyas, jap reading, swadhayaya. Following this path it might be possible to attain Samayika in the current life but in the next few lives one may certainly attain it. Thus, Samayika is the achievement of being ideal for sometime where one becomes kashaya-free, remains in supreme peace and finally stabilizes in the richness of soul.
