Jain samayika, pratikramana, preksha and sallekhana

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Acharya Mahaprajna · Ladnun

What it is

These are not therapies. They are religious observances and a contemplative method of a living tradition, each with its own scriptures, ascetics and institutions. Jain teaching holds that karma binds the soul (jiva), and that non-violence (ahimsa), self-restraint and equanimity loosen that binding…

Format

• No source gives a session count or protocol for psychotherapy alongside these observances. The phases below are, built around the observance cycle.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• the client going along with your schedule out of deference. It's working when attendance holds steady across the observance.
• forgiveness pressed on the client by family; resentment that goes underground. It's working when the client takes part on their own terms and reports relationships clearer or safer.
• the client feeling that the therapist and the leader are allied against them; leaders who give reassurance that feeds OCD (see 4.6). It's working when the client experiences joined-up support.
• the absence of the conditions Jain sources name (very old age, incurable disease, calamity or famine); hopelessness, feeling a burden, untreated pain or depression; family or community pressure;…
• the therapist being drawn into giving religious rulings; leaders who unknowingly reassure the client. It's working when practice returns to its ordinary form and the client says it brings meaning…

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.