This study is an attempt to trace the history and development of prekṣā-dhyāna (perception meditation), developed in the last quarter of the twentieth century by Ācārya Mahāprajña (1920-2010), the tenth ācārya of the Jaina Śvetāmbara Terāpanth sect. Prekṣā-dhyāna represents a new synthesis of ancient Jaina ascetic techniques, classical ritualistic meditative elements, and modern science, aimed at an audience that is global and inclusive of Jainas and non-Jainas alike. The argument of the thesis is that prekṣā-dhyāna is an expression of Jaina modernism that has a firm foothold in the world of international meditative practices. The study uses textual sources to provide a historical overview of the Jaina meditative tradition in an area that has not yet been explored. It examines the theory and practice of prekṣā-dhyāna in detail. It demonstrates that Mahāprajña's construction of the prekṣā-dhyāna system integrates seven distinct sources: (i) Jaina textual accounts of meditative practices (ii) elements of Hindu yoga systems (iii) elements of Buddhist vipassanā meditation (iv) Āyurvedic concepts (v) Astronomical elements (vi) modern science and (vii) reflections on his own experiences and explorations. Finally, twentieth century Jaina meditative systems other than prekṣā-dhyāna, newly developed by mendicants from the Śvetāmbara Mūrtipūjaka and Sthānakavāsī traditions have been examined and their similarities and differences vis-à-vis prekṣā-dhyāna investigated. The reasons for the current proliferation of these new systems of meditation in the Jaina tradition have also been examined. This thesis demonstrates that Mahāprajña's innovative use of scientific concepts, which was not previously incorporated within Jaina meditation systems, is unique and represents an important step towards Jaina modernism.

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Cette étude se fonde sur l’analyse et la traduction française de nombreux passages de deux textes appartenant à la même tradition jaina digambara. Le premier, le Gaṇitasārasaṃgraha (9ème siècle), s’inscrit dans la lignée des textes versifiés de mathématiques en sanskrit et y tient une place prépondérante. Comme les ouvrages de la même famille, il donne un grand nombre de prescriptions algorithmiques de calcul utiles à la résolution de problèmes liés aux « affaires du monde », tout en se démarquant par certaines particularités de structure qui n’ont pas encore été expliquées. Le deuxième, la Tiloyapaṇṇattī (6ème – 9ème siècle), est versifié en prakrit śauraseṇī jaina. C’est un texte semi-religieux de nature encyclopédique qui expose des informations détaillées, la plupart de nature mathématique, sur tout ce qui existe dans les trois mondes du cosmos jaina. Le but de cette thèse est de tisser des liens entre les deux textes pour tenter d’apprécier dans quelle mesure les procédures mathématiques de l’un entrent en résonance avec celles de l’autre, et surtout, de déterminer comment les éclairages apportés par le texte de cosmologie peuvent aider à mieux comprendre certains points obscurs de celui de mathématiques. / This study is based on an analysis and translation into French of numerous excerpts from two texts belonging to the same Jaina Digambara tradition. The first text, the Gaṇitasārasaṃgraha (850 A.D.), is a significant work in the group of versified Sanskrit mathematical texts to which it belongs. Like works of the same lineage, it expounds many computational algorithms aimed at solving problems of the “worldly mathematics” category. However, there are some idiosyncrasies in its structure which have not yet been explained. The second text, the Tiloyapaṇṇattī (ca. 500-800 A.D.) is versified in Jaina Śauraseni Prakrit. This semi-religious work provides much mathematical information on everything that exists in the three worlds of the Jaina Cosmos. This thesis seeks to make connections between the mathematical procedures of the two texts and, specifically, to see how the content of the second, the cosmology text, could enhance our understanding of the mathematical text, and help to clarify some of the unanswered questions the latter raises.