Imagine a body in which every muscle, nerve ending and square inch of exposed flesh seems utterly relaxed yet briskly attentive, as if meant to be receptive to the slightest sign of life outside itself, and you’ll have some idea of how remarkable the pose is. It’s as if the entire body functions as a kind of human dowsing rod, mystically attuned to the hidden rhythms of the universe.

The pose is called kayotsarga, which roughly translates into “body- abandonment” posture. It is believed to represent a perfect pose of nonviolence, in which a human being can inflict the least harm on any living thing.

Christopher Knight on Jain Statuettes

The nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things that are and to make new things like them. For everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be.

Marcus Aurelius