The Jaina method of meditation is to listen, to listen so absolutely and so silently, as if you have become all ears — that is the symbol. So they have made big ears just to indicate their method of meditation. Their method of meditation is listening: listening to the sound of the wind passing through the pine trees, listening to the birds, just listening to anything. The dog barking or the call of a distant cuckoo…just listening, with no judgment, no evaluation. Jainas say that if a person can listen totally, without any interference of the mind, he can become enlightened — just by listening: nothing else is needed. To show this, to represent it in the statue, they have made big ears.