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204 Harmless Souls bondage is no longer a matter of restraining or progressively curbing the activities (yoga) of body, mind and speech with regard to what is done, caused, or approved by oneself; now it is a matter of realising that body, mind and speech are entirely alien substances (paradravya) which, in reality, have no connection with the self whatsoever. A strict dualism applies in which the very instruments and organs of yoga (activity) are denied any connection with the essential self; therefore, what body, mind and speech do or do not do is actually irrelevant to liberation. What counts now is knowledge or realisation of the true nature of the ātman through meditation, the prerequisite of which is an attitude of indifference (madhyastha) to everything not that pure self. (The possible implications of this for Jaina orthopraxy hardly need pointing out.) Thus this gāthā (2:68) may be taken as an apophatic statement about the true nature of the self - a statement which acts, mediately and meditatively, as a means of realising that nature. The Tattvadīpikā stresses at length that body, voice and mind - characterised as acetana-dravya ('unintelligent / unconscious substance', consisting of poggala-davva / pudgala-dravya)69 - act independently of the self; they are autonomous; indeed, the body, taken in its widest sense, is an automaton. For example:
I am not the unconscious substance which is the cause of body, voice and mind; indeed, these are cause even without me as cause
and
I am not the unconscious substance which is the independent cause of body, voice and mind; indeed, these are being done even without me as agent, etc.70
69 See Pravac. 2:69-70.
70 na ca me śarīravānmanaḥkāraṇācetanadravyatvam asti, tāni khalu mām kāranam antarenāpi kāranam bhavanti ... na ca me
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| SR No. | 001196 |
| Book Title | Harmless Soul |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | W J Johnson, Dayanand Bhargav |
| Publisher | Motilal Banarasidas |
| Publication Year | 1995 |
| Total Pages | 372 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English, Philosophy, & Principle |
| File Size | 20 MB |