________________
100
knowledge, right conduct, you will certainly go up wards higher and higher until you reach the state of liberation. That we represent by the crescent. Why? Because the crescent is the first form of the rising moon, it is the representation of a form which is go ing to grow larger and larger. When the soul has reached this stage it is omniscient. When it has reached its full consciousness its horizon becomes larger and larger. The interpretation, according to the Jain view of the cross has nothing to do with the coinbination of the male and female principle. Worship of the male and female principles-ideas based on sex lowest even on the emotional plane can gever raise us higher than the male and the female.
We go to the teinple every day in the morning, we make such symbols ( Swastika ) when we enter the temple. The object of doing this is fhat this sign must remind us of the great principle that in order to avoid the round of mundane existence one must have the three jewels and then reach the ultimate good. These symbols intensify our thoughts and make them more permanent.
lines would
The horizontal and perpendicular represent spirit and matter.
The circle in the crescent represents the state the soul reaches; when it has full consciouness and lives apart from matter it is liberated.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
