________________
OCCULT POWERS
87
sometime. It depends on the nature of such a force how much time it takes to manifest the results. We need not expect the results to come out in a short time or in this life, but they will appear at sometime, there is no doubt as to that, because any force cannot be destroyed unless its full result is manifested, therefore the moral force which is the cause of occult phenomena might have been generated wither in this life or in some other life, and in this the cause of the occult powers of a person may lie. Why is one person able to do what another cannot ? If there is no future life and no past life, if the moral forces generated in the past life do not become of any use in this life, then what is the cause of one person being able to manifest occult powers, when another cannot. Why should not all persons have the same kind of surroundings, heredity, etc.? There are so many differences, and this shows that these are only the effects of some other past life-force. Can we generate this force anew in this life, so that it may be useful to us ? Impatience is one great impediment. On account of a peculiar nature which we have gained by reason of leading a peculiar life, we want to see the result manifested at once. People say, what is the use of being moral ? They are mistaken as to the object of morality ; they think that the result of a moral act ought to be something tangible, something of physical good or worldly benefit, but morality should be practised for its own sake. It is the very life of the soul, and the other life is the death of the soul, there ought to be no other
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org