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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
Even rings of smoke blown from the mouth have a moment or two of existence, and behave very curiously when coming in contact with another one of their kind. They often contract, pull themselves together, as it were, and pass through one another, whole and entire. If particles of gaseous matter, held together by nothing more permanent than the force of propulsion, can persist in this manner, what is there surprising in the fact that the self-subsistent rhythm of Life, the soul, should be a permanent entity or being?
Thus, it is beyond doubt that the Jaina conception of Nirvana, with the persistence, for all eternity, of the Emancipated Soul, as the Paramâtman, is a truth of philosophy. The identity of the Saved One in moksha is determined by the Living Rhythm retaining the form of the last physical incarnation and by the knowledge of the past.
As for the distinguishing features of the Siddhâtmans, Right Belief, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct are the permanent attributes of Their souls. Of these, Their beliefs cannot be modified, for wisdom is the guarantee of their permanence; Their knowledge is eternal, being only the condition of being, i.e., the states of Consciousness of Their pure Souls; and Right Conduct remains because the total destruction of desires insures its freedom from all forms of shortcomings, failings and fluctuations.
The nature of the personality of the Siddhâtman, form, as an India rubber ring would do: thus furnishing a beautiful example of kinetic elasticity, and showing us clearly a fluid displaying some of the properties of a solid."
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