Page Text
________________
138
METAPHYSICS powers. I presume some of you must be very eager to know what the final verdict of research is going to be on this point, Well, gentlemen, I am a lawyer and the instincts of the learned profession to which I belong are, as you know, opposed to the admission of 'hearsay'. There is, however, a very large body of tradition of different creeds and faiths which undoubtedly supports the view that miraculous powers can be acquired by leading the life of purity, virtue and asceticism, I think this tradition is admissibie, though a certain amount of caution is indispensable in letting it in. On the other hand there is the fact, and a very siginficant fact, too, that India boasted of many more yogis and mahátmás about the time of the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni and the subsequent influx of Musalmans in. to India. I take it that the early Muslim invaders were heartily hated by the Hindus, and would have been wiped off if yoga knew of any method of encompassing their ruin. But yoga failed persistently then.. A few centuries later when the beaf- and pork-eating chrishtan came to India, we again witnessed a failure of Hindu occultism, and this tine not alone, but in company with Mohammedan thaumaturgy, Personally I have seen very little of occultism, but from what I have seen and read about it I have come to the conclusion that there is no reason why a fairly large bulk of ancient tradition should be regarded as outside the bounds of possibility; but I should not like to substitute any other words for those I have used. It seems to
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
| SR No. | 006704 |
| Book Title | Confluence of Opposites |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Champat Rai Jain |
| Publisher | Champat Rai Jain |
| Publication Year | 1921 |
| Total Pages | 422 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 15 MB |