________________
320
..
GOD
drama on a would be Judgment Day in the future. Of what earthly use would it be to us if he did that? The Book of Revelation was not intended for our mystifi. cation, but as a partial listing up of the veil which bung over the inner secrets of what was known as the “mysteries” portion of the secret doings at the divers lodges of mysticism,
The narrative is an account of the initiation of the " Lamb" in the Divine Court of Life and in the presence of the four and twenty Tirthamkaras or Masters, all robed in white and wearing crowns of gold.
• The one on the throne is Lile itself, without which there would have been no court, vo jiva to be saved, no in, itiation and no divinity. Thunder and lightnings are emblems of Life's explosiveness, since dead things move pot of themselves. The four beasts with eyes in both direce tions are the four classes of living beings, that is those whose bodies are made of the four different elements of matter, the air-bodied, the fire-bodied, the water-bodied, and the earth-bodied, eyes being symbolical of percep. tion or knowledge that is a function of Life and the different beasts representing different elements of matter (see the Key of Knowledge). The six wings of each of these beasts have a reference to the descending and ascending arcs of time, called avasarpini and utasarpini which are divided into six aras (spokes) each, in which the four kinds of jivas (souls) undergo different kinds of experiences, on account of the changes of conditions, The seven lamps of fire before the throne signify
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org