Page Text
________________
66
I am the Soul
Have you seen trees in this respect? Their growth and the metabolism within them is occurring non-stop. If you look closer, you will notice that not even for a moment does the growth stop. At times in autumn, a tree sheds all its leaves appearing barren and dead, yet when you watch the tree daily you will see how the tiny sprouts appear and before you realise they are transformed into tiny leaves. How is this growth so quick?
The jiva in the tree has the passion for food. Due to this passion, the tree keeps drawing from the earth as much strength as it can. Not just the earth, it keeps absorbing all the enjoyment that it needs from the atmosphere, air and light. That is how a tree grows. There are trees in the Amazon basin which clutch any man or animal that goes near them, and suck them up till they are dead. What a passion for food! Thus, even such uni-sensory jivas are continuously in enjoyment. Passion for food is also an enjoyment.
The passions for food, fear, copulation, acquisition reside in all jivas and the jivas are constantly trying to enjoy and feed them. Not just the uni-sensory jivas but all jivas in this world are busy satiating as many senses as they have. The emotions and passions related to enjoyment remain resident in the soul and as such the jiva is better acquainted with enjoyment. The thought flow is also affected by these passions. Unfortunately for the jiva, the momentary flashes of the emotion of renunciation that occur in him are not long-lasting. It takes a tremendous effort to hold on to this emotion, while the passions are such that they do not budge from the mind at all.
We should exchange the places of these two streams of thought. The passions for enjoyment that arise in us should be extinguished immediately, while the emotion of renunciation should be held down in the mind always. Only then will our passions die down and the feeling of renunciation grow stronger.
The atmosphere around us is conducive for enjoyment; it naturally nourishes our passions. The jiva likes such atmosphere
Jain Educationa international
For Personal and Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
| SR No. | 006790 |
| Book Title | I am The Soul Part 01 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Tarulatabai Mahasati |
| Publisher | Shri Gujarati Shwetambar Sthanakwasi Jain Association |
| Publication Year | |
| Total Pages | 468 |
| Language | English, Hindi |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 19 MB |