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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
158
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
The enlightened always preach non-violence as their most important doctrine. "The essence of the knowledge of the enlightened is that they do not act violently and do not harm others." Violence and slaying are unrighteous (adharma). "Slaying animals is adharma." The noble people always keep away from violence.
The second objective of dharma is self-discipline. A car may be very expensive; it may be very beautiful to look at but nobody feels happy while sitting in it if it has no brakes because they fear accidents.
Self-discipline acts like brakes in life. It frees life from fears and anxieties. If the banks break, the water in the river flows over fields and villages causing loss and destruction. Self-discipline is like the banks for the river of life. If we have no self-discipline our life gets wasted and abused and our soul experiences a moral fall. "The jiva assumes a form (a body) only to acquire self-discipline and if we have no discipline, the body is useless. Just as a car is not safe if it has no brakes our body is not safe, if we do not have self-discipline.
Learned historians after doing a lot of research wrote a history of ancient Greek Civilization. The sum and substance of that book is that self-restraint and discipline elevated Greece to lofty heights and that it declined when it lost those virtues and fell into luxury.
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The third aspect of dharma is tapa (penance). Tapas penance is to endure peacefully and calmly all the physical and mental agonies and sorrows and all impediments. By means of tapas or austerity our soul grows resplendent.
(By means of tapas the innate splendour finds a manifestation.)
If we act according to dharma which is characterized by non-violence, self-discipline and tapas (austerity) we will be saved from all spiritual evils and disasters. "Dharma is the name given to the force that rescues the soul from the morass of evil." Dharma is like a light (a lighthouse) for the jivas (living beings) that are drifting on
For Private And Personal Use Only
| SR No. | 008710 |
| Book Title | Golden Steps To Salvation |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Padmasagarsuri |
| Publisher | Arunoday Foundation |
| Publication Year | 1994 |
| Total Pages | 224 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English, Philosophy, & Religion |
| File Size | 12 MB |