Atma Dharma

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: Champat Rai Jain

Page 16

In the same way, when the mind is possessed by pride, greed, or deceit, the soul is robbed of tranquillity and joy, which are regained on the re-establishment of the normal conditions. Fear, passion, grief, disgust and the like are also causes that destroy one's peace of mind and pollute the mental atmosphere. These conditions, therefore, do not appertain to the soul, and are foreign to it.
That happiness really belongs to the soul will be fully realised by us if we reflect on the joy resulting from unselfish deeds of piety and philanthropy. The joy that we feel in doing good to others clearly arises from within our own being. This shows that happiness is the very nature of the soul. It is for this reason that every one feels happy when the desires and passions that deprive us of mental serenity and peace are rendered quiescent and subdued. Dispassion, then, is the harbinger of true joy. It will be seen that the happiness which is felt in the doing of good does not consist in any kind of sensations-visual, tactile and the like--but arises altogether independently of the senses, and, therefore, from within. It is not imaginary, that is to say, a mere product of the individual mind, but a real, genuine state of our being or consciousness that is directly felt by the soul.
All this suffices to show that happiness is