Atma Siddhi

Author(s): Shrimad Rajchandra, J L Jaini
Publisher: Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram

Page 38

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we ascend the scale of beings, the vitalities grow till we reach the 5-sensed man with all the 5 senses; the 3 powers of body, speech and mind; respiration; and his age-period.
The slightest mental application and observation will show that these 10 vitalities are present in the Living, but absent in the NonLiving
My first point is that Life is a form of Soul. Where we see life, we see soul. But life is not identical with soul. Life is only a mark of the soul. The soul has many more characteristics besides life. A few more I shall consider here.
The most casual observer will note that the Living have the faculty of Attention and not the non-living. The Living can attend to a thing, the non-living cannot. A dog can move his ears and blink his half-closed eyes to show that he is Attentive, whether there is a sound or not. Not so the brick or hay next to the dog. The brick or hay is dead, lifeless. The dog is living, has Attention. This Attention is merely a direction of consciousness, which is the most important and essential characteristic of the Soul. I purposely did not emphasise it first, as it can be
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