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432
PHILOSOPHY OF SOUL
on the other hand when a man has remained in the constant company of a learned preceptor and digested his erudite discourses then he would respond to the inquirer saying, "What do you mean by observing religion and by understanding religion. Do you mean understanding is understanding the literal meaning ? Whether doing a particular rite fully understanding the meaning of the text amounts to doing with full understanding". With these querries the opponent shall grow nervous as he does not profess perfect knowledge. His understanding also is not complete. He also performs certain rites with whatever little understanding he has.
If you stay in religious environments, form the habit of reading religious books and enjoying the company of ideal preceptor then you will undoubtedly realize that religion is meant for the bliss of Soul, for destruction of Karmas and for the achievement of emancipation; and such realisation or belief is the true realisation or true belief. When you perform religious rites with such belief or understanding then they are the rites performed by right or proper understanding
Those who have no faith in religion, who are tinged in the hue of materialism and who stand in the row of atheists try to put forward various kinds of crooked and distorted arguments to degrade religion and represent matters in such a polished fashion that even top-ranking persons would be perplexed; but do not listen to them, do not ponder over their talks. If you by chance listen to them do not confide in them even if you pondered over their talks.
Revered authors of the scriptures have mentioned about four ingredients of faith and have stressed upon renouncing loss of right faith and false view point.
The text in this connection runs as follows:
"Consideration of the proper concept, service rendered to the monks who are conversant with such proper meaning and renunciatioin of loss of right faith and false view point; are the four main ingredients of faith”.
Consideration of the proper concept means weighing true meaning. Service means service of the preceptors who have mastered the right concepts. Loss of right faith is such loss of faith achieved about living and non-living entities after proper thinking. Such
