________________
Stages of Spiritual Development
81
ignorance, attachment and jealousy, the Ātmā is not able to become conscious though slightly, it is not able to act for attaining to real happiness.” Ignorance is diametrically opposed to the striking of consciousness - Cetona. Its striking is therefore very slow and weak tili there exists in the soul, an intensity of ignorance. As a result there is no inspiration of the means of real happiness or real happiness itself. It is because of this that the Ātma becomes active to gain happiness in one object and runs after the other on failure. It runs after the third when it fails in the second. Consequently it comes to the sad state of a piece of wood in the midst of a whirl-pool or a grass-blade blown off by tidal winds. The experience of this series of pains and sorrows lessens ignorance to some extent; still the Ātmā fails to move in the real direction of happiness because of the intensity of attachment and jealousy. Very ofico, due to the lessening of ignorance, it becomes conscious that the seeds of happiness and sorrow do not exist in the external world. Yet, it is due to the intensity of attachment and jealousy that the soul takes the fully familiar objects to be the means of sorrow and happiness and continues to experience joy and dejection. This state is devoid of any fixed aim. The result is that the state of the soul is like that of the sailor who roves his ship without the decision regarding a fixed direction. Precisely this is the state of the soul during the period of absence of spiritual development.
(b) Now, the power of the wheel of ignorance, attachment and jealousy cannot rernain the same for all time. This is because it is totally inconsiderable before the power of Atmā, howsoever strong it may be. The amount of fire required to consume a lakh maunds of grass or wood is surely not in the same amount; even an atom of fire is enough for the purpose. The auspicious might be less in quantity, it is yet inumerable times better than the inauspicious. When the inspiration of the life-force in the Atma gets enhanced in a natural way, and when the power of attachment and jealously gets minimised in the battle of the soul with these two, the virility of the Ātmā working in the opposed direction now turns to the right one. It is just at this time that the Atnā
E1-6
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
