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VI. MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF JAINA ETHICS
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account of the subsidence-cum-destruction of the knowledge-covering Karman and the occurrence of mild passion, gets endowed with the capacity of intellectual and moral achievements respectively, it cannot be believed to have dispelled the darkness spiritual. In other words, an ignorant man may be an astute intellectualist, a resolute moralist, but he will lack that mystical quality by virtue of which he may be designated as a real saint, a seeker of mystical truth, a person moving Godward. The above delineation may embarrass and astonish one, but the characters portrayed by Jaina Acāryas of Dravya-lingi Muni and some of the Abhayvas.? who have attained to the fair height of intellectual knowledge and moral upliftment, illustrate this sort of life without spiritual conversion. No doubt, intellectual learning and moral conversion, scriptural study and rigid adherence to moral principles may facilitate mystical conversion in certain souls, but they cannot as a rule bring about the latter. Intellectual attainments and moral achievements are unequivocally fraught with social utility, but are incapable of invariably bringing forth sprititual beneficence. Thus spiritual conversion is to be sharply distinguished from moral conversion and intellectual accomplishments. Outward auspicious conduct and effective scholarship can never be an index of a mystically turned mind. On the contrary, a man not strictly pursuing the moral path, and not possessing sophisticated outlook may own mystical conversion. But on this account outward moral conduct and sophisticated learning need not be depreciated, though mystical conversion should not be confounded with them. For ordinary men like us, moral life alone or moral life together with learning is a thing fit to be adored wherever it is witnessed; for the mystic, it is necessary not to confuse moral with mystical conversion. We cannot do better than quote Prof. Date to enlighten us on this point: "The moral life is, therefore, doubly valuable; valuable as a positive asset for the well-being of the society and valuable as the backbone and pointer of spiritual life."3 The flower of mysticism does not blossom by the water of mere morality, but requires spiritual manure along with it. Morality pervaded with spiritualism can alone lead us to the transcendental heights of mystical experience. After this brief digression regarding the conception of difference between the mystical, the moral and the intellectual conversion, let us now proceed
2 Souls incapable of attaining liberation.
Muni without spiritual conversion 3 Yoga of the Saints., p. 76.
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