Book Title: Family and Nation
Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya, A P J Abdulkalam
Publisher: Harper Publications India

Previous | Next

Page 46
________________ 32 THE FAMILY AND THE NATION occurred? What was the purpose? Was it just another example of man being at the mercy of an unforgiving cosmos, or revenge being taken by the Earth for the environmental damage inflicted by humanity? Or was it fate or even a punishment from God Almighty? The Universe is constructed from a multitude of materials. It is dynamic in form and shape due to the innumerable processes and interactions between these materials and structures. To the human, however, in his need to establish his place and purpose in the Universe, the most important material is biological and the most important process is evolution. How can a human learn to understand himself, an understanding that is vital to his survival? The reality is made up of two eternal principles, jiva and ajiva. Both jiva and ajiva are eternal; they never came into existence for the first time and will never cease to exist. Jiva consists of an infinite number of identical spiritual units. Ajiva (that is, non-jiva) is matter in all its forms and the conditions of existence, namely, time, space, and movement. The whole world is made up of jivas trapped in ajiva; there are jivas in rocks, plants, insects, animals, human beings, spirits and so on. Science has revealed that the human body is made up of millions and millions of atoms. The differences between one human being and another, and between any living being and non-living being, are all determined by the sequencing of a few atoms. Any contact whatsoever of the jiva with the ajiva causes the former to suffer and therefore existence in this world inevitably means suffering. Neither social reform nor the reform of individuals themselves can ever stop this suffering. The only way to escape from suffering is for the jiva to liberate itself from the human condition, from human existence. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232