Book Title: Gandhi Before Gandhi
Author(s): Bipin Doshi, Priti Shah
Publisher: Jain Academy Educational Research Center Promotion Trust Mumbai

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Page 136
________________ GANDHI BEFORE GANDHI who are fond of books will always go to a bookstore to see what new books have arrived and purchase and read them. Those who are fond of newspapers will wait when the newspaper comes out of the press, to secure the first copy and read it. If we can concentrate our thoughts on these trivial subjects, why should we not be able to concentrate our thoughts on the right & true subjects? If our object of life is only to secure a few facts in each department that is the right thing for us to do but if we desire to keep up with the time then we have to know all the things which are necessary for our information, and this can only be done by concentrating on our thoughts. If the department of life in which we are engaged is such that our very maintenance depends on the knowledge of these things we must concentrate upon them. It will really advance us. transmission of their thoughts to another place where these thought vibrations are received by a person in a similar condition and translated into an act on the physical organism and produce the desire to commit crime. From a physiological stand-point, we know that the germs from small-pox and contagious diseases are flying in every direction and so we should not come into contact with persons who have these diseases. Same way, we must take even more care in matters of the mental and moral nature and thoughts as they indeed have wonderful power of acting on others mind. Ordinarily, we become fond only of unimportant things, later on, of sensational things and still later on those things which will satisfy our morbid appetite. That is the reason why there are so many sensational novels written. All these things are really injurious. When a murder is committed and the information concerning it is published, people read the details with eagerness. Why? Because on account of the unnatural life they lead, their propensities are such that nothing can satisfy them except such kind of information. The further result is that the mind being in a state of vibration and therefore in a state to transmit these vibrations to the ethereal matter outside of us, they are carried to other people and thus these propensities are transmitted to others, We have even known that when murder has been committed in one part of the country just about the same time many other murders are committed in other parts of the country. This can be explained on the hypothesis that the minds of persons saturated with these thoughts are influencing others by means of the We have therefore to discuss the physical, mental, moral and spiritual conditions of the soul, and the laws which are to be derived for the purpose of advancing the life of the soul must be based on the facts which are experienced on all these planes, and must also be based on the true ideas of the relation of the human being with other living beings. Although in a theoretical sense we may divide the planes of life into different divisions, the lowest kind being the monad along, on the other planes, the vegetable, animal, etc., till we come to the highest plane that of human life. In order to live the highest kind of life there ought to be the greatest amount of spiritual life. The killing of other beings for self maintenance ought to be carried only to the extent necessary to support the body and not for any other purpose, No act therefore ought to be done which would necessarily lead to killing of other beings. 135

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