Guiding Light Freedom from Opinion

Author(s): Namramuni
Publisher: Namramuni

Page 3

Freedom from Opinions.....
Freedom from Opinions...
affected by the presence of another person, object or situation. If he gets involved in it, he develops good or bad thoughts for them. In Jainism, these thoughts and feelings are called opinions. For infinite lives, we have developed a habit of expressing our opinions. Hence, even in this birth, we keep expressing our opinions.
A child becomes a youth; an adult grows old. The sun, which rose in the morning, will set in the evening. It may be raining in the morning but there may be sunshine in the afternoon. So, should the opinions that we form by observing the present be of a permanent or momentary nature?
"Oh! That person - he is very good natured but sometimes..."
What happened? You did not want to speak anything unpleasant about him, so by using the word 'but', you criticized him and raised a doubt in other people's mind.
Two people will have different opinions for the same person. In one person's view, Arjunmali is a murderer. He kills seven people every day. His opinion is that Arjunmali is a murderer. The murderer, Arjunmali goes to Parmatma's samovasaran and walks right up to HIM. Arjunmali is being observed by Parmatma as well as others in the samovasaran.
What opinion will Parmatma have for Arjunmali?
Parmatma says that your opinions are incomplete and biased because you can see neither the past, nor the future of anything or see the situation in its totality. Your opinion is based on what you see in the present. But remember, nothing is eternal. Neither your eyes are going to be there forever, nor are any objects seen by the eyes.
Will Parmatma express his view? NO...! Parmatma knows that this person, who is currently known as 'Arjunmali', the murderer, will in a few moments, become 'Arjunmuni', an ascetic.
Most opinions are based on what the eye sees and what the tongue speaks.
Right now, he is an ordinary person, but shortly, he will become Arjun ascetic (Angaar).
Is this world momentary or eternal?
Just as the murderer Arjunmali became Arjunmuni in a few moments, everything in this world keeps changing at every moment. What may seem bad now, can become good a moment later. That which appears to be pleasant, can become unpleasant.
Is the present state of the world, as seen by our eyes, going to remain as it is till eternity or will it change the very next moment?
Whatever that is seen by the eyes at present - is it going to remain the same till eternity or is it going to change as time passes?
When we do not know in toto, why should we become impatient and express our opinions?
Parmatma says that only the soul is eternal in this world. Everything else is constantly changing its form.
The worst habit of most people is to express their opinions and give advice.
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