________________
I am the Soul
509
play to his ears. He could make out the lilting music in them. He had never known that there was so much to enjoy in this world. These sounds were pleasing his mind. He was engrossed in listening to them. But Arthur was a thinker. He thought, 'No, I am not supposed to listen to just these sounds. There has to be something else. What is it? What was the signal my friend was trying to show me?'
As he thought, Arthur turned inwards. He concentrated on the sounds emanating from within. He tried to listen to them. There was somebody calling from within. Brothers! The jiva is not used to listening to voices from within. The jiva likes to listen to sounds outside. That is why it cannot live in isolation. The moment it is alone, the atma begins to say something. The conscience gets agitated. The din of the agitation is too much to hear. That is why the self is unwilling to listen to itself. The world may or may not know, but the self knows how it is within. Moreover, the soul too appears when in isolation. Man gets scared listening to it, begins fighting it. The sounds can be very unnerving. That is why man prefers to be in the midst of a noisy atmosphere, lest the atma begin talking from within, and even if it does, the voice should not fall on his deaf ears.
Arthur's state was very much like this. He was agitated. The disturbance was heightening. Somebody was talking from within. There was no courage to listen to that voice, but Arthur's friend had insisted, so he had to listen. And the voice came from within, 'Arthur! Who are you? What have you done so far?" Arthur was surprised. 'Who is this asking me who I am? Who am I? Arthur! I am Arthur! Arthur who? This body? No, it is somebody else calling from within. Who is this speaking?' Arthur began to think. He had never been confronted with such a question from within. In fact, he never had had the time until today. He was unaware that there could ever be a voice arising from within. How could he then ever get a thought as 'I am the Soul'? Today
Jain Educationa International
For Personal and Private Use Only.
www.jainelibrary.org