Jain Journal 1972 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 14

150
JAIN JOURNAL
When a person thus enters on the strait and narrow path in earnest, the divine nature of the soul begins to manifest itself. Then proper meditation, study and concentration are the keys which unlock the door of knowledge, the soul itself being knowledge.
The power of applied concentration produces marvellous changes in the constitution of the mind, and has corresponding effects in our conditions of life and happiness. It is not possible, however, to develop this power, so long as the soul remains agitated by its manifold cravings and longings. In order to subdue these impulses and to acquire a dispassionate tranquil mind, there are six daily activities such as study, charity, self-control, to be carried out as far as possible.
In the course of time, the knowledge-obstructing forces become considerably lessened, and the path of salvation henceforth lies in asceticism and the practice of advanced soul-culture, which includes the greater control of mind, speech and body.
In the final stages of liberation, the ascetic establishes perfect and absolute control over mind, speech and body-the three channels for the influx of matter into the soul. Omniscience is then attained ; he acquires all supernatural powers, obtains everlasting divine bliss and perceives all things in space and time.
Such is the path laid down by the Great Masters.
What does true religion teach ? Mainly this : believe in and acquire knowledge of your real divine self, and then act accordingly; teach others to do the same ; this is the essence of true religion. You are not the body; you merely possess a body. The real you is a psychic, non-material, immortal substance. The body in itself is dead and lifeless ; it is the life-substance or soul which animates the cells and gives the body life.
The soul is held a tight prisoner in the body, “wedded” to it through its complex sensory-motor nervous system. The soul fills the whole body, but its "headquarters” is situated in the region of the heart, in the spinal column ; a central organ from where the nerve filaments connect up (through the brain) with every part of the body.
This central organ controls the entire nervous system (consequently the whole body), and consists of both sensory and motor nerves, which, in various places, unite to form a network or plexus. These nervous