Jain Journal 1982 04

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

Page 14

APRIL, 1982
147
Camel : “Why ? -soul is pure. why does it tangle itself in misadventure ?"
Lord : “Ye Thinker, what is your dream of bliss ?"
Camel : “Emerald oasis !” Lord : “Well-founded ? or a mirage's filmy veil ?”
Camel : “Alas, both fade behind the caravan on the trail." Lord : “And what pulls the wasted foot onward ?”
Camel : “Why, dream of the oases windward.”
Lord : “Thus does the soul shatter its purity, by its voluntary association with matter. Like a cloud obscures the sun, likewise karma obscures the soul's location. Soul, O questing till it realizes self is within, all else is flittering.
Camel : “Ye explain why life and death are saltish wells of pain.” (pondering): "Why ? —why are we reborn ignorant of past-life evil that makes us a future-life servant ? If we had soul-memory of devilry done, we'd avoid a reappearing mirage on our horizon !"
Lord : “Good is done for the goodness of it, not for a self-serving benefit. Have ye not been overloaded by a greedy hand with owner in philanthropy otherwise grand ? In some life, his greed shall weigh like ironwood against the froth of his public good. Often today's prosperity is tomorrow's karmic burden ! Lesson of good for its own sake must be learned fully, thus rebirth is the first necessity. In workaday practice, karma and transmigration forge the perfect justice.”
Camel : "Sandstorm to my mind, a swirling justice so designed."