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2
As dry husk from rice,
There drops off all attachment, save to soul, When separated is the pure from the impure. Body is impure, soul in its true nature is pure, And every pure soul is equal, individual and eternal. Every living thing has soul; without soul, body dies. Why then reincarnates pure soul into the cracked body-vessel ? 'Tis soul's voluntary linkage with the physical world, Thus, not a communal Deity but private actions dictate The circumstances of the individual cycle of births. O Soul! It weeps for reunion with its lost purity. O Homecoming! 'Tis the godly bliss, everlasting. What guides soul from body-misery to ultimate reality? 'Tis Right Conduct, wherein all vows support non-violence, For by that ye look upon all as upon your very self. Thus, the highest act of grace by a living being Is harmlessness in thought, word and deed. Realizing Truth, I share it with all living things." And our Lord, wing-footed, went afar to his Mission.
JAIN JOURNAL
Vow tardy, I thought. And I, a skin-bag of bones. My only hope, our Lord would turn back to the mountain Where first He had preached the holy Jaina Ahimsa. From the sight of the world, I was passing, alas, my vow... -Thus came I to this dust.
'Twas rebirth, wherein my final care in my former life Now upheld my vigil against these shifting winds.
In His evening-glow of life, came He.
Lord all-seeing! that I found myself under His hand. Said He, "Ye shelter here, ye food-animals." "Blessings," said this humble dust.
Thus did my soul fulfill my vow, thus end my vigil. Meantime, into His final meditation passed our Lord, And ere long, His soul was soaring to eternal liberation. O rosy bliss,
The peace of our Lord Nemi was falling to all worlds...
Blessings to the Spiritual Hand of our Lord, That He held forth over the food-animals, So we be restful in our souls.
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