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grant. The Jains use sandal wood. They make forms which represent different ideas. Very few people understand the original meaning of these marks. The mark the Jains nake on the forehead is of the form of the heart. It is made just between the two eyebrows, in the center. Our physiology tells us thers is a center of nerves there, a plexus, which becomes a source of light, or inner, sight. when we go through a course of discipline, moral and spiritual, we see many things through this center which we cannot see by the ordinary vision. When we make that sign we mean it is through this center we are going to have great power of light. Our object in worsping in the temple is not to acquire wealth, but to acquire that power by the aid of which we can see and know more. We want spiritual possessions.
As the people have different doctrinal beliefs they are represented by different signs. The Brahmins have different signs. They make three streaks = on the forehead. The Jains mean by their heart-sign the religion of the heart. The Brahmins say it represents the three energies, the creative, preservative and destructive. Instead of representing, or keeping in mind the material energies of the world, the Jains say it is the heart that is going to raise us by right living.
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