Jain Philosophy

Author(s): Virchand R Gandhi
Publisher: Agamoday Samiti

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our path to salvation or liberation, which is the real aspiration of the soul. There is power of matter itself, but that power is lower than the power of the soul. If there was no power at all in the body or in matter, the soul would never be influenced by it, for mere non-exitance will never influnce any thing; but because there is such a thing as matter, when the soul thinks that there is a power of the body and a power of the matter, these powers will influnce it. Bodily power as we see it is on accout of the presense of the soul. There is a power in matter, as cohesion, etc, and this will work although the soul does not think anything about it. If the moon revolves around the earth there are some forces inherent in the earth and moon. What I mean to say is that the influence of these material powers on the soul powers depends on the soul's readiness or willingness to submit to these powers. If the soul takes the view that it will not be influnced by any thing it cannot be so infiunced. This being the soul's nature what is its origin ? Everything can be looked upon from two standpoints, the substance and the manifestation. If the state of the soul Itself is to be taken into consideration, that state has its beginning and its end. The state of the soul as living in the human body had a beginning at birth and will have an end at death, but it is a begining and end of the state, not of the thing itself. The soul taken as a substance is eternal; taken as a state