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RATIONAL RELIGION
Shri G. C. Dhariwal
ments, that quality lies suppressed and the soul tries to assert itself to regain that quality, hence the quest for knowledge. The field of knowledge is so vast that the human race has not been able to acquire full knowledge. It may be, that the soul imprisoned in the body does not know its true goal or the correct method to reach that goal. Nevertheless its quest for more and more knowledge shows that it is one of its inherent properties.
A living being, be it a man or a beast, a bird or a plant is composed of two substances, soul and matter. Death means the separation of the two. Body is matter and is visible to eyes while the soul is invisible. Matter has got properties known to science. All these properties exist in the matter composing the dead bodies. Soul is non-matter and therefore its properties cannot be known or investigated in the laboratories. But there are ways and means by which we can investigate the properties of soul.
In the first instance let us see what is the difference between the living and the dead. We find that the living have got consciousness while the dead do not have it. When a living being dies, consciousness goes away. Moreover, the scientists have not found any consciousness in any particle of matter. Thus consciousness is one of the properties of soul. Consciousness includes intellect, knowledge, discrimination, judgement etc. Now look at this from another point of view. From the beginning of time, man has been making new discoveries and inventions in all fields pertaining to matter or soul. It has broken matter into atoms and electrons and studied its properties and has put that knowledge to various uses and this quest for more and more knowledge will continue till eternity. There have also been people who have dedicated their lives to researches in the domain of soul-Tirthankaras, prophets, Rishis, Acharya etc.
This quest shows that knowledge is the quality of soul. In its worldly environ-
You lock a man or even a child in a room; he will resent it and will like to come out. You chain a dog; it will try to break away from the chain and free itself. A dead dog or a dead man would not mind any restriction. Thus every living being wants freedom. What has man not done to gain that freedom, be that the individual freedom or the social or the political freedom. Man has asserted "Freedom is my birth right" and has sacrificed every thing to preserve or to gain that freedom. Even now, throughout the world, nations are struggling to gain political and social freedom, freedom from despots and dictators. Men have formed Governments. i. e. given up part of their freedom for the common good, but there also the principle is 'that Government is best which governs least'. This shows that freedom is also a property of the soul and it is struggling to regain it. It may be that man does not know the full implications of that freedom or the real means to attain it, but his very urge for freedom shows that it is soul's inherent property.
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