Jaina Culture

Author(s): Mohanlal Mehta
Publisher: P V Research Institute Varanasi

Page 68

KNOWLEDGE
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durability (decreasing), (5) that which neither faces growth nor embraces deterioration (steady) and (6) that which sometimes increases and sometimes decreases (unsteady).
Telepathy:
The mind is made of material atoms. Its modes are the different changes of states emerging into acts of thought. Every state of our thought is a particular mode of the mind. As our state of thought changes so also the mind changes. Thus, a state of thought is nothing but a particular mode of the material mind. The direct cognition of these modes is known as telepathy. A person possessing telepathy can, thus, directly cognise our thoughts.
Telepathy is confined to the plane of human beings. Its emergence is conditioned by a particular capacity possessed by one having a particular mode of right conduct. The person possessing telepathy is necessarily a homeless ascetic. His conduct must be of a higher type. Such conditions are not set down in the case of clairvoyance.
Omniscience :
Omniscience is the highest type of knowledge. It is the perfection of the cognitive faculty of the self. It is the pure and perfect manifestation of the innate nature of the spiritual substance. It arises on the complete annihilation of all the obstructive karmic veils. The person possessing omniscience directly cognises all the substances with all their modes. For him nothing remains unknown. His knowledge is direct, pure and perfect.