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THE JAINA GAZETTE. underlying this variety. We cannot help seeking the one in the many. But that is only an economy of labour, an intellectual “cheese paring," which may be useful to us, because we are beings with limited powers. But that which is but a useful necessity to us may not truly represent the nature of reality. Syadvada, though not directly, indirectly at least teaches this profound truth about the human ways of thinking about and regarding reality. This is the intellectual lesson of Syadvada, so valuable in itself. It has also a moral lesson to teach by implication, to which I must refer now.
The intellectual impartiality inculcated by Syadvada with regard to matters theoretical cannot but extend its influence on matters practical. At least it should do so, if we should be true to the spirit which the doctrine breathes. We are more impatient of each other in our practices than in mere speculations. And when our difference touches religion, we are apt to turn fanatics. We fight more often for the dogmas we profess than care for the religion itself. This spirit of intolerance has been found to run through lifelong dissentions of man with man and has been responsible for much blood that has been shed in the name of religion. We forget, out of fanatic zeal, that all religions have a common aim and purpose, and the true spirit of religion should be one for union rather than for separation. We fight more for the shadow than for the reality. What is but a matter of doctrine, of customary rites, or for the matter of that, a historical off-shoot of the faith we profess, comes thus .to be regarded as the eternal truth. Syadvada, if rightly interpreted and applied to life, must stand for religious tolerance, as it stands for intellectual impartiality. It must see an element of truth in every religion and view the wholeness of spiritual life as not covered by any single standpoint. Let all religions meet on a common platform and yield whatever truth it can offer for the fullness of the higher life. This is a lesson which Syadvada must stand for, if it does not do so already.
The present time in India is unfortunately one in which religious differences are becoming more and more prominent. We are becoming more and more irreligious in the name of religion itself. These differences are not truly spiritual but material. We
are fighting here as we do for material possessions. The spirituShree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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