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- The Jaina Philosophy + ideas as long as they overlook the eternity of duration, the infinity of space, and the omnipotence of soul and consequently they look upon this life was an arena for gladiatorial strife and combat or as a market for cheating and huckstering".
We in India, from the lowest Pariah to the highest potentate look upon life here as a mere waiting room from the known to the unknown, as a mere stage of growth from the lowest animalcule to the highest and perfected state. We believe in the eternity of the soul meaning thereby that it is eternal at both ends - at the beginning as well as at the end; we preach and practice brotherhood not only of men but of all living beings – not on Sundays only but all the days of the week.
We believe in the law of universal justice that our present condition is the result of our past actions and that we are not bound down by the freak of an irresponsible governor-Judge and Prosecutor at the same time; we depend for our salvation on our own acts and deeds and not on a constituted attorney. Our rites and ceremonies may appear to you as mere superstitions but modern science is just now beginning to understand that they are all based on scientific principles.
The reason why a monk of my community would not touch money is based on the laws of polarity; the reason why a layman sits in a peculiar posture before a monk or a teacher is based on the physiological laws of the negative and positive conditions of the body. The reason why a religious teacher when delivering a discourse points his fingers in this way is based on the laws of human magnetism. The reason why a Hindu before taking his meal washes his hands and feet is based on the laws of electricity. Instead of propagating the knowledge of philosophical and scientific reasons of our so-called superstitious acts which are daily performed in India, do you wish to convert the three hundred millions of the people of my country to a faith which depends for
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