________________
Essential Philosophy of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism
of innumerable works in the library of Constantinople, the Church hierarchy managed to plunge the whole of Europe into mental darkness which has given the world the black record of the inquisition and the loss of millions of human lives through religious wars and persecutions.
What is re-incarnation? Re-incarnation is the doctrine that souls enter this life not as a fresh creation, but after a long course of previous existences and will have to pass through many before, it reaches its final destination. Our age is the age of opinions. Instead of thinking ourselves, we allow others to think for us. If I can quote passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson or from Lord Tennyson's poems or from the Bible in favour of a certain theory no argument will be necessary to prove it. But if I quote a passage from my Bible, you will say you won't believe in its truth and will ask me to prove my position logically. I will accept the challenge and prove the truth of my theory, not by a quotation from my Scriptures but logically.
We know that the human body is a mechanism not a mechanism like a watch or a steam-engine but a knowing mechanism, able to control itself. It is controlled not by any external power but by a power within, which we call mind, soul, spirit or ego. The existence of this central power is disputed by none. Materialism declares this central power to be the property of matter, to be the product of molecular activities going on within the brain. This theory only explains how mechanical motions are produced on the brain cells. But machines only produce motions, not judgments. An amoeba in search of food pursues no haphazard methods but makes most careful selections of the kind it wants. It will send out its pseudopodia, catch, swallow and digest a struggling Infusorians or other nutritious game; but a mere touch of a grain of sand satisfies it as to its character, when it thrusts it from it in a way that plainly says, "That is not good."
Jain Education International
149
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
