________________
The Jaina Philosophy that because only one side of the human nature is advanced, this must, bo so, but if all sides are taken into consideration and simultaneous progress is made on all, there is real advancement.
For this purpose we must progress in the physical, mental and moral nature, and in the spiritual. These are so many different natures of the human being, and when we wish to progress on all these different planes we must consider that there are other living beings besides ourselves, who are related to us, and no laws can be established which do not take into consideration the welfare of these living beings.
First take into consideration the physical development. We know that the body must be healthy, that the right kind of food must be taken, the right kind of exercise and nourishment, and the right kind of clothing worn; all these laws we know, and nothing need be said on that subject; but the real laws we have to learn, even in connection with these things, are to help us to understand the deeper meanings of life. Is it only for our health that we are to have a peculiar kind of diet? Has not that something to do with the mental and moral nature? This is where our Hindu philosophy lends us some help.
We divide food into three kinds, and not, as "Western scientists do, into two, saying that there is one kind which is nitrogenous and another which is non-nitrogenous, meaning simply the elements necessary for the support of the human body. We say that there are three kinds, one having the property of passivity and purity, another having the property of activity, and the third having that of grossness; and we make these three divisions because we wish to take into consideration the moral influences of the food.
When we eat of a certain kind of food, it may be nutritious so far as the physical part of the body is concerned, but at the same time it may create peculiar emanations from the body which
158
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
