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The Jaina Philosophy to unfold. Obstacles are self-created. We must remove them by our own force.
In the history of a soul there is a critical point in the human incarnation that decides for us whether we stay there or progress upwards. There is a knot of worldly desires impeding us; cut the knot by mastering desire and go forward. This done, progress is assured. A philosopher has used as an illustration of his thought a group of ants climbing a tree. Some get tired and drop back; others are entangled in the viscid exudations of the tree, while others go to the top and partake of the fruit.
The law of habit is that within every-one which has been acquired by a continuous action of consciousness in a certain line. If we have made a habit, we can unmake it. The individual entity has many personalities, the physical body has been formed through the habit of thinking that the body itself is the self.
Understanding the whole elements of the human being in this way, the next step is to gain the mastery of our desires, to change them into higher forces.
With regard to this progress, there are two ways of making it. One is natural, the other scientific-The natural method means to make no exertion but to resign ourselves into the hands of the forces around us. This takes a long time, and we are likely to be stationary. We may be attracted by worldly things and be retarded. The experiences of these react and teach us better, but we have to stay embodied a long time to learn in this way. According to the scientific method the path is narrow. We must transmute desire into spiritual force. It is in the power of everyone to take this decisive step.
This whole philosophy requires knowledge of the law of cause and effect so as to determine before hand what will be the result of actions.
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