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Jaina Philosophy and Religion
the worldly existence moves on the pivot of these three. It is only the science of spiritual welfare that can show us how to remove these three defects which cause spiritual disease. But to realise that one is suffering from this disease is very difficult. When the waves of worldly delusion are dashing against the mind and the heart is blinded by the dazzling light of the lightning of sensual pleasures and the self is caught in the strong whirls of desires, it is very difficult to know one's hidden deep-rooted disease. The ignorant souls in such conditions are at the lowest scale of degradation. Those who have risen up from this state of degradation consider themselves to be stricken with those three defects, understand themselves to be burning in the unbearable heat generated by the defects and therefore are eager to find out the remedy of the defects. If the spiritual ‘medicine' is brought to light, they will surely be benefited by
it.
The term 'adhyātma' is formed of two words, viz., 'adhï' and 'ātmā'. *Adhi' means 'with reference to, concerning, on the subject of", and "ātmā means soul. Thus the term 'adhyātma' means 'concerning soul' and 'concerning spiritual welfare'. To regard the attainment of pure nature of soul as one's ultimate goal and to strive for it is adhyātma. Or, to move in the direction of spiritual development is adhyātma. In short, adhyātma is a spiritual life. In the science of spiritualness, the sentient and insentient reals are treated of, explaining all the essential points. To know the one, the knowledge of the other is necessary. Without knowing the one, the other cannot be known in its entirety.
What is soul? Why does it experience happiness and misery? Is soul's bondage with something else the cause of it? How can the soul be bound with the karmic matter? Has this bondage the beginning? Or, is it beginningless? If beginningless, how can it be destroyed? What is the nature of karmic matter? What are its types and subtypes? What governs the bondage, rise and existence of karmic matter? What is the nature of soul's present state? Is it possible for the soul to attain its pure and pristine state? If yes, how? Treatment of all these points come within the scope of the subject matter of the science of spiritualness.
Moreover, in its subject matter is included the vivid description of the emptiness of the worldly cycle and also that of miseries one experiences in one's wanderings in the worldly existence on account of one's defects of attachment, aversion and delusion. By explaining the subject matter of various meditational reflections in various ways, the science of spiritual
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