Jaina View of Life

Author(s): T G Kalghatgi
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur

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Synoptic Philosophy logical, necessary system of general ideas in terms of which every element of our experience can be interpreted."
We have to note that the function of philosophy is not merely an academic pursuit of reality. It is a way of life, Philosophy has had the dual purpose of revealing truth and increasing virtue. Philosophers have sought to provide a principle to live by and purposes to live for. For this practical end, philosophers have striven to achieve a synoptic view of the universe, 28 The consciousness of the finiteness of our being makes us yearn for the beyond, in the spirit of the Upanişads from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, and from death to eternal life.”
For this, we have to look to the spiritual experience of the great seers. Broad says there is one thing which speculative philosophy must take into most serious consideration and that is the religious and mystical experiences of mankind. It is they who are in constant touch with the innermost depth of life and to them we are to look for guidance. Such ‘enlightened ones' or 'sages' are the first-hand exponents of philosophy. 26
22. Process and Reality (1929) Part I, Chapter I, p. 4 and Adventures
of Ideas (1933), p. 285. 23. Joad (C. E. M.): A Critique of Logical Positivism, (1950) p. 29. 24. asato mā sad gamaya; tamaso má jyotir gamaya; mȚtyor må amstam
gamaya. . Contemporary British Philosophy: edited by Muirhead (J. H.) (1924)
Critical and Speculative Philosophy. 26. Huxlay Aldous : The Perennial Philosophy, (1959) p. 10, 11.