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JAINISM
DEITY
Deity, in the Jain doctrine, is the highest ideal, that we keep before the mind with the object that we ultimately shall become like him. If the person does not reach this ideal with all its grandeur in the bodily state as did the master (Tirthankara), still the person will reach the state of Deity in liberation where all are equal. The Master is a person, not an abstract idea, having attained an ideal manhood, and living, while on earth in the body, among his brothers and sisters; his relationship to other human beings is not that they are his children.
When the right attitude is attained then the person will have a strong conviction that only those are Masters in whom the following eighteen failings are absent:
None of the eighth class of energies (antaraya karmas, page 34) must be found in him, there are five in this class, and so we have the first five absent failings. There must be no weakness or inability to do any right action he might wish to do.
(6) Laughing and joking must have disappeared. Laughing as a rule is on the occasion of some unfamiliar idea or connection of ideas, and when such is the case it shows imperfect knowledge; and there must not be anything with which the ideal man is unfamiliar.
(7) He has no liking (rati) for this, that, or the other thing; that is, material objects. He is always in a state of internal bliss whether the object is there or not. Also, liking an object, a cushiony seat, for instance, would be a source of displeasure at its loss. It is ATTACHMENT to sensation that is the point here as a failing. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
