Jainism Christianity and Science

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: The Indian Press Allahabad

Page 12

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JAINISM, CHRISTIANITY & SCIENCE
Gods; and are the only true Gods. There are and can be no other Gods besides them; all other gods are mythological, without exception, or are merely mortals termed gods for some special reason. The Perfected Souls have the human form, being composed of the pure substance of Spirit, and completely rid of the companionship of matter.
Those who do not attain to liberation, do not and cannot cease to exist; on the separation from one body, that is on the occurrence of death, they pass out' into another body, and thus remain involved in an endless series of births and deaths, till they are able to avail themselves of the Science of Salvation, if it so be that the influence of matter in their case admit of this being done. Conditions of embodied life are full of misery even in the best of circumstances. There are certain regions, termed hells, where the conditions are very very painful, and where certain powerful malignant beings amuse themselves by teasing and harassing the unfortunate ones who are born there, as men tease bulls and cocks and enjoy their fights. But these conditions are not eternal. The soul that is born in a hell shall one day pass out of it. The reverse of the hells are constituted by heavens, where the conditions-of existence are very very pleasant; but the heavens, too, are no more than regions in the universe. They are no more the pleasure-gardens of a Supreme Ruler Divine than are the hells such a being's torture-houses for his enemies! The happiness and m which the mortals experience in all parts of the wo rior to the final release termed Nirvana, is compara e nly; real happiness is only possible in Nirvana, never outside of it.
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