Jainism Christianity and Science

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

Page 77

CHAPTER 11
FAITH, KNOWLEDGE AND CONDUCT
According to Jainism, Right Eaith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct, constitute the path to liberation from the bondage of matter. Right Faith means the belief in the essentials of the Science of Salvation; Right Knowledge means the correct and adequate knowledge of that science; and Right Conduct means the doing of the proper things which will bring about the complete separation between spirit and matter. . When a soul has perfected himself, He may justly Bay of Himself, “I am the Faith (the Way), Knowledge (the Truth), and Conduct (the Life), for Faith, Knowledge and Conduct can only reside in human hearts, not in books, which merely contain their descriptions. The order in which Faith, Knowledge and Conduct occur has an importance attached to it in Jainism. · Faith precedes Knowledge, and Conduct comes last of all. The reason of this is that unless Faith removes the element of doubt from the information, that is, from what one has heard about the teaching of Truth, knowledge does not become free from error and is not termed Right Knowledge. It is only when the birth of Faith has put the seal of belief on the matter of information that it becomes entitled to the dignity of Right Knowledge. Therefore, the Perfect Soul would naturally observe this order when saying "I am the Way, the Truth and the
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