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JAINISM AND WORLD PROBLEMS
It is thus quite wrong to accuse Jainism of encouraging suicide, or of being the only culprit in this regard.
It may also be noted that Jainism does not countenance what may be termed instant dispatch, the carrying out of the resolve to quit on the instant. The Jaina sallekhana leaves ample time for further reconsideration of the situation, as the process, which is primarily intended to elevate the will, is extended over a number of days, and is not brought to an end at once.
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I will now take up only one further point. A.S. P. thus expresses himself towards the end of his article:
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Although the teachings of Jainisin appear to aim at great perfection, it can very aptly be called 'the pathos of an empty heart.'"
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If
No doubt, to a man who will not take the trouble of studying the subject on which he is going to discourse or write, Jainism might appear as the 'pathos of an empty heart,' but A. S. P. should be charitable enough to accord me the privilege of saying that to the Jainas his article appears more as the tragedy of an empty head than anything else! A.S. P. would only take the trouble of reading the proper kind of books on Jainism and comparative religion, and study the whole subject as a science should be studied, he would not, I am sure, be long in arriving at proper estimates of the different problems connected with religion, which the generality of the 'learned' men of our day are prone to dispose of too readily and flippantly as the outpourings of the baby mind of the race.
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