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in Sanskrit or Prakrit during that period were all included in the list of scriptures. The result was man's power to independently reason atrophied as he devoutly accepted every book as part of the scriptures, and everything written in them as a revelation of the Realised Ones. None
of the Indian religious traditions has escaped this intellectual impairment. In the beginning this erroneous attitude may have gone unnoticed as they were blinkered by their devotion, but today its devastating effects are evident. The devotees of Indian religious traditions have become entangled in these so-called scriptures that they are neither able to achieve anything with them, nor be wholly rid of them.
SO
My writing this is not intended as a repudiation of, or an insult to, the scriptures. We should understand and accept that scriptures differ from books, and having done so, break free from this unquestioning faith in these so-called scriptures. Scripture is not a compilation of a false belief, it is a manifestation of the truth. I regard the sayings of the sages, the seers of truth, as
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sacred. I deeply revere the voice of Mahavir since it touches the soul and is the ultimate and unchanging truth. However, I do not hold as scripture the books written in the name of the Realised Ones, as they are bereft of any speck of spiritual awareness, and are devoid of the actual experience of the beautiful, the true and the good.
I have an unshakeable faith in Mahavir, and my heart is filled with reverence for the truth-seeing sages. This faith, this veneration becomes more powerful and more intense the more it reaches the depths of reflection. Even today, I see that supreme light within me and once again I dedicate my heart completely to it. Mahavir is a pillar of light to me, and the brilliance of his words penetrates and illumines every aspect of my being. In the light of my own reasoning I can clearly see in the scriptures that which is, and that which is not, the voice of a Tirthankar. Words which kindle in our hearts the flame of truth, awaken our slumbering godhead, and expand our inner consciousness to an allpermeating and all-powerful form, can only be the words of the Realised Ones.
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