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The Jains through Time
Jain Education International
envelope being too heavy, let me remove the stamps that have already been affixed, for then the letter is bound to become light enough to be delivered quickly!" From his point of view the servant was being conscientious and helpful. It is true that good deeds create bondage, but they are like the stamps on the envelope - without them, life is meaningless and futile because it cannot reach its destination.'
Sometimes I wonder whether true socialism can ever be brought into a country by its constitution. Can the needle and thread of politics really be used to stitch' men's hearts together? Can power and authority actually create empathy and fellow-feeling amongst the people? Even after much deliberation on this point, the answer is always the same. Never! Never! Social betterment, mutual tolerance, co-operation, fellow-feeling and empathy, all these can never be imposed on the people from above. Rather they should come from within and flow out into the world. Social well-being requires co-operation, and co-operation requires empathy and fellow-feeling.
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There is a difference between reform or repair and root and branch change, just as there is a difference between revolution and evolution, or improvement and the creation of something new. Some desire reform and others want root and branch change, some want improvements and others to create. anew, some want evolution, others. revolution. All these things are necessary in life but all have their limitations.
If a piece of cloth gets torn it can be sewn up; if it gets dirty, it can be washed. In this way, it can still be used. It has been repaired. However, when it gets so threadbare and torn that it ceases to be a piece of cloth and becomes a rag, then we should throw it away. Continue to wear it and the world. will conclude that you are either a fool or a pauper. Here is an old house. When cracks. appear they are repaired with cement, when tiles fall off, they are replaced. However, a day will finally come when the foundations are so eroded, the walls so weak that far from being a sturdy building the house stands in imminent danger of becoming a ruin, with the caving-in of the roof likely to
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