________________
972
THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
called destiny in Islam. It follows that worshipping an outside agency for the things which are already ours and which cannot be had from the outside, is only calculated to lead to greater trouble, inasmuch as all expectations of help from without only go to make the will negative. The true God to worship and praise, therefore, is the individual soul itself, whose omnipotence is kept back only so long as one insists on insulting it by regarding it as helpless and by applying to wrong sources for its help. Besides one's own Self, only those who have set the example of self-evolution and attained perfection and everlasting joy, and whom we must follow if we would free ourselves from the cycle of births and deaths, are alone entitled to respect and reverence from us. Just as he who would become a lawyer cannot derive any benefit from the worship of mythical heroes, so cannot the soul desirous of attaining nirvana be benefited by any but the Soul that has attained to liberation. A lawyer alone can help us in the study of law ; similarly, it is only a liberated Soul that can be of help to us in the attainment of perfection and bliss. We now pass on to a consideration of
Nature, that is to say, of the universe, which, as scientists maintain, does not require the interference of an outside agency. Science undoubtedly is right to the extent that there is no creator of the world and that the universe, as a whole, discloses no teleological design in its evolution. But it is unable to explain the nature of the soul which has only baffled it hitherto. Failing to understand the true
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
