________________
SUTRAS
THE KEY TO THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE
29
damentally that these ventures will enrich us - no matter what the outcome - and that none of this energy will ever be lost.
This confidence is not brought about by blind faith or mere intellectual understanding, but only by us experiencing it on a personal level. A skeptical attitude during our initial experimenting with this concept does not obstruct the process. We usually experience positive effects after only a short time, even if not every single effort in this direction does yield results. Growing freedom from events we thought inevitable before, independence from restrictive persons or circumstances and the additional energy and inspiration available for our life and development are first concrete results that encourage us to continue into this direction of total self-determination.
Any obstacles we confront on this path are caused by our very own emotions, prejudices and bias. What mechanisms give rise to these obstacles and how we can dissolve them is described in 'KARMA - THE MECHANISM' - the part of the Tattvarthasutra that deals with the practical application of this knowledge.
Confidence in the purpose of realty (samyag darshana) and intuitive orientation towards growth - the practical expression of this trust - unfolds in two stages. - The first stage is still deeply marked by our physical environment that almost hypnotically confines our consciousness to the lower stages of development4 (gunasthanas). Here we experience our orientation towards growth mainly as a narrow path that leads out of our hypnotic fascination with matter. It appears to us like a tunnel that - on our way to higher levels - leads through an increasingly absurd world5. Since this absurd world sometimes causes fear, we hold fast onto our path like to a lifeline. Our orientation towards growth serves to counterbalance all the
4 see '14 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT' 5 Our own world appears so unfamiliar to us, because we now perceive
it from a new, distanced perspective.
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
