Lord Mahavira and His Teachings

Author(s): Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi
Publisher: Vallabhsuri Smarak Nidhi

Page 91

Lord Mahavira and His Teachings
now recognizes that the original spirit of Ancient India is to be found in the teachings of Mahāvīra and Buddha, who might differ in the way Ahimsā should be applied in daily life, but fully agree in rejecting the monopoly of Orthodox Brahmanism, as misinterpreted by the mediaeval commentators. Philosophical Brahmanism is an integral part of a common heritage of all the great sages of the Upanișadic Age, in which both Jainism and Buddhism share, accepting the ideal of universality and rejecting the excesses of ritualism. Both insist on the necessity for the individual to develop his mind through his own spiritual effort and to ascend to a higher level without any intermediary between himself and the Divine Powers.
The discipline of body and mind prescribed by Ancient Indian Thought constitutes the most original contribution of India to human psychology. Its basis is Yoga and Jainism is pure Yoga in its attempt to liberate the spirit from all earthly forces. There is Jaina Yoga, as there is Buddhist Yoga and Hindu Yoga, with this difference : Mediaeval Orthodoxy corrupted the original spirit of Yoga which became a too! of fakes, thousands of fakes who abuse religion for personal aggrandizement.
Both Mahāvīra and Buddha must be understood as Masters of Yoga, who laid the foundations of Indian Psychology-showing the way towards spiritual perfection, raising human nature to a higher level and demonstrating the possibility of attaining Enlightenment which means cosmic consciousness, selfidentification with all life, with the Universe in the service of the highest ideal ever attained in history: