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JIVA
139
sufferings it has to undergo. The first three hells are considered to be hot, the next, both hot and cold and the last two, cold.
The four states of the jīva described above has impressed on us the Jaina view that there is continuity of consciousness from the lowest of animate beings to the highest stage of perfection in which purity of consciousness is regained, the stage which is clearly far above the ordinary human level. The logic of such a theory of consciousness is that at no stage is any jiva to be despised or looked down upon. More often than not, this fundamental truth about the state of human existence—that it is only an intermediate stage towards perfection is forgotten. The result is that man is given so much of importance that the sub-human speciesis ignored completely. The Jaina theory of consciousness, in keeping with its logic of continuity of consciousness insists on reverence for life, to use the terminology of Albert Schweitzer. The result is that a strong foundation is laid for a severe and a necessary ethic of ahiṁsā, the high-watermark of Jaina philosophy and culture. This will be discussed in a later chapter.
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