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OUTLINES OF JAINISM
such Jainism gives guidance and help in the positive aspect of right conviction.
In its positive aspect right conviction in Jainism counsels the couscious retention of what we have or have gained. By happy intuition, or by deliberate acquisition of knowledge, the calin of faith takes rise in the mind. Jainism counsels us to take hold of it and press this faith deeper and deeper in the consciousness, so that, instead of being blighted by cold logic and cumning sophistry or eaten away by the corrosion of scepticism, it may grow into the tree of knowledge and fructify into the world-blessing fruit of righteous conduct.
Right conviction is of two kinds,
1. Right conviction from the practical point of view, or vyavahāra-samyag-darśana. It is right and steady conviction of the true nature of the six dravyas, the five ustikāyas, the seven tattvas, the nine padārthas. The man who has this conviction knows also the relative importance and the true significance of the tattvas (66). It also includes faith in true ideal, scriptures, and teacher (67)
2. Right conviction from the real point of view, or niśchaya - sumyag - dursunu, right conviction of the true nature of one's own soul. It is realization of oneself as a pure soul-as something not distinct from the attributes which are peculiar to a perfect soul, namely, perfect knowledge, power, and bliss (67).
Right conviction is free from three errors of confounding it with false (1) gods, (2) place, and (3) teacher. The idea of God should be purged of all materialism or
