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without any reduction in its intensity. The reason being that the practice of soul purifying restraint, renunciation and penance and fully detached disposition only result in gaining more and more merits rather than diminishing them.
The rule in this regard is that the meritorious karma types can be destroyed only through the increase in passions and the fully detached omniscient Lords have no passions left at all. Therefore, the meritorious karma types once earned never diminish. As far as the destruction of their durational bondage is concerned, the durational bonds and periods of existence of meritorious non-destructive karma subtypes are never greater than those of the sinful non-destructive karma subtypes. Therefore, they automatically get destroyed either before or at the same time as the durational bonds and periods of existence of the sinful nondestructive karma subtypes get destroyed. The destruction of the durational bondage itself is the destruction of the relevant karma type or subtype. Thus, for the destruction of the meritorious non-destructive karma subtypes the spiritual aspirant does not have to make any endeavour exertion or effort. Therefore, to consider the auspicious activities of mercy, kindness, compassion, charity, affection, friendship, etc., as hindrances in the attainment of liberation is against the Jaina canonical dictates and the principles of karma theory.
It is a well-known fact and a canon-acknowledged principle that attachment and aversion in the form of passions are the seeds of sinful karmic bondages. Attachment-aversion and passions are the manifestations of deluding karma. None of the subtypes of the deluding karma is meritorious, all are sinful. The happiness that comes about by visiting the deities and the spiritual masters and preceptors and listening to their discourses is not attachment but a feeling of joy. The love that springs in our hearts on beholding the virtuous is not attachment but affection and friendship.
The melting of our hearts at the sight of the miserable is also not due to attachment but due to the feeling of kindness and to endeavour to mitigate their misery through rendering necessary help and serving
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