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NOVEMBER 2012
PRABUDHHA JIVAN
31
Thus HE Was, Thus HE Spoke :
MARCUS AURELIUS
I first came across Marcus Aurelius's book' Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Meditations when I was barely 16. I was fascinated Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."- Isn't with his acknowledgements on the first ten pages to this what Anekantvad says, there will always be many differant people of his empire and his remarkable perceptions, many opinions.contradictions and incisive attributes of them as if he knew instantly and aberrations as that IS the niyam of sansar. chose each person's 'essence.'
If someone is able to show me that what I think or Who was Marcus Aurelius? He was a Roman do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, emperor for almost 20 years till 180 A.D and was a by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person converted 'Stoic'. (STOICISM is a school of philosophy who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who founded in Athens where the Stoics taught that is harmed." - The Purusharth of Truth, so beautifully destructive emotions result from errors in judgement, said that truly only a man who is in 'bhav -nidra and and that a person of 'moral and intellectual perfection mithyatva follower 'who will be harmed time and time would not suffer such emotion.')
again, not someone who is the seeker of truth as he
has the courage to embrace truth, to see reality as is. The only work Marcus is known for was Meditations - also popular as 'Writings to Himself.'
"I have often wondered how it is that every man loves
himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less So, let us take a dip , a small dip into his vast work
value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion and see for ourselves how relevant they are for all the
of others.- Ah, Ah... Marcus ... What a poignant thought. times, all the centuries to come.
As Kripalu dev in his Granth'Vachnamrutji has warned His most popular message was 'The Happiness of us that how aakhu jeevan pote ranjan thava ma ane your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.' Isn't beeja ne ranjan karva ma vyarth karyo chey - we all that what all Jain philosophies teach us for Man shuddhi merely play football to other people's opinion which
for vachan shuddhi and automatically rest will fall into leads to constant sankalp vikalp. place.
"Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand "Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is then they will not care how devout you have been, but in your power, be good. will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived
The above quote reminds me of a saint warning by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not Bharat Chakravarty-'Bharat chet, Kaal jhapata det.' The want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you
Anityata of human life, the fragility as compared to will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live
shashvat soul, thus not to ever forget our own mortality. on in the memories of your loved ones."
And we will end here with his simple and straight His thought process might seem that of an atheist,
Jain philosophy essence-'You are a little soul carrying but on the conrary his emphasis on being good was
about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say.' fanatical. His emphasis on 'Man, vachan, Kaaya shuddi' was phenomenal.
Aapde badha aatma chye, ane jene aapde important
maanyu chye and atlu badhu pampadye chye is to You have power over your mind - not outside events.
something which is dead that is our body- so nirjeev. Realize this, and you will find strength."
RESHMA JAIN How many times repeatedly our tirthankars have told
The Narrators us this- Parthi khas, sva ma bas, etlu bas.
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