________________
32
THE PRACTICAL PATH.
state of our consciousness, the former must owe its existence to something else. Matter, the only other substance which enters into interaction with the soul, then, is the substance whose influence is responsible for the abnormal types of emotions and passions. Its fusion with spirit gives rise to disposition, and renders the soul liable to experience different kinds of affections according to the varying circumstances of life. The two opposite types of feelings known as de-light (literally, intense lightness) and de-pression (mental heaviness '), also furnish strong evidence in support of âsrava, for the former conveys the idea of the removal of a kind of weight from the soul, while its antithesis, the latter, implies the imposition of some sort of burden on it. Hence, if our language is to be true to nature, we must acknowledge that it is not purely the weight of words, ideas or circumstances which makes us experience the unpleasant feeling known as depression of spirits, nor the cessation or removal thereof which serves as an occasion for delight.
The truth is that when the soul becomes negative in consequence of some ungratified desire, it is exposed to the asrava of matter in a marked degree, and, consequently, feels de-pressed in the literal sense of the word. Similarly, when its desires are gratified, or voluntarily abandoned, its condition of negativity comes to an end, and some of the particles of matter, which had flowed in on account of the slackening of the intensity of the rhythm of life, are mechanically dispersed, giving rise to the feeling of de-light.
As a result of the foregoing discussion, it may be
www.jainelibrary.org
For Private & Personal Use Only
Jain Education International
