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Rational Religion (1)
G, C. Dhariwal
A living being, be it a man or a beast, a bird or a plant, is composed of two substances, soul and matter. Death means the separation of the two. Body 13 matter and is visible to eyes while the soul is invisible Matter has got properties known to science All these properties exist in the matter composing the dead bodies Soul is non-matter and therefore, its properties cannot be known or investigated in the laboratories But there are ways and means by which we can investigate the properties of the soul.
It the first instance, let us see what is the difference between the living and the dead. We at once note that the living have got consciousness while the dead do not have it When a living being dies, Consciousness goes away. Moreover the scientists have not found any consciousness in any particle of matter Thust consciousness 15 one of the properties of the soul Consciousness includes intellect, knowledge, discrimination, judgment etc. Now look at this from another point of view. From the beginning of time man has been thirsty for knowledge He has been making new discoveries and inventions in all fields pertaining to matter or soul. It has broken matter into atoms and electrones and studied its properties and has put that knowledge to various and this quest for more and more knowledge will contine till eter. nity There have also been people who have dedicated their live s to researches in the domain of soul-Tirthankaras, prophets, Rishis , Acharya etc
This quest shows that knowledge is the quality of soul In its wordly envi. ronments, that quality lies suppressed and the soul tries to assert itself to regain that quality, hence the quest for knowledge The field of knowledge is so vast that
