Book Title: Religion and Philosophy of the Jainas
Author(s): Virchand R Gandhi
Publisher: Jain International Ahmedabad

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Page 100
________________ SOUL 67 We must act so as to be regenerated in this life. When I do an act or think a thought, I create debts or forces which I must pay on the same plane. When you create debts on a physical plane, you must pay them on a physical plane. Soul life is on the moral plane. Life may be divided into the physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual planes. When a person is on the lowest plane he depends on gross matter for all his acts and powers. If he wishes to progress, he must follow the rules pertaining to that life. We do not despise the physical life. He must act so that the physical will correspond with the laws of the other planes. Body is not the temple of the soul, but a helper. The key-note of our philosophy is that body is to be taken care of only so far as it helps the spirit. Mind is a relationship established between the soul and body, which is the action of the soul along a certain line. Doctrine of Reincarnation and Karma Although this doctrine is rejected throughout Europe and America by the Christians, it is accepted by the majority of mankind at the present day. It has been held as true by the mightiest Eastern nations. The ancient civilization of Egypt was built upon this doctrine and it was handed over to Pythagoras, Empedocles, Plato, Virgil and Ovid who scattered it through Greece and Italy. It is the keynote of Plato's philosophy when he says that all knowledge is reminiscence. It was wholly adopted by the Neo Platonists like Plotinus and Proclas. The hundreds of millions of Hindus, Buddhists and Jainas have made that doctrine the foundation of their philosophy, religion, government and social institutions. It was a cardinal point in the religion of the Persian Unagi. The doctrine of Metempsychosis was an essential principle of the Druid faith and was impressed upon your forefathers, the Celts, the Gauls and the Britons. Among the Arab philosophers it was a favourite idea. The rites and ceremonies of the Romans, Druids and Hebrews expressed this truth forcibly. The Jews adopted it after the Babylonian 1. Addressed to Americans Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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