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

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Page 196
________________ STAGES OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT 163 in that state a person will do all kinds of wrong things to grafity the passion. 13. His attitude of belief and convictions is correct; he is not in any state of intoxication or delusion. All signs of greed, anger, killing etc. must have gone. He has dismissed mithựātva. 14. Ignorance has gone, and therefore he is Omniscient. 15. He never goes into the state of sleep. If there is any hitch in the continuity of his omniscience then he is not an Arhat. 16. He has a perfect control over his desires, over any desire to please the eye, or the sense of taste, or the ear, or the sense of touch. 17. He has no attachments to things or persons. He would never say "You cannot take it, it is mine”. (This characteristic refers more to persons, while the 7th refers more to things.) 18. He has no hatred of persons or things. He does not think "I do not want anything to do with that person.” The person who has obtained the samyaktva has the conviction that such a person and such a person alone is my God, in the sense of an ideal man (not as creator), and this is a strong conviction of which he is quite sure without any wavering. The tva spoken of so far is called aupasamika samyaktva. The aupaśamika means that the karmas mithyātva mohaniya and the four anantänubandhis are controlled (not removed.) Spiritual Teacher The person who has obtained the samyaktva would have certain convictions regarding what sort of a man could be his teacher. He would have the conviction that the only kind of person who can teach the truth in the absence of the Deva or Arhat is one who has the below mentioned characteristics. Unless a person has the following qualifications, he cannot be the right kind of teacher, able to teach us the truth : 1. He does not destroy any form of life, animal, vegetable, or mineral (water, for instance) through carelessness of body, mind and speech. It is, therefore, impossible for him to be a layman. 2. His speech is actually truth in fact, and is spoken in a san Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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