Book Title: Science Discovers Eternal Wisdom
Author(s): Amarendravijay, J D Lodaya, Bhuvanchandra
Publisher: Jain Sahitya Academy

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Page 123
________________ bring on the sense of deeper attachment. The things which are known/experienced as ephemeral by us, e.g. a shadow, a waft of wind, the sea-waves and smoke-curl figures from burning incense or cigarette, no one tries to hold them in a bear-hug. If one experiences one's body also like a fleeting, unsubstantial shadow, there would be no attachment towards it in one's mind. Witnessed by eye, yet untrue : The perceptions fed to us by our senses and informationinput made available through these channels about the world around us create a visual impression and compel us to believe that the world is, as it appears. Based on this belief, we conduct the usual affairs of our lives. Not only that, to reinforce the veracity of some matter, at times we emphatically say, 'I have witnessed it !' or 'I have experienced it myself !' But the fact is that we do not receive the realistic picture of the world through our senses. The wise, therefore, warn us by saying, 'Even eyewitnessed matter also cannot be taken as absolute truth'. Our perception of the world through our senses is incomplete and distorted. The French astronomer Alexander Ananoft convincingly presenting this fact, says, Owing to the infinite distance between us and the stars and the interminably long time it takes for light from stars to reach us, what we may see today as star is really its appearance as it was thousands of years ago. It may be possible that the star we are actually looking at today could have become extinct since long. Thus it can be said that to study astronomy is to study the history of long lost past. If we could reach a star and could observe the activities of life on our earth from there, we may not see the modern civilisation at all; But instead, it is possible we may get to see the scene of community living in some ancient civilisation like the Egyptian, for example. 97 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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