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166
SHRAMAN MAHAVIR
creed surrounded themselves with fires during intense summers and stood in chilly waters of the river during severe Winters The Lord pronounced these pursuits as half-baked and inimical to life
If masochism was the essence of spiritualism why would he denounce such practices as lying on a bed of thorns ?
Once Gautam questioned, 'Sire, is masochism spiritual ?' 'I won't call it spiritual! 'Then, is it anti-spiritual?' 'I won't call it anti-spiritual, either' 'How shall we describe it, then?'
'An ailing person takes bitter drugs Will it be proper to call it unwise? A man in fever takes sumptuous meals Will it be proper to call it wise? Drugs aim at curing the ailment If a sweet salve can cure disease, why take a bitter one? If it cannot, one has no option but to take bitter one Rich food is nourishing to the body but in fever it is contra-indicated To torture one's self is not spiritual Spiritualism is a purging of the latencies'
Said Gautam, 'Do such possibilities exist 1 Grave discomfort and high sublimation, 2 Grave discomfort and little sublimation, 3 Little discomfort and high sublimation, 4 Little discomfort and little sublimation?
Said the Lord, 'It can be so ' 'How it be so ?'
Said the Lord, (1) A noble pursuant suffers great discomfort and is rewarded with a high degree of sublimation
(2) An individual self suffering internal existence suffers much without an equivalent sublimation
(3) A meditative genius suffers little and still attains a high degree of sublimation
(4) Gods suffer nothing and still attain a nominal sublimation '
7
Bhagwai' 6/15, 16.
