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JAINISM
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We shall always leave out many things; we have not the power to express all our thoughts. How can we express, then, this state of a soul which so far as its power and knowledge are concerned is infinite ?
The Jainas have studied the nature of the soul and the universe from these standpoints and have derived
beautiful principle, and so far as this is concerned there is this difference between this country and other countries and other religions, they can understand all these from these standpoints11. The Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill”, and Jainas practise universal love so that this also means that we should not kill any beings. If we say that the Bible does not mean that we take away a part of the Bible. Why should we interpret the laws of any religion from the narrowest standpoint ? We should take into consideration the nature, attributes and working of all things. We cannot derive laws which are to be applied to the whole universe simply by our observation of a part of the conscious nature of the universe. If you wish to state correctly the nature of the universe you will study the nature of all the different parts of the universe and then the laws will be applicable to all parts of it. We think that we are superior to other things because our tenants who live on the ground floor are inferior to us, but we have no right therefore to crush those tenants, who later on will acquire the right to inhabit the second and third floors and finally the highest floor. One living on the highest plane has no right to crush those who live on the lowest plane. If one thinks that he has a right to do this, that he has not sufficient strength to live without destroying life, our philosophy says that it is
11. Here" they” might stand for Jainas' or for this country
(i. e. India) and its religions'. Maybe some words are missing in this sentence.
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