Tattvartha Sutra

Author(s): Umaswati, Umaswami, Manu Doshi
Publisher: Shrutratnakar Ahmedabad

Page 27

KNOWLEDGE
Aging, fatigue, exhaustion etc. are normally cited as the reasons for that change, but those factors do not necessarily lead to an inert life. Except for ill health, it is possible to lead an active life in spite of the aging process. Aging will surely reduce the physical ability and therefore we may not be able to pursue anything with missionary zeal that we had been doing earlier. What is therefore required at that stage is to go in for something different that can still be within our reach. We need to have an objective that does not require too much physical vigor and yet is significant to provide the motivation for attaining the same.
13
Development of inner consciousness is such an objective. Striving for that purpose is not restricted to the aged. The youngsters also can do that. If, however, that is not undertaken earlier, it should be pursued at least at the later age. That pursuit can lead to manifestation of capabilities, which are usually attributed to the super-human beings. Those capabilities lie inherent within and can be manifested by one's own efforts. That is the sphere of Swapurushärtha (selfendeavor); no one else can do it for us. That is the endeavor for spiritual pursuit, which had until recently remained unknown to the western world. But there is now a noticeable awareness for seeking something beyond the material field. The scientists have started thinking in terms of something beyond the body and brain. Even the common people have been contemplating about the aspects, which till now had remained the eastern preserve.
The study of Tattvärtha Sutra is relevant in this context. It lays that there are infinite potentialities for self-development and indicates how those potentialities can be realized. In other