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Appendices
79
Given below are some of these aphorisms, which should be of especial significance in the context of the Mahāvīra Jayanti celebrated by the Jaina community yesterday (Thursday, April 9):
1) External soul is that which is led by the senses. Internal soul is that which knows itself to be different from the body, and supreme soul is that which has annihilated the karmas and attained liberation.
2) The pure soul is free from complexities, attachment, blemishes, desire, anger, pride, ego and all kinds of deficiencies.
3) The soul is neither the body nor the mind, neither the speech nor their cause. It is also neither the doer, not the cause of action, nor the ‘approver of any action'.
4) It is very difficult to realise the soul. Only with suffering, the soul is realised.
5) When the soul becomes free from the karmas, it becomes the supreme soul.
6) Just as when the water becomes clearer one is able to view the reflection with greater clarity, so when the self becomes inspired to know the reality, one starts acquiring knowledge with greater consistency.
Note: It was ‘Bakrid' on Wednesday (April 8), “Mahāvīra Jayantī' on Thursday (April 9) and it is 'Good Friday' today (April 10) -a significant successive triad of festivals of three different important faiths - Islam, Jainism and Christianity. And, in just four days (April 14) we will be celebrating the Tamil New Year's day too!
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