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Ch. 10: Keshiswami - Anekant Dialogue
This was a very complex question. I said, "Our urge to remain trapped in this endless cycle of death and rebirth (samsara) is the poisonous plant rooted in every heart. Repeated births and deaths are its destructive fruits. Sadhana, samyak darshan, samyak gyan, and samyak charitra (ethical conduct) uproot that plant and liberate our soul."
I
Keshiswami was lobbing more questions energetically. answered them to the best of my ability, using the knowledge given to me by Bhagwan Mahavir. In the end, I summarized Bhagwan's words: "Knowledge is eternal and does not change with time; it is an internal achievement of the learned. However, our ever-changing conduct is subject to the influences and pressures of time, place, and popular culture. In a way, our conduct is shaped by the perceived norms of our society, while the same society is influenced and molded by our conduct. Social changes evolve from the interplay between human inspirations and the behavioral norms of the society.
Jain Education International
Since knowledge does not change with time, the message of Bhagwan Parshvanath and Bhagwan Mahavir is the same. Both preach 'To know the Self is the ultimate goal of life.' However, every society, every sangh, and every organization shapes its own ethical codes. Over the years, these codes change because of greater insights or laxity, carelessness, ego, and social pressure. Such change can rapidly take an individual or a society to unprecedented heights or on a wrong and undesirable path to destruction.
Social changes evolve from the interplay between human inspirations and the behavioral norms of the society.
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