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DISCOURSE 6
HAVE YOU UNDERSTOOD THE WORDS OF THE JIN?
You are born in Jain families and so by birth you have found the Arihanth Paramatma, and his philosophy and so you have not had the necessity of examining and realising the con cordance in the words of the Jin. You have found the dharma naturally and you have not had any necessity to examine it You have inherited a true diamond from your ancestors; you have not had the necessity of getting it tested by a jeweller. Ir other words, you have found the diamond of the Jin's philo sophy naturally. Yes, you have in your house a precious gem but you have not seen it. You have not used it and you have been merely wandering about. This is a different matter. You have in your possession, the Jin's words or dharma. Have you understood it? Have you appreciated its value?
OBEDIENCE TO PRESCRIPTIONS ESSENTIAL
How extraordinary, how wonderful are the words of the Jin! The Jin dharma which is based on the divine vision called Anekanta Vada or the multiple vision can interpret the universe to us as having concordance. It can create concordance in the family and in the society. It can provide solutions to the problems of men. The Jin dharma contains a clear, systematic and simple description of the Mokshamarga or the path of salvation How scientific are the austerities and vows described in the Jir dharma? You never thought of this at any time. You do not think of dharma at anytime. You perform spiritual activities but you do not think of dharma and its meaning. You do no think of dharma but you want to understand it rightly.
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You must have at least this much of understanding; which austerities are to be carried out? Where are they to be carried out? With what aids and substances have they to be carried out? With which emotions and attitudes should you perform them? If you do not like to think of these things; if you do not desire to know these things you cannot be a true follower of dharma; nor can you perform any austerity rightly. You be lieve that you are performing dharma. That is merely your illusion. It is merely your false imagination. Let us suppose
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