________________
DISCOURSE 95
301
by dreadful despondencies, you feel that human life is futile and meaningless; is that not so? When you yourselves experience dreadful sorrows you feel that the human life is meaningless and futile. Is that not so ? Have you at any time thought of ending your misery with a bare bodkin ? Have you thought of ending your life to get rid of sorrows ? Some muy entertain such thoughts because they do not look at human life with their mental eyes. You would never feel that human life is meaningless or worthless if you look at it with your mental eyes and if you look at it with the awakening that you have attained from enlightened people, from Dharmagranthas and from the lifehistories of great men. If you look at human life with your mental eyes, you will find that life is surely worth living and you will desire to fill every moment of your life with the delight of spiritual enlightenment; and you will fill every moment of your life with the strength that defies those forces that seem to freeze your energies and destroy your potentialities.
If you do not realise that the human state of existence is difficult of attainment and if you do not chasten and ennoble your life by observing the ordinary principles you may not get this opportunity namely the human state of existence for countless years. Only the enlightened can know when you will get the human state of existence again. You may get it only after about ten lives. You cannot get a precious opportunity again and again. If you can get such opportunities again and again, they would cease to be precious. We would say that they are easy to secure. You cannot attain the human state of existence frequently. You have got it by the efficacy of your punya and you must use this opportunity to attain spiritual elevation and progress.
Yes, you must attain spiritual elevation in this life because only in this state of existence can you ennoble and chasten your soul. In fact, only in this state of life can you understand the nature of your soul and strive to realise it. Animals like dogs, donkeys, rats, elephants and horses cannot understand the Atmatatva. Man can understand it. He can understand the nature and form of the soul. He can put forth endeavours to
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
