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Chapter 4.2 THE PATH OF PURIFICATION
The teachings of Mahavira are characteristically simple, practical and ethical, but they I have gradually developed into a detailed, intricate system, relating not only to the
nature of the true and the ideal, but also to the practical path for their realisation. The ultimate object of the teaching of Mahavira is liberation or salvation, which can be attained through annihilating karma attached to the soul. It can be achieved by the practice of austerities and preventing the influx of additional karma through self-restraint of the body, speech and mind. Liberation of the soul is a state of perfection, of infinite bliss in an eternal abode, where there is no ageing, no disease, no cycle of birth and death and no suffering. Mahavira was very practical, possessing universal vision. His explanation of the six 'real entities' displays his deep insight into the nature of the universe. A number of his teachings, for example, argue that spoken words can be heard throughout the universe (modern radio broadcasts); that microscopic germs are engendered in excreta, sputum, and urine; and that plants have life, are now widely accepted by science.
His teaching of the five vows of 'non-violence', truthfulness, 'non-stealing', sexual restraint (and restraint of the activities of the sensory organs), non-attachment, and his theories of relative pluralism', guide ethical thinkers today. His descriptions of the range of mental states and psychic colours' are supported today by some psychic researchers and theosophists, and what we would today term science and psychology were as important to him as spiritual knowledge. Elements of his teachings are now seen to have been centuries ahead of their time, as having a recognisable 'scientific' basis, and are relevant even to present-day concerns. His teaching consists of the threefold path of Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct, which together lead to liberation, the status he himself achieved.
The Threefold Path The ultimate object of human life is liberation or salvation, the purification of the soul (moksa). Jainism describes how the path of purification is to be achieved through one's own efforts. The Tattvartha Sutra, one of the most sacred texts of Jainism, emphatically states in its first aphorism that Right Faith (samyag darsana), Right Knowledge (samyag inaana), and Right Conduct (samyag caritra) together constitute the path to the state of liberation. These are called the three jewels of Jainism. These three are not to be considered as separate but collectively forming a single path, which must be present together to constitute the path.
In the view of this firm conviction, the Jain seers over emphasise that these three must be pursued simultaneously. By way of illustration, one could use a medical analogy: In order to bring about the cure of a disease, three things are essential, faith in the efficacy of the medicine, knowledge of its use, and its ingestion by the patient. Likewise, to achieve liberation, faith in the efficacy of the path, knowledge of it and the practising of it - these three together are indispensable. Similarly, the path to liberation is compared in Jain works to a ladder: The two sides of the ladder represent right faith and right knowledge, and the rungs of the ladder represent the (fourteen) stages of right conduct. It is obvious that it is possible to ascend the ladder only when all the three elements, the two
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