________________
Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
196
Atman and Moks
• Being' or whether it does not resemble it, who can know ? Who needs to know ? It is only Becoming that can be seized; it is only Becoming that is life; it is only Becoming that is sorrow. Hence the problem is solved with the transformation of Becoming into “No-more-becoming". To speak of this Parinibbāna is a contradiction in terms, for to speak of anything means to call it into life, to make it a Becoming, and to think of anything implies the same thing."" Thus, Dahlke means that it is impossible for us to determine either the negative or the positive nature of Nirvāņa; for according to him, we can grasp in thought only the Becoming and hence, nothing which is not Becoming or beyond Becoming is conceivable. On the contrary, Suzuki emphatically states “ Buddha taught, therefore, that Nirvāṇa does not consist in the complete stoppage of existence, but the practice of Eightfold path." As Şuzuki emphatically states “ This moral practice leads to the unalloyed joy of Nirvāna, not as the tranquillisation of human aspirations, but as the fulfilment or unfolding human life. "3
If the Suttas be carefully scrutinised, the negativistic and nihilistic tendencies do not escape our attention. Repeatedly references are made to the extinction of consciousness and life. The Suttas represent the Hīnayānist tendencies, and hence, Dahlke's and Monier-Williams' honest opinions seem to seek
1 Dahlke Paul : Buddhist Essays, p. 99. * Suzuki D.T.: Outlines of Mahāyāna Buddhism, p. 340. 3 Ibid. p. 341.
For Private And Personal
