Jinesh -
Vinod, will you come with me to the temple ?
Vinod -
No, intend to go to the picture today.
Jinesh -
Why ?
Vinod
- Because I am somewhat
disturbed today. There will be some merrymaking there.
Jinesh
- Ah, you are out to find
peace in the pictures? Cinema is conducive to attachments and aversions,
leading to unhappiness. Daslakshan festival has also begun. These are days
of religious engagements. During these days people engage themselves in
spiritual reflections, prayers, fasting and other observances of religious
nature, and spend the whole day in self-study and discussion of the nature
of the fundamentals. Generally, the purpose of each religious festival is
to develop feelings of detachment from worldly affairs, but this festival
is particularly meant for meditation of the attributes of the soul.
Festival means an
auspicious time, a holy occasion. In reality, rise of the feelings of
detachment with faith in the nature of the soul is real observance of the
festival, because that is instrumental to the complete liberation of the
soul, which, in itself, is a holy occasion.
Being connected with the
ten virtues of supreme forbearance etc., this is called the great festival
of ten virtues (Dashlakshan Parva).
Vinod
- What is this religion of ten
virtues?
Jinesh
- Having perfect faith in
the self, to develop supreme conduct and thus engaging in its pursuit in
ten ways is the religion of ten virtues. These ten virtues are supreme
forbearance, supreme modesty, supreme straightforwardness, supreme
contentment, supreme truth, supreme self-restraint, supreme austerity,
supreme renunciation, supreme possessionlessness and supreme celibacy.
Vinod
- Kindly explain these
ten virtues more clearly.
Jinesh
- Yes, please listen to
me. In the absence of the intensest type of passion, which leads to
infinite bondage and births, and obstructs self-realisation and the other
two of some lesser intensity, the sentient monks develop a pure state of
conduct. From the real perspective that purity means acquisition of ten
virtues of supreme forbearance etc., and the feelings of merit for the
observance of these ten virtues, that arise in the minds of the monks are
conventional virtues, which lead to merit. The word 'supreme' indicates
the presence of right faith.
Intrinsically, with the
support of the eternal forbearance minded supreme soul, to abjure the
intensest type of anger of the first three categories in the line of
passions is supreme forbearance.
In the event of slander
and injury to the body and other undesirable associations not to be
overpowered by sinful anger, but to maintain supreme forbearance on all
such occasions is conventional forbearance.
Likewise, intrinsically
with the support of the eternally modesty minded pure soul, to abjure the
intensest type of pride of the first three categories in the line of
passions, is supreme modesty. The accompanying conventional modesty
consists in not having eight types of pride, that develop due to high
caste etc. and to have merit of modesty in our behaviour.
Vinod
- And straight-forwardness ?
Jinesh
- Intrinsically, with the support of
the eternally straight-forwardness minded pure soul, to abjure the
intensest type of deceitfulness of the first three categories in the line
of passions, is supreme straight-forwardness. The accompanying
conventional straightforwardness consists in having merits of sincere
simplicity, abandoning demerits of deceit and dishonesty.
Likewise, real supreme
contentment consists in abjuring the intensest type of greed of the first
three categories in the line of passions by taking refuge in the supreme
contentment minded self, and the accompanying conventional contentment
consists in complete avoidance of avarice and developing the highest type
of contentment in day-to-day behaviour.
Vinod
- Does supreme truth mean
speaking the truth?
Jinesh
- Speech is the
modification of matter which has no religion sense. The purity of our
being that comes with the support of our eternal sentient soul, having
abjured the three stages of the intensest type of passions, is real
supreme truth and our accompanying leanings towards speaking the truth in
our day-to-day behaviour is conventional truth.
In the same manner,
supreme self-restraint consists in the absence of the three stages of the
intensest type of passions and the consequent purity of our being, and the
conventional self-restraint consists in complete abjurement of violence
and other sins and control of the five senses in fitness with the state of
monkhood.
Vinod
-You have made things very
clear. If you have time, please explain these more explicitly.
Jinesh
- I have no time at
present. I have to go to attend the discourse, we have lectures on ten
virtues every evening. You can come there and understand these virtues in
all their perspectives. I have to tell you briefly about austerity and
renunciation etc.
The purity of the soul
as a consequence of the absence of the three passions, with the support of
the eternal sentient soul, is real supreme austerity and the accompanying
observances of fast etc., being meritorious, are conventional austerity.
The purity of the soul
that materialises with the complete absence of the three types of passions
with the support of our eternal sentient being, is supreme renunciation,
and the meritorious inclinations of charity etc.,which accompany such
state of the soul are called conventional renunciation.
In the same manner, the
purity of the soul consequent upon the abandoning of three passions with
our adherence to the eternal supreme being, is supreme possessionlessness
and the accompanying meritorious desire to renounce the worldly
possessions is conventional possessionlessness.
Real celibacy consists
in indulging, enjoying and merging our self with the eternally happiness
incarnate soul, and the accompanying abandoning indulgence in women etc.,
is conventional celibacy.
Vinod
- What is the difference
between the real and the conventional virtues ?
Jinesh
-The real religion consists of
the ten virtues of supreme forbearance etc., which are instrumental to the
obstruction of influx and partial and complete shedding of the bondage of
the soul, and the meritorious following of forbearance etc., is
conventional religion, that leads to merit bondage.
Vinod
-The real and conventional ten
virtues of supreme forbearance etc. discussed above, are for the monks.
What about us?
Jinesh
- Religion is one for
everybody. It is a different matter that the monks abjure the three grades
of intense passions by their supreme effort and acquire consequent purity
of the soul, and the householders, in accordance with their background,
abandon one or two such passions only and achieve partial purity of the
self.
Dr. H.C. Bharill
