A proverb says “ Ignorance is bliss “ This is so because so
long as you do not know of an unfortunate incident pertaining to yourself, you
are happy enjoying yourself. But the moment somebody informs you of the
misfortune , the happiness dissolves into unhappiness. So from a worldly point
of view , the less you know the better are the chances for being unhappy.
The same cannot be said about religion. If we choose to be ignorant , we cannot say that nobody informed us
and we can get away with it. The system is unforgiving and merciless. If we
donot realise it then we may continue to reap the fruits of the ignorance till
we realise and take remedial action.
Just think of a three year old child who falls into a hole
dug for an abandoned bore well. He is stuck totally at a depth of hundred feet
with no means of rescue. It is difficult to imagine a calamity worse than this
wherein the child cannot even pray for death since he does not know what death
is. Only those who learn of this tragedy
may wish for an early death for him. Now can we pause for moment and think why
this misfortune took place and why to that particular child. If we shake our
head and try to forget it then we are choosing to be ignorant. Because somehow
we think that so long as we remain ignorant then misfortune would not befall
us.
Fact of the matter is that it is not the responsibility of
the system to teach you, train you or prepare you before releasing you in this
world to face the hardships. The system is insentient so it does not have any sympathy
towards you. So it does not care if you are ignorant of the rules and
regulations.
What are the rules ? There are many but few typical ones are
given here:
1.
A jiva can take asamkhyat pudgal paravartan kaal
( which is infinite years)before he can come out of one sensed nigod (
vegetable)state to trasa ( two sensed and above)state.
2.
The maximum period of trasa state is 2000 sagar
, after which invariably the jiva reverts to nigod state wherein he may take infinite
time before he could be trasa again.
3.
There are infinite jivas which have not come out
of permanent nigod (Itar nigod)state as yet.
4.
The only route to Moksha is through human birth.
Animal, hell or heaven born cannot attain Moksha.
5.
A jiva can take as many as 66336 births within a
period of one antarmuhurta( less than 48 minutes) at the fastest, taking birth
as labdhi aparyapta jiva in all forms of one to five sensed jivas at the rate
of 18 times within one breath cycle.
The purpose of these is to
highlight the rarity of human birth which happens to be the only path for
Moksha. This birth may be few times and one does not know if current one may be
the last before he reverts to nigod state. In fact one can spend 2000 sagar in
trasa state without attaining human birth even once ( he can go on taking
births within animal, hell and heaven born)
To begin with we have to realise
that we have been present as long as the universe in some form or other.
Because of our ignorance we have been taking one form after another. This cycle
would continue indefinitely. We have always treated our body as the soul and
virtually not even realized that there is a soul. From beginning we have given
all the importance to care and protection of the body, nurturing it and
fulfilling all its whims and fancies. Most of the time we did not even have the
mind to analyse our plight. Even when we
had an opportunity to understand by means of a body capable of analyzing, we
did not get right guides and were easily misguided by others who also were as
ignorant as ourselves. These guides had some ulterior motive or other to
mislead and at the same time they were as ignorant.
What should I know ?
Fact is that we are bound with 8
types of karmas from beginingless time which obscure our knowledge, vision,
capabilities and at the same time pollute our judgement with Mithyatva (wrong
belief) so that we always look at the reality through colored glass filter.
This leads to a perennial cycle of births and deaths wherein each life is spent
in undergoing fruition for the acts of previous births. At no time we stop and
think of the soul.
Fact is that there is a sentient
soul within each of us which has immense capabilities of knowledge , vision,
bliss and tranquility. Which we have never realized nor experienced nor
believed. Really speaking we have just followed the masses and done whatever
they have done without bothering about the inner self. If for once we make an
effort to separate ourselves from those negative influences, there is no
reason, it cannot be done. After all infinite jivas have also attained Moksha
who were like us only.
Many a times people are surprised
and even shocked to hear this. Then they say that nobody told them like this
and they were totally unaware. Question is who will tell them? The system is
insentient. The one who has realized himself is immersed within himself
enjoying his own bliss. Why should he try and break his head to try to explain
and convince an ignorant one? Remember he is veetragi ( totally detached) and
has therefore no desire to help either( since even that is a desire). Further
we do not trust everybody since we are not in a position to judge people. Among
those who know, they too do not try to preach to each and everybody since quite
a few are sceptics. Only if they see some capability within a person with an
attitude to learn then only they impart the knowledge. So it should come as no
surprise that even though some people know the subject they refrained from
preaching others.
Some people believe that why
should they worry about next birth since it is somebody else’s problem. It is
like committing sin now and leaving for the next birth to face the consequences
since we think that it would be somebody else’s problem. Truth is that it is my
problem and myself only would face the consequences of the accumulation of
karmas. Because it is the same Jiva which is born again.
Some people are not so confident
about the purpose of Moksha since they think it is more fun to indulge in
worldly affairs then denounce and detach ourselves from it. Obviously they
still have long way to go before realization may come that world is more of a
pain then pleasure.
Hence it is time to stop and
think what should be my goal of life.
This article is only to alert and
bring awareness , to be treated as wake up call. If you are awake then it does
not harm you. If asleep then time to reflect and take some action.
You will be surprised that in
this world there are so many people who do not get an opportunity to even read
this much about this subject, leave apart think about it.
The path has been laid down by
the Tirthankaras very clearly and openly except that we have ignored it and
chosen not to even glance at it.
Think about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment