Alpa: Ma, Jains believe that each soul is independent. Jainism teaches that self-help is the way to gain such independence. Jainism also says that the role of living beings is to help each other. Will you please explain these ideas?
Ma: Alpa, as you know, there are two kinds of souls: liberated souls (SIDDHAS), who have freed themselves from the bondage of karma, and worldly souls, who have physical bodies and the bondage of karma. All liberated souls are independent. The worldly souls are not completely free. Worldly beings live with the help of each other. They need food, water, air and other things. Depending upon their spiritual development, worldly souls enjoy varying degrees of freedom.
Alpa: Ma, worldly souls need many things to live. They need the help of other living beings. So they are not independent.
Ma: Alpa, you are right. I am happy to know that you understand that worldly souls are not completely independent.
Neel: Ma, in what sense are worldly souls independent?
Ma: Neel, let me explain this by means of an example. Suppose there are two classmates, Amit and Rekha. Both have the same teachers, books and other things. They depend on them for their studies. However, they are free to study as much as they want. They take the same test and both fail it. Amit stays calm and decides to try harder in the future. Rekha gets upset and blames everything in sight including her karma. In this respect, Amit and Rekha are free to do as they wish.
Alpa: Ma, this is a good example of our belief that truth is many-sided. Amit and Rekha are not free in some respects and yet they are free in other respects. This is called ANEKAANTAVAAD.
Neel: Ma, in this case, Rekha will get more bad karma than Amit.
Ma: Neel, you are right. The thoughts and feelings that we have in a given instance make our good or bad karma. You can see that Rekha's bad karmas are not going to help her in the future.
Alpa: Ma, I have heard that reciting some mantra can help us in examinations.
Ma: We can learn to be calm by understanding the meanings of prayers and mantras. However, a blind faith in the effect of mantras, prayers and worship may give us a false sense of security. So we may not study properly and fail the examinations.
Alpa: What is this way of thinking and understanding called?
Ma: Alpa, we can call it the rational way.
Neel: What is meant by rational?
Ma: Alpa, can you explain the meaning of the word 'rational'?
Alpa: Rational means based on reason. We see the things around us, study and discuss them. Then we accept only the things that appeal to our common sense. This is the rational way. Jainism teaches us to be rational. This is an important teaching of Jainism.
Neel: Some people believe in miracles. They tend to believe in things written in religious books or taught by religious leaders. Sometimes people accept traditional things. Sometimes people copy others. Is it proper to accept and do anything without thinking?
Ma: Believing in anything without giving it careful thought &endash; not understanding things as one sees them, is delusion. Delusion is the root cause of many problems in life. A rational outlook, free from delusion, is the key to happiness and peace.