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OUTLINES OF JAINISM
B. Right KNOWLEDGE (68-77) Right conviction makes us perceive the reality of life and the seriousness of our object in life. It saves us from the soul-emptying, puzzling void of scepticism. It brings us nearer to the feeling and touch of the solid, substantial reality of our own and other souls, as also of the matter in union, with which the soul gives rise to the phenomena of life.
Right knowledge makes us examine in detail the matter brought into the mind by right conviction. Of course, both are mental processes; the difference is in degree. I see a nurse taking a boy on the pavement outside. This is perception. I have the right conviction that there are a woman and a boy out there. I also perceive that the woman is a nurse. But I do not know the details—who they are, where they live, why they are in this particular locality, and so forth. If I saw or heard or read about them, I should gain right knowledge,
This knowledge must be free from doubt, i.e. it must be retained steadily and based on firm conviction..
Error is also recognized in Jainism. It reminds one somewhat of the ignorance (uvidyā) of the Vedānta, the want of discrimination (aviveka) of the Sāmkhya, and the illusion (māyā) of the Buddhist systems of philosophy. Jainism insists that right knowledge cannot be attained, unless belief of any kind in its opposite (i.e. in wrong knowledge) is banished (69).
The soul of man is indivisible, and our intelleet cannot really consent, even temporarily, to what our
