Golden Steps To Salvation - Book Summary

"Golden Steps to Salvation" by Acharya Shree Padmasagar Suriji, published by Shree Arunodaya Foundation in 1986, is a collection of twenty discourses in English, translated by K. Ramappa. The book aims to guide souls on the path to spiritual elevation and ultimate salvation.

Core Message: The central theme is that the destruction of Moha (infatuation) leads to supreme knowledge, which in turn leads to Moksha (salvation). Therefore, destroying Moha is presented as the seed of salvation. The book defines Moksha as an ideal state of equality, omniscience, and freedom from all sorrow, old age, disease, and death. It distinguishes between ephemeral (sensual pleasures) and eternal (the bliss of Moksha) happiness, emphasizing the need to awaken and sharpen the intellect. The path to salvation begins with Samyaktva (right faith), which is contingent on right vision and knowledge.

Key Principles and Concepts Covered in the Twenty Discourses:

The book is structured into twenty chapters, each focusing on a different virtue or principle crucial for spiritual progress:

Non-stealing (Achaurya): Emphasizes honesty as the foundation of dharma, even in seemingly irreligious societies. It highlights the transience of ill-gotten wealth and the sin of dishonesty, equating hoarding unnecessary things with theft. The text details various forms of theft and the importance of respecting others' property.
Detachment (Anasakti): Presents detachment as essential for deliverance. It contrasts attachment (which binds one to the cycle of birth and death) with detachment (which liberates). The mind of a detached person is likened to a mirror, reflecting without retaining. Distinguishing between the soul (Jiva) and the body is crucial for cultivating detachment.
Anekanta (Multiple Vision): Introduces Anekantavada, or the philosophy of multiple viewpoints, as a way to unify divergent faiths. It explains Syadvada as accepting non-contradictory multiple perspectives on the same object. This philosophy is presented as a remedy for Ekantavada (clinging to a single viewpoint) and is likened to the Western theory of relativity.
Pride (Mano): Identifies pride as the destroyer of humility. The Namaskara Mahamantra is presented as a means to control pride. The discourse cautions against intellectual pride and emphasizes the importance of digesting knowledge and exhibiting humility to gain wisdom. Self-praise is considered a mental disease stemming from pride.
The Need to Discard Anger (Krodha): Defines peacefulness as the soul's natural attribute, not anger. Anger is described as a perversity that destroys politeness, reason, and innate virtues. It causes harm to both the angry person and the recipient of anger and originates from pride. The discourse offers practical advice on managing anger, such as counting to ten or one hundred, sitting down, or delaying reactions.
Non-violence (Ahimsa): Declares non-violence as the essence of dharma, akin to the Bhagavathi in Jain philosophy. It is considered the highest duty across various religions. Ahimsa fosters peace, cooperation, and kindness, leading to the disappearance of prejudices and animosities. The discourse highlights the power of non-violence to transform even wild animals and enemies.
Observance (Acharana): Stresses the importance of practice and conduct in Jain dharma, suggesting action is more significant than knowledge. Good conduct purifies the soul, while evil conduct pollutes it. The loss of character is considered a greater loss than the loss of wealth or health. Maintaining purity of conduct requires sacrifice and tolerance.
Jealousy (Irshya): Distinguishes jealousy from the spirit of competition, with jealousy being a destructive vice fueled by intolerance of others' happiness. It leads to unhappiness for oneself and others. The discourse advocates for simplicity and cheerfulness as antidotes to jealousy, emphasizing that true prosperity lies in giving, not hoarding.
Benevolence (Dayā): Links benevolence with broad-mindedness and miserliness with narrow-mindedness. Benevolence is expressed not just in giving wealth but in helping those who truly deserve it. It involves compassion even for offenders and a spontaneous desire to help the needy without expecting return. The discourse highlights that true wealth is that which is enjoyed or given away.
Duty (Kartavya): Defines dutifulness as acting according to the voice of duty, which brings sweetness and bliss. It emphasizes prioritizing duty over love and finding delight in performing one's responsibilities. The discourse highlights that each element in nature performs its duty and that man should also fulfill his. It also discusses the duty to discard harmful influences, including bad preceptors and unloving relatives.
Adoring Your Preceptor: Underscores the greatness of the Guru or Preceptor, emphasizing the need to realize their importance for spiritual progress. While God and Gurus are beyond passions, humility is essential for a disciple to receive knowledge and guidance. The true role of a Sadhu is to guide souls towards salvation, acting like an engineer, doctor, or postman. The discourse also cautions Sadhus against influences that can lead to their fall.
Pretension (Maya): Criticizes hypocrisy and pretension, especially in religious devotion. True devotion, according to Jainism, involves glorifying God and acquiring His virtues, not praying for worldly boons. It advocates for unity between thought, word, and deed, and warns against deception, which destroys faith and leads to negative consequences.
Self-Sacrifice (Tyaga): Presents self-sacrifice as necessary for permanent felicity, contrasting it with momentary sensual pleasures. It emphasizes that wealth should be circulated like a football, not hoarded. The discourse differentiates between external sacrifice (of possessions) and internal sacrifice (of passions and desires), noting that internal sacrifice is the ultimate goal.
Giving Charity (Dana): Highlights discretion in giving charity, emphasizing the importance of propriety, the article given, the giver's attitude, and the recipient's worthiness. Kindness, as the mother of dharma, finds its concrete expression in charity. The discourse contrasts hoarding wealth with giving it away, using analogies like clouds and scarecrows.
Righteousness (Dharma): Defines dharma as the key to life, providing order, discipline, and meaning. It is presented as an inseparable attribute of the soul, characterized by peacefulness. The discourse emphasizes non-violence, self-discipline, and penance (Tapas) as the core components of dharma, distinguishing it from mere rituals.
Fearlessness (Abhaya): Identifies fear as an enemy of courage, stemming from sinful actions, excessive desires, or terrifying thoughts. It outlines causes of fear and emphasizes the importance of courage, self-confidence, and self-discipline. The discourse highlights that fear itself can be more destructive than the object of fear and advocates for living without irrational fears.
Helping Others (Paropakara): Promotes benevolence and helping others as the highest dharma. It suggests that acts of kindness, even small ones, bring joy and merit. The discourse compares noble people to rivers and clouds that give selflessly and stresses that true beauty comes from helping others, not from adornments.
Self-Control (Samyama): Focuses on controlling the mind, distinguishing between destructive worry and constructive reflection. It highlights the influence of food on the mind and advocates for living in the present. The mind is described as the primary enemy that needs to be conquered through self-discipline and contemplation.
Wisdom (Viveka): Defines wisdom as the pure, natural eye that distinguishes between what is right and wrong. It is essential for understanding scriptures and reforming life, not just for theoretical knowledge. The discourse emphasizes humility as the foundation of wisdom and warns against pride and delusion that can eclipse it.
The Path of Salvation (Moksha Marga): Defines salvation as the ultimate aim of life, achieved by freedom from desires, passions, and attachments. The path is outlined as Right Faith, Right Knowledge, and Right Conduct (Samyakdarshana, Jnan, Charitra). It stresses the importance of humility and self-discipline in the journey towards Moksha, emphasizing that true salvation comes from within, not from external rituals or doctrines.

Overall Tone and Style: The book is written in a devotional and instructive tone, using parables, analogies, and quotes from scriptures and philosophers to illustrate its points. It aims to inspire readers towards spiritual growth and a virtuous life, ultimately leading to salvation.