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In Jainism, there is a great deal of importance given to Leshyä. Leshyä refers to the state of mind. Our activities reflect our state of mind. The following illustration shows us how our activities vary with the state of our mind.
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Once a group of six friends were traveling together. On the way, they got lost in the forest. They were hungry and thirsty, but they could not find anything to eat or drink. Then one of them noticed a fruit tree. They ran to it.
Each one had their own idea on how to obtain the fruits from the tree: • The first friend wanted to chop down the whole tree.
The second friend thought that they should just chop off the big branches.
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L is for Leshyä
Leshyä is the Thought Process Behind Any Action
The third friend said that they only needed to chop off a few small branches, which held the fruits.
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L IS FOR LESHYÄ
• The fourth one thought it unnecessary to chop any branches. They should just pick all the fruits from the tree.
The fifth friend felt that they should pick enough fruits to satisfy their hunger. They should not waste any fruits.
The sixth one said that there were enough fruits that had already fallen from the tree. They should not climb the tree, cut branches or pick fruits, when there were many good fruits on the ground.
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