Peace Religious Harmony and Solution of World Problems from Jaina Prespective

SR No.: 001657
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith
Publication Year: 2002
Total Pages: 70
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, & Social
File Size: 4 MB

Page 33

Not only this, we are claiming the superiority of our own caste, creed and culture over others and thus throwing one class against the other. Now, not only in India but all over the world class-conflicts are becoming furious day by day and thus disturbing the peace and harmony of human society.
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Jainism, from its inception, accepts the oneness of human race and oppose these man made divisions of caste and creed. Lord Mahavira declared that' human race is one11. He further says that there is nothing like inferiority and superiority among them. All men are equal in their potentiality. None is superior and inferior as such. It is not the class but the purification of self or a good conduct that makes one superior12. It is only through the concept of equality and unity of mankind, which Jainism preached from the very beginning, that we can eradicate the problem of disintergration and class-conflict. It is mutual faith and cooperation which can help us in theis regard. Jaina ācāryas hold that it is not the mutual conflict but mutual co-operation, which is the law of living. In his work Tattvartha sutra, Umāsväti maintains that mutual cooperation is the essential nature of human being13. It is only through mutual faith, co-operation and unity that we can pave the way to prosperity and peace of mankind. Jainas believe in the unity of mankind, but unity, for them doesn't mean absolute unity. By unity they mean an organic-whole, in which every organ has its individual existence but works for a common goal. i.e. human good. For them unity means, 'unity in diversity'. They maintain that every race, every religion and every culture has full right to exist, with all its peculiarities, but at the same time, it is its pious duty to work for the welfare of the whole humanity and be prepared to sacrifice its own interest in the larger interest of humanity. In the Jaina text Sthānāngasūtra we have the mention of Gramadharma, Nagaradharma, Rastradharma etc. 14 refering to one's duty towards one's village, city and nation that has to be fulfilled.
Problem of Economic inequality and Consumer Culture
Economic inequality and vast differences in the mode of consumption are the two curses of our age. These disturb our social harmony and cause class-conflicts and wars. Among the causes of economic inequality, the will for possession, occupation or hoarding are the prime. Accumulation