________________
character- flaws of meanness and selfishness of the servant as well as the served.
The happiness that is generated through service is whole. Happiness results in the destruction of attachment and the new desires do not spring up. Destruction of attachment results in destruction of the sinful karmic bondages. Generosity arises in the heart of one who becomes compassionate by seeing others in misery and becomes happy by seeing others happy. The tensions, feeling of inferiority and conflicts do not arise in the hearts of the generous, their hearts are always filled with love and happiness. The practical aspect of generosity is charity. The path to spiritual liberation goes through charity, righteousness, penance and feeling; charity comes first of all. Liberalisation -
Liberalisation is one of the important principles of modern psychology. Liberalisation is nothing but the conversion of mean dispositions into generous dispositions, vices into virtues and wickedness into weal. The best way to liberalise oneself is to engage oneself in the activities of service to the community. Let us take the example of sexuality. It can manifest in one or more of the three ways - 1.In sexual acts, 2. In expression of love for the beloved and 3. In affection or service. The first way is physical, the second is mental and the third is spiritual. The first form of expression is that of deep delusion, the second is less delusory than that and the third form is not only least delusory but actually it is delusion destroying. For example, take the case of a child widow. She is given a young child to rear, which sublimates her sexual desires and converts them into affection for the child. It means that the sexual drives of a person will be reduced to the extent that he devotes himself in selfless service. If this service is for the diseased, it results in one more advantage that the servant's attention is repeatedly drawn to the impermanence of the body and it results in reduction of attachment for it and it also results in reduction in sexual drive. At the same time by serving the diseased the feeling of aversion is also reduced. Thus, the acts of service result in reduction of
Positive Non-Violence
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org