$JES 302 Jain Philosophy Level 3 Book

Author(s): JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

Page 64

APPLICATION OF NONVIOLENCE (AHINSÄ) Solution to World Hunger Problem According to DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA:
If Americans reduced their meat/dairy intake by just 10%, the savings in grains and soybeans could feed 60 million people per year (same as the number of people starve to death worldwide)
Rejection of Drinking Liquor For the observance of the Nonviolence Vow (Ahinsä -Vrata), it has been specifically laid down that a person should renounce drinking alcohol. According to the sacred text of Purushärtha Siddhi-Upaya, "alcohol stupefies the mind; one whose mind is stupefied forgets piety; and the person who forgets piety commits violence without hesitation.” Again, it is important to understand that drinking liquor leads to the commitment of violence because liquor is the reservoir of many lives which are born in it. Similarly, it is significant that many dishonorable passions like anger, pride, deceit, greed, fear, disgust, ridicule, grief, boredom, and lust, arise due to the inhibition of senses while drinking liquor and these passions are nothing but different aspects of violence.
Abandonment of Honey Along with the renunciation of liquor drinking and meat eating, giving up of honey is also included in the observance of the non-violence vow. The use of honey invariably entails the destruction of life as even the smallest drop of honey in the world represents the death of bees. It is also clear that even if a person uses honey, which has been obtained by some, trick from a honeycomb or has dropped down from it, there is violence because there is destruction to the lives spontaneously born therein. Also, it is important to note that it takes nearly a million bees to create 1 pound of honey.
Dress and Decoration Jains are required to pursue the path of nonviolence in the way they dress also. They should not wear furs and the plumes that are obtained by torturing, and then killing animals and birds. For the same reason, the use of silk and woolen garments is prohibited for all Jains. We should also avoid all leather articles.
Conclusion : Jainism prohibits all kinds of intoxicants and stimulants. Regarding the question of food and drink, one thing must be remembered; mundane souls have to commit violence for their maintenance, as life thrives only on life. Though violence is unavoidable in the sustenance of life, Jainism, by rules of conduct tries to limit it for essential purposes only. The rules of conduct never sanction injury, but they try to restrict it to the lowest possible minimum by taking into account the level of development of injured living beings. The higher the stage of development of the injured being is, (the closer it has approached the state of perfection), the more sin is committed. Thus, from a practical point of view, the sin of hurting a plant is smaller than that of hurting an animal; the sin of hurting an animal is smaller than that on hurting a human being, etc. From this standpoint, it can be understood why Jainism forbids flesh eating and, on the other hand objects little to the eating of vegetables.
64
JAIN PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE I