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THE FEELING
Every conduct has two facets. One is indulgence, the other abstinence; that means indulgence in what is good or pure and abstinence from what is bad or evil. The conduct is incomplete as long as it is only positive or only negative; it has to be both simultaneously. However, what traditionally prevails is over-emphasis on negation. In fact what is most often promoted as Jain conduct for the citizen contains minor rules of ritual indulgences combined with an over abundance of negations.
Negation and abstinence as aids to discipline have been given importance in almost all religions. Jainism, being the most ascetic of religions, has given increasingly stricter emphasis on abstinence, as an individual progresses on the path of purification. The discipline becomes gradually stricter as knowledge increases. Once again, the basics are evenly balanced. It is the interpretations that have tilted the balance toward ritualistic abstinence.
Moreover, efforts to provide high-strung definitions, and rationalize wrong interpretations, have spoiled the application of this most rational and practical philosophy. The con
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