Aparigraha the Humane Solution

Author(s): Kamla Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

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APARIGRAHA - THE HUMANE SOLUTION
this was possible only because there was a Gandhi incorruptible, transparent, zealous with a fundamental mission.
Simplicity - not an extreme
Simplicity is not just a slogan to attract people, it is a way of life, but too much of simplicity may take the form of excess and may degenerate into a kind of eccentricity which defeats its own purpose. Simplicity is different from renunciation or asceticism. It should not be a craze for giving up the things that we have. Nor should it become another race for disowning things that one has, or a fad of living on mud or rags. Simplicity is a natural habit of being with oneself so that material abundance loses its attraction. If it turns into a fad or fashion it will lose its spirit altogether. To understand simplicity is to accept it as a means and not as an end. It means only a simple life or a simplified life for better goals or pursuits, that are fulfilling and enriching. Religious devotion, humanitarian service, artistic creation, environmental activism, social change, political revolution are some such goals. Albert Schweitzer, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa are some illustrious examples of people having such goals, who were both thinkers and doers. Every individual has his conviction and has to find his own way to simplify his life to attain the goal. The individual himself has to know and ascertain what are his true necessities in contrast to diversions; when the goal is clear to the individual and 'absorbing to the core' together with the means, his common sense is his guide, sitting on a tangent he would not be able to judge his goal nor his means. It should be clear that means are just the means not the end. If one finds it too difficult to detach himself from something, it would be sensible on his part not to exert himself too much on this fronts'. If it is a source of emotional or psychological strength, it is better to be with it than without it and the strain of detachment may harm him in the sense that his contribution towards the achievement of the goal may slow down and thus will delay the achievement. It is better for him not to be burdened
ined with too much sense of duty: even if it is there, it should be done with ease rather than with tension. In an ideal mental state duty takes the form of habit, and ethics changes into psychology. This is the