Applied Philosophy of Anekanta

Author(s): Shashiprajna Samni
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati Institute

Page 6

FOREWORD
A firm grasp of the Jaina view of reality (including knowledge and language) as identity-in-difference can be attempted only when we distinguish it from other views, both Indian and Western. The Vedic-Upanishadic monism advanced the philosophy of identity or absolute being; the entire play of reality was regarded, as a grand monologue of the lonely transcendental absolute, whatever be the name-Brahman, Iswara, Prakriti, God, etc. This can be called the philosophy of Being or Identity. The second typical ontological position is found in the opposite point of view, advocated by Buddhism, the philosophy of becoming or change or difference-an antithesis to the earlier one. According to them, everything is impermanent, momentary and without intrinsic substance. Reality is always in a state of flux. According to this point of view, there is no identity of absolute, but there is only difference, that too transient. This view can be called the philosophy of Becoming (Change). Between the two extremes of Vedantic monism and Buddhist 'fluxism’, there were several other systems of thinking like Ramanuja's Visistādvaita, the doctrine of identity with difference. The emphasis here is on the unchanging absolute (i.e. Brahman) that is wound up with its changing diversities; in other words, the principle of difference is subordinated to that of identity in this philosophy of subordinating Difference to Identity. In Madhva's Dvaitism existence means difference and difference means existence and it is difference that lends significance to identity and it is subordinated to difference; this is the philosophy of subordinating Identity to Difference. There were many other systems of philosophy, but since each one presented only one point of