Book Title: ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 01
Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies
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________________
SCHOOL
TIONAL
OF
SELF STUDY IS THE SUPREME AUSTERITY,
STUDIES
home and force us to get rid of them.
ii. Straining or making the water germ free by using technology (RO, boiling, other technologies).
iii. Eating plant based food. Here efforts need to be made to each such plant based food which does not harm or kill the plants as much as possible. Avoid toxic foods, drinks and those derived from animal kingdom.
iv. Minimize abuse of environment by not disturbing fauna and flora or causing emission of pollutants in the air/water.
v. Avoiding business or professional activities involving harming /injuring or killing living beings.
vi. Understanding others viewpoints before creating conflicts. Try finding solutions through dialogue before using force to impose solution.
In order to avoid and reduce himsā, we have to keep in mind the three deterring forces to himsa namely:
Expression of violence by body is deterred or punished by the government or legal system.
2 Expression of violence by speech is deterred by the society. If we utter any unpleasant words, we immediately get a reprimand from the society. The government can hardly do anything.
3 Expression of violence by mind is deterred only by you i.e. the individual only because it hurts the individual the most. Therefore Jain scriptures lay emphasizes mental purity the most.
In the judicial system, the law awards severe punishment for pre planned or intentional crimes and at times let the accused be free if it is accidental or just circumstantial. Thus the most important method is to develop control on ourselves to be non-violent.
3.2
Scientific practice of Ahimsa
Unprecedented self-understanding of not killing human capabilities is becoming possible from bio-neuroscience to every field of knowledge. Scientific knowledge of the causes of killing, the causes of non-killing, the causes of transition between killing and non-killing, and of the characteristics of completely killing-free societies can assist human liberation from lethality and practicing the ethical postulates of Non-violence.
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STUDY NOTES version 5.0
