ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 142

SCHOOL
OF
SELF STUDY IS THE
SUPREME AUSTERITY
स्वाध्याय परम तप
worldly souls tend not to rise above the limitations of our senses and experiences. So, our individual concepts of reality are not just incomplete, they are valid only from a particular point of view.
"Absolute truth" cannot be grasped from any one point of view, by itself, because any viewpoint is dependent on the time, place, nature and state of both the viewer and whatever is being viewed. Hence, we can point to infinity of partially valid perspectives. What appears true from one point of view is open to question from another. Naturally, we need to benefit from the labors of seeing things from different perspectives - including ones we might not prefer initially - in order to gain any kind of realistic impression.
This attitude begins a science of thinking called Anekantavāda, which is the principle of "non-one-sidedness". Anekāntavāda is an informed and engaging method of reason. Such a principle does not ask us to try balancing in our minds a "multiplicity of viewpoints" regardless of whether they hold merit or not. It is also not the same as "relativism" or "nonabsolutism", meaning the belief in no absolutes. Rather than denying the existence of absolute truth, Anekantavāda only reaffirms it - but with the cutting admission that truth is such an intricate and many-ended thing that no single belief system, no tower of dogma, no "grand unifying theory, and no faith or religion can ever do it justice.
STUDY NOTES version 5.0
Exploring the idea's four components will further reveal its meaning:
AN is like the prefix "non-", which makes the opposite of whatever comes after it
EKA means "one" or "singular"
ANTA means "end", "boundary" and "conclusion", a conclusion drawn from an observation or an investigation or analysis
VĀDA means "way of being", similar to the suffix "-ness".
Together they mean non-one-sidedness. A remarkable term it might seem but its tremendous practicality is for any of us seeking to learn reason, investigate, theorize, visualize, systemize, solve or understand some issue, something, or someone.
Non-one-sidedness is the principle of not settling for just one single conclusion about the truth or untruth of a given statement, or about the actual nature or makeup of an object or thing. While the whole truth about anything is a wide and complex reality, a particular object or issue of interest can be anything we choose: the mind of a person, a philosophy, an event, a physical object, or any claim such as, "The universe is infinite," or "Man has free
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