Book Title: ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02
Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies
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________________
INTERNATIO
SCHOOL
OF
AN STUDIES
SELF STUDY IS THE SUPREME AUSTERITY
स्वाध्याय
looking at an object or a statement, and just one investigation based upon that one way or theory, and just one judgment about the object or statement derived from that one single investigation just isn't enough!
Say we even try to see the reality from a very wide angle, thinking that this way we will get a sense of the big picture. Even then, because we are not yet perfect and all knowing, we typically miss important details and nuances that would impact the validity of the conclusion we would draw from seeing the matter so broadly. And on the other hand, when we look only at details, we obviously lose perspective on the larger system or grand scheme of things.
STUDY NOTES version 5.0
Non-one-sidedness is a solution. To really understand something as fully as we can, first we need the steel to set aside and relax (but not discard) our initial biases, preconceptions, paradigms and theories. This means among other things that we shouldn't shrink from considering either the fine details or the broad generalizations.
We set out to do one investigation after another, multiple inquiries into our object, statement or issue of interest -each investigation or observation done from a different perspective, angle, paradigm or theory.
In order to accomplish this we simply change our position, meaning we put ourselves in different shoes or we adopt a totally new or different method of investigation (depending on the kind of subject matter we're dealing with). We shift our sights to as many different perspectives as we are able to discover or synthesize. At each unique angle we stop for the opportunity to do a brand new observation or analysis, each one leading us to perhaps a new and unique conclusion.
Then, we consider each conclusion that we are able to draw as one partial truth, as one aspect, dimension, sampling or part of the whole truth about the object or statement. At last we have the more involved intellectual job of attempting to integrate together each of those partial truths into a more complete understanding of the big picture. We use each conclusion - each anta, or boundary - to help structure a whole new concept of what the object under study, or the statement under analysis, entails. We might not get the big picture quite right the first time we try integrating all the partial truths we have derived. But that only means we need to continue the process. The more different perspectives we adopt, and the more different independent investigations we do, the more different conclusions we will gain, and
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