ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02

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

Page 177

their patents but was willing to settle for only 200 million dollars. But being rich, the former was just too stubborn and arrogant. It fought in the court for almost 10 years, lost in the end, and wound up spending almost 9 billion dollars by the time the dispute came to an end.
These stories such as the ones described above support the common knowledge that the people who are affected with arrogance usually become 'blind' and stubborn, live in a dream world, and cannot see what others see. Nor do they realize that they have a serious mental disease.
Usually they walk around with a large ego, surround themselves with like minded selfish friends and they tend to see—with jaundiced eyes—arrogance in others, not in themselves! They are out to prove to the world how smart and superior they are compared to others.
Jain masters—who have identified this vice, among others, as dating all the way back to Lord Adinath's era—have suggested the use of humility and politeness in day to day interactions, and have structured many religious practices to fix the problem. They are designed not only to soften one's arrogance, but also to soften other vices that are closely linked with arrogance, such as anger, deception, lust and greed-starting from early childhood.
The following practical steps can help us to recognize arrogance and rectify our behavior: • Acknowledge the problem - The first step is the recognition and acceptance of the
problem. Unless one accepts that there is a problem and is willing to do something about it, nothing can happen. If a sick person refuses to accept the fact that there is something wrong, he or she will not seek medical help. Do a reality check - One way we can deflate our ego is to see that there is always someone who is better than us no matter how inflated we feel about our wealth, power, knowledge, talent, appearance, and so forth. Karma theory (Cause & Effect) teaches us that the objects of our arrogance and good fortune are the fruits of our karmas from the past and could all disappear one day because every thing in life is transient and cyclic. Know that this too shall pass - Every time we go through an ego boosting situation, we need to think that nothing is going to last forever. Remind ourselves that truth has many angles and perceptions are relative - Like the blind men describing the elephant, we must remind ourselves that ours is not the only
Page 164 of 385
STUDY NOTES version 5.0