ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02

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

Page 232

religious practices. The idea behind the above hardships is that whatever the circumstances the monk should not deviate from his prescribed code of conduct which includes rules for begging food, observance of religious duties, non possessiveness, non violence, sex control, detachment, freedom from greed, freedom from attachment to body, non despondency and stead fastness. All this proves to be of great help in checking the inflow of karmic matter and also shedding of the already acquired karmic matter. Penance means voluntarily imposing on oneself circumstances, which are physically unfavourable. We shall speak about them in a separate lesson. Here we have dealt with only with the unfavorable circumstances, which a monk may have to face involuntarily.
4.3 Six-Fold Essentials (Avaśyakas) In his daily life the monk has to perform certain essential duties. The first of them is Sāmāyika. It is the most important quality, which means equanimity in life and death, profit and loss, union and separation, friend and foe, and happiness and misery. A monk has not to make any distinction between one who belongs to him and the other who does not belong to him. Detachment, faith in scriptures, abstention from vices, three-fold self control and all other moral virtues along with Meditation, form Sāmāyika. One should be detached from good or bad names, forms, material, place, time, or emotion.
Those realized souls have attained perfection by destroying desire, conquering the passions and death with equanimity. It is true that the realized souls who have attained liberation do not answer to our prayers in the way in which God is supposed to answer, but our prayer to them purifies us.
The second duty is that of paying respect to the preceptor and the images of Arihantas. In fact a monk pays respect to those who observes vows and not to those who are undisciplined even though they may occupy high position in the worldly sense of the term.
The third duty is to criticize one's moral transgression by confessing them before one's Guru. One should not conceal anything from his Guru. He should be free from crookedness and observe balance of minds in all situations. Another essential quality is to avoid sinful activities in future. The monk should be sorry for whatever sinful activities may have been performed by him in the past.
Another duty is to feel detachment from the body.
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