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They must be able to visualize the total effect of their action from all angles. For this, Anekānta doctrine13 or multiplicity of viewpoints based on the doctrine that truth is infinite and one cannot know the entire truth is essential. So we try to view the truth from as many angles/viewpoints as possible. As an example when we talk of womb hiring or artificial insemination, we need to look at the objective of the person requesting this for inheritance/sharing life/showering love etc) and consider alternate methods like adoption, or having a pet or getting involved in some social cause (by accepting the karma result for the present situation); impact of the action of others (donor of sperm or womb, society, family), economics and long term implications on the donor /new arrival and the person requesting.
Karma doctrine
Jīva suffers pains/sicknesses due to de-meritorious karmas or enjoys good health and pleasures due to meritorious karmas associated with it. One of the karma types 14 called physique determining or Nāma-karma (93 sub-types) details each sub type and their impactfor different types and ailments of the physical body associated with empirical soul. Similarly, life span or death is determined by another type of karma called Āyu (Āyuşya) or Life span determining karma. The karma literature (Karaņānuyoga) is full of explanations of the cause and effect i.e. influx, bondage, stoppage of influx and dissociation of existing karmas.
Sickness of the body is therefore the direct result of the past karmas and our present actions. The present actions include the food (pure, rich or stimulating ) we eat, the activities we perform for living, stress and strains (called passions/emotions or kaşāyas in Jainism) we develop or build, role ego (aham) plays and finally unbridled desires we harbour for worldly wealth and comfort. Jains assign all these causes to perverted views (mithyātva) and hence prescribe developing right-faith first (as given in the path of purification) along with rightknowledge about self (causes of disease and its prevention and cure) and practice the path to be healthy. Thus with wrong-faith we are asking for pain in one form or the other. The
13 The three pillars of Anekānta doctrine are reconciliation, tolerance and existence of opposite simultaneously. 14 Two primary categories known as obscuring (perception obscuring, knowledge obscuring, deluding and interfering) and non-obscuring (feeling (pain and pleasure), physique making (93 sub species), life span determining, status determining). H. V. Glasenapp, Doctrine of Karma in Jain Philosophy, (trans, from German to English by Mr. G. Barry Gifford), PV, Varanasi, Re-print 1991.
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