________________
Oneness: This can go either way. Each soul does maintain its separateness, but it could be said that the Jain God is comprised of an infinite number of separate entities that all share in the same divine qualities. Just as the monistic schools say that there are infinite manifestations of Brahman. But as said before, none of these individual divine qualities make or break the case for theism.
Application of Guņānuvāda The concept of gunānuvāda was mentioned before as a central mechanism in Jain worship. But gunānuvāda is not specific to Jainism. The worship of qualities with the intent to foster them in the self is common in many secular activities. When I was younger, I wanted to be really good at basketball. Not only would I practice all day, but every night as I fell asleep, and every morning when I woke up, I would gaze at large wall posters of my favorite basketball players in hopes of fostering in myself their qualities. They would inspire me, and increase my resolution to practice more. That is a type of secular gunānuvāda.
Kurt Vonnegut had been the Honorary President of the American Humanist Association. When he died last year, there was a certain ubiquitous picture of him that seemed to make it into many obituaries and articles about his life. I associate that picture; Vonnegut's big glossy eyes and soft smile, with humanistic values. Looking at that picture fosters within me humanistic values; it makes me view human life the way he viewed human life; both with awe, and with a grain of salt. That is a type of atheist gunānuvāda. If gunānuvāda does have its locus in Jainism, then Jainism should be very proud of it.28 As atheism is gaining popularity in the current era, gunānuvāda has the potential to give modern atheists meaningful rituals toward philosophers, novelists, or any personage: living, historical, or fictional.
In Christianity, even though most worship is towards a God who has the ability to intervene, there is still an aspect of gunānuvāda. The ever so popular plastic bracelets that say, "WWJD," "What Would Jesus Do?" are actually a form of guṇānuvāda. The bracelets remind the wearer to be like Jesus in everyday actions, thus fostering the qualities of Jesus in themselves.
28 I have heard it claimed that gunanuvāda originated in Jainism. My limited survey of Jain texts has not yielded any evidence, but this by no means indicates the evidence is not there.
STUDY NOTES version 5.0
Page 227 of 273