ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 04

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

Page 399

to religious concept of Ahis and is also, in a way, partly subsumed by Ahis permits thousands of flowers to bloom.
Keeping the above in view as also recognizing the equality of all souls, the cardinal core of Ahis one has to be considerate to and appreciative of the views of other persons. In practical terms, at the level of individuals, what is needed is that lines of communications between man and man, husband and wife, parents and children, friends and foes must remain open. Further, the communication must be non-violent by being proper in its language and thoughtful in respecting the other person and his view. Those who have tried this know that this is the best way of conflict resolution.
The same principle applies to inter- faith relationships. If the leaders and followers of different religious starts knowing the other faiths and talking to their leaders and believers, things would be different. Most of the problems arise because people live in their religious cocoons. Dara Shukoh, the heir apparent of Shahajahan, the great Moghul who built Taj Mahal, was a great scholar. He was a liberal and tolerant person. In his book - The Meeting of Oceans, he observed that the day pundits i.e. Hindu priests and maulvies i.e. Muslim religious leaders, could sit together and talk, most of the differences between the followers of these two religions would not even arise. His further comment was more practical. He felt that the interested parties would however not let such meetings take place. With the present state of intolerance and terrorism, efforts have to be made for inter-faith dialogues to be conducted in non-violent, non accusive, non-dominent and in an appreciative language.
There is also a need for having greater interaction with the scholars and practiseners of Christianity, which is known for its concern for the poor and the service it renders to them.
3.3 Dos and Don'ts Yet another way to achieve proper and harmonious conduct is to follow the basic principle of carefulness and restraint in thought, speech and conduct. For this Jainism has provided the concepts of samiti and guptis.
Samiti includes carefulness and caution in all activities and guptis include restrain in through and conduct. There has to be training and discipline for these so that they become the part of our second nature. For this, the modern psychological techniques could be used to instill these ideas not only in the individual's conscious mind that habit formation takes place. It is also particularly necessary that our response to any verbal comment or physical act must not be immediately reactive: it must be a paused and restrained one. The moment there is an intervening time element; the violent response may become muted. In short, sa yama (another expression for restrain) and viveka (discretion) should guide our thought and conduct.
The other pertinent and important idea is that of Pratikrama a, which is followed by devout Jainas. It means a daily critical self-appraisal and confession with the commitment to make an effort not to repeat the wrongs including violence towards man and other creatures. As is common, such practices tend to become mere formalities and rituals. But if Pratikrama a practiced in its true spirit, overtime, a person is likely to be considerate and non-violent in his daily life. When we are talking of restraint, another primary principle of Jainism namely Aparigraha comes to the fore. At times violence at individual, social, national and international levels is rooted in greed and related economic causes.
While for laity, economic endeavor is inevitable and permitted; it has to be qualified by certain norms. In the first place undue possessiveness needs to be restrained and regulated. Mammon should not be allowed to become God. Secondly there must be the concept of sharing: call it giving, tithe, zak ta, d na or visarjan. As the wise say, living is giving.
Page 389 of 556
STUDY NOTES version 4.0