ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 04

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

Page 403

teacher/s; Pratikrama a or visiting the mistakes committed during the day and seek forgiveness and punishment; K yostarga or relaxation i.e. developing a feeling of separateness of body and self; Praty kh na or determination to not commit the fault again), the five major (or total observance) vows or mah vratas (Ahi s, satya, acaurya, aparigraha and b hmacarya), five attitudes of carefulness (samiti) and three attitudes of restraint (gupti) along with 27/28 primary attributes and twenty two afflictions to be won (parişaha jai).
For the householders, the six essential duties are (devap j (worshipping the omniscient), gur - up sati (veneration of the holy teachers), sv dhy ya (self study), sa yama (self restraint), d na (charity), tapa (austerities), praty kh na or vowing not to make mistakes or practice), five minor vows called a uvratas (Ahi s, satya, acaurya, aparigraha and b hmacarya, three gu avratas and four iks vratas. vet mbara Jains observe the six essential duties of the ascetics only.
3.2 Philosophical / ethical practice of Ahi s 11
Jain philosophy says that the inherent nature of soul is to be in its own nature of knowledge and bliss i.e. no body wants to die or have pain. Being happy or Bliss is the nature of soul and everybody wants to attain this state. If this is so then not killing or not giving pain to anybody is GOOD or moral and the reverse is no GOOD and hence is to be avoided. This is the basis of all moral and ethical postulates of Jainism from the practical viewpoint. Convergent validation for this non-killing thesis can be found in the first global survey by the World Health Organization of deaths by suicide, homicide, and war which conclude that "violence is a preventable disease" (WHO, 2005).
Jain ethical practices are based on the six essential duties ( va yakas), five vows and several supplementary vows. The essential duties are primarily to indulge in spiritual practices and to review the daily's activities and seek corrections for flaws committed while the vows are actual practices/conduct to avoid hi s
For householders, the emphasis is on minimization of his. Accordingly Jain texts10 talk of four types of his namely:
1
rambh or that associated with lifestyle.
2 Udyog or that associated with professional activities, e.g. agriculture
3
Virodh or Self-defense i.e. to protect oneself from the enemies
4 Sa kalp or premeditated done due feelings of attachment and aversion towards others.
The first three types are such that a common man cannot avoid them completely. Violence against two to five sensed beings is to be avoided completely except in a few situations. The first two types are basically addressed to living beings having one sense organ only namely with air, fire, water, earth and plants bodies living beings. Therefore the householder is advised to practice carefulness and minimize such violence towards them. The third type is primarily for self-defense and for correcting the violent or wrong tendencies of others and is allowed in a limited manner. The fourth type is completely prohibited even to him/ her as it is simply to satisfy one's ego or interest and committed due to ignorance or wrong knowledge and attachment/ aversion.
It is important to talk a little about the ways of practicing the above while minimizing violence. Here the emphasis in Jainism is on prevention through the attitude of carefulness in all our activities and putting restrains on our activities of mind, body and speech. Some examples of practicing these are given below:
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Keeping the house and our environment clean and as germ free as possible. This will ensure that insects / germs, ants do not bother us by there presence. If we do not keep our environment clean, then cockroaches, ants, flies, mosquitoes etc will pervade our home and force us to get rid of them.
Straining or making the water germ free by using technology (RO, boiling, other technologies).
Eating plant based food. Here efforts need to be made to each such plant based food which does not harm or kill the plants as much as possible. Avoid toxic foods, drinks and
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STUDY NOTES version 4.0