JAINA Convention 2003 07 Cincinnati OH

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

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JAIN RELIGION AS A WORLD RELIGION Acharya Mahapragyaji
Bhagvan Mahavir preached his doctrine after attaining omniscience. He propounded dharma by giving central importance to the soul. For him, caste, creed, and color were not significant. Religion or dharma came to acquire a comprehensive scope by upholding the principle that casteism was not real.
The basic unity of dharma is reinforced by treating dharma and sect as two separate things. There can be a plurality of sects, but there can be no plurality of dharma. True dharma consists of subduing attachment and hatred. It is the same for everyone and for all times and all places.
Bhagvan Mahavir gave us the anekant philosophy to look at the world. It is a widely used metaphysical concept and is an important. method in the quest for the truth. According to this theory, you cannot arrive at the entire truth with the help of sense perceptions because senses have their limitations. They can at best help you to arrive at partial truth. Besides, there are as many facets of truth as there are ideas. Therefore, before declaring that a particular idea is false one must try to discover its latent fragment of truth. This humble but comprehensive viewpoint of the Jain dharma regarding the quest for truth is enough to give Jain religion the status of a world religion.
Once Acharya Tulsi was camping in Hissar [Haryana]. It was a summer afternoon. Tulsi received a surprise visit from a renowned scholar, Kaka Kalelkar. He said, "I was sitting in my office in Delhi thinking about anekant. While doing so, I felt very unhappy about the inactivity of the followers of the Jain dharma. People of all religion are trying to turn their religions into world religions. But the Jains are totally inactive on this front. They have a great philosophy like the anekant that would make their religion a world religion and yet they are least bothered
about it. I was distressed by it. I could not contain my grief and it explains why I have come here in this scorching heat."
Kaka Kalelkar's complaint did not merely have a tinge of grief; it also had a lot of truth. Jain dharma is a fit candidate for being a world religion, for it supports human unity, explains religion from a non-sectarian angle, and concedes that there may be partial truth in the doctrines of all other sects.
Jain dharma postulates three stages of the soul - external soul, internal soul, and omniscient or liberated soul. The external soul is characterized by an aversion to the quest for truth. The internal soul is fully dedicated to the quest for truth. One who attains self-realization is a liberated soul, or a supreme soul. Bhagvan Mahavir was a supreme soul. All those who are fully devoted to spirituality have the right to become supreme souls. This principle of attaining the status of a liberated soul transcends time, space, and individuality. It is a universal principle.
To know the ultimate nature of the reality of subtle truths we use scientific appraisal. However, a form of religion that is exclusively based on scientific appraisal cannot take the place of a world religion. The reason is that science provides information related to the objective world whereas dharma gives information related to the subjective world. A code of conduct based on empir ical truths has the potentiality of becoming a world religion. The codes of conduct comprising the vows enunciated by Mahavir can command wide acceptance from human beings living in any society.
The universality of a religion can be assessed. on the basis of the following points:
1. God, man, and the world
2. Intuitional perception or direct experience
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