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Signs of inevitable disaster are everywhere, but can we do anything about it? Can we stop the devil in its tracks? Politicians and scientists are now scrambling to prevent greenhouse gas emissions by asking car drivers, energy producers, and factories to cut down their emissions, yet any suggestion to curb animal farming and meat production meets with deafening silence. Nevertheless, such measures, though beneficial, are really only temporary. Ultimately the solution lies in dealing with our internal devil and its insatiable greed.
As many as 2600 hundred years ago, Mahavir, the 24th Jain Tirthankara issued a warning. He asked us to respect the environment. In keeping with his message of non-violence, he preached that air, water and soil are all living systems, and man will abuse them only at his own peril. Jains may have received this message with lukewarm enthusiasm (devil pervades every soul), but try to live by Mahavir's message. The rest of the world, however, has so far given it the coldshoulder.
The Tirthankaras actually identified this devil and even have a name for it. They call it "Kashayas". Passions such as ego, greed, lust, anger, self-righteousness, power hungriness, jealousy, etc. are the kashayas. The Tirthankaras preached that every pure soul is divine but the kashaya-devil has imprisoned our soul and has somehow managed to overpower our conscience the God within us. They developed a philosophy and a practical, workable technique not only to control this devil but also to get rid of it. They tell us that if we eliminate our kashayas and liberate our mindset from this devil, our soul will be free and godliness is ours! It is our mindset that keeps the soul imprisoned, and we need a fundamental change in our mindset to be able to free ourselves and our planet from the devil.
The Tirthankaras preached a set of beliefs to prepare us to follow a path to gradually eliminate the kashayas. In this sense, Jainism is more of a psychological system to overcome human weaknesses, than a religion. Its theoretical construct is founded on liberating the human mind from its dependence on an external imaginary God and devil, and empowering it to shape its own destiny. Its basic message is "All living beings are, in essence, impure souls trapped in a continuous cycle of rebirth and death due to their own doing (karma), and have the potential to liberate themselves. Humans in particular have the ability to liberate their soul by their own actions if they so choose. We are the masters of our destiny and can expel the devil within us to achieve the divine state of omniscience, omnipresence and
Jain Education Intemational
Three 'A's
Ahimsa
Anekantawad
Aparigraha
Jain Digest Summer 2007
omnipotence." Jainism has developed three main doctrines to prepare the right mindset for the journey on the path to achieve moksha - the state of divinity.
These are:
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OR Three 'R's
Reverence for ALL. living beings
Respect and examine the validity of differing viewpoints
Reduce your needs and possessions
It is not too hard to imagine how these doctrines, if applied globally, can alleviate most of the problems facing our planet such as violence, wars, fundamentalism, terrorism, and environmental decay. The Jain scriptures emphasize that even the intention of violence (bhava himsa) is a serious act of violence. Such emphasis, and their unique doctrine of Anekantavad has had a great impact on the psyche of the Jain community. This impact has resulted in the formation of a peaceful community, which has adhered to these three doctrines for thousands of years. The Jain doctrine of ahimsa has even influenced a large number of Hindus (particularly "upper caste" Hindus) to abandon their practice of animal sacrifices and become vegetarians.
Apart from the issues such as 'cruelty to the animals' and effect of carnivorous habits on human health', vegetarianism has gained crucial importance in the 21st century. The most inconvenient truth is that a global shift away from meat and other animal products (understand Ahimsa), so also from self-righteousness (understand Anekantawad), and from a lifestyle of increasing needs and possessions (understand Aparigraha) is urgently needed to save the planet from rapidly growing greenhouse gases. Without such a massive shift in human mindset, the kashaya-devil will have free hand with its 'intelligent ingenuity.
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The history of Jain community suggests that their three 'A's have been effective in bringing about massive change in the human mindset to create a peaceful community. Jains have inherited these three 'A's and have used them for centuries. They must now bring their long-standing know-how in these techniques to the attention of the world. Not doing so will only strengthen the hands of the devil. I implore Jains to be proactive not only to help world breathe easy, but also to restore the lost glory of Jainism.
Did you Know?
Petroleum based foam plates and plastic-ware takes thousands of years to decompose in nature! Better choice: Biodegradable plates, cups and cutlery made from corn, sugarcane and potato are available (compostable in 45-60 days), sources:www.biodegradablestore.com, ecoproducts.com
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