Jain Journal 1977 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 28

JAIN JOURNAL
With this Christian model may now be contrasted a Jain one. What we need to fundamentally bear in mind here in contrast to Christianity is that,
Not only are gods, human beings, demons, animals and insects believed to be inhabited by souls, but also plants of all species, earth and stones and everything derived from the earth, rivers, ponds, seas and rain-drops, flames and all fires, grass and winds of every kind. Thus the whole universe is full of lifes.
This, of course, does not mean that there is no matter in Jainism, only that its ensoulment is far more complete and comprehensive than it is in Christianity. Thus as opposed to the ordinate ecological model in Christianity one finds here a coordinative ecological model in Jainism. The fact that it is a coordinative ecological model need not in itself be a cause of celebration as the ensoulment of matter may as well be looked upon as the entombment of soul by matter. Indeed salvation in Jainism is visualised as the freedom of the soul from the bonds of matter. It might also foster a spirit of laissez faire at the ecological level, not distinguishing between the plant and the weed.
JII
The consequences of these models become particularly instructive in their extreme manifestations. The industrialization of the environment which is visualized as free of any divine immanence and as ruled over by a Niebutarian transcendant God can be seen as having led to a polluted environment.
One merely sees in the city in exaggerated degree a problem common to all modern life, namely, contamination of the general environment. The smog in Los Angeles is the sign in the skies of what is impending for cities elsewhere. Really clear days in New York, Paris or Tokyo are almost completely a thing of the past.
Mark Twain said, “Man is the only species that feels shame-or needs to". Certainly man is the only animal who has managed
3
A. L. Basham, "Jainism" in R. C. Zaehner ed., The Concise Encyclopaedia of Living Faiths (Boston : Beacon Press, 1959) p. 262.