Jain Journal 2003 04

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

Page 12

VINCENT SEKHAR: A LITTLE KNOWN FAITH
191
mutuality or reciprocity: 'As it would be unto thee, so it is with him whom thou intendest to kill.... In the same way (it is with him) whom thou intendest to punish and to drive away' (Ācārānga Sūtra 1.1.5.4-6). We all owe to the same source and to the same destiny.
(4)
Though life is dear to all living beings there cannot be undue attachment to it. Attachment to life sets a block to the goal to be achieved. Attachment to oneself provokes disregard and injury to others. The spirit of detachment or renunciation is the gateway to liberation: 'Life is dear to many who own fields and houses. Having acquired dyed and coloured (clothes), jewels, earnings, gold, women, they become attached to these things. And a fool who longs for life and is worldly minded, laments that (for these worldly goals) penance, self restraint and control do not avail will ignorantly come to grief' (Ācārānga Sūtra. 1.2.3.3-5). Injury is caused by attachment and greed,. Hence non-attachement or non-grabbing (aparigraha) becomes a key (virtue) to liberation. Jaina spirituality and ethics points out repeatedly that any amount of gold will not satisfy a person who is greedy of riches and wealth. Violence and other sinful acts are born out of greed and it could destroy persons, their belongings, their identity and cultures. As property is an extension of a person, usurping it unjustly from the other would amount not only to hampering his/her growth but also denying oneself the means of liberation.
(5)
Comprehension of the truth about life, namely pain and sorrow, naturally leads one to renuciation: 'the pain of mundane existence is observed so keenly and it is considered to be the true knowledge' (Ācāranga Sūtra, 1.2.6.2). The course of the world (regarding evil) is observed carefully and a truth is born out of experience, namely, ‘misery brings forth evil consequences' (Ibid, 1.3.2.1) and one has to cease from violent acts. But it is impossible to shun birth and the subsequent pain and misery. And hence the śramaņa religions (Jain, Buddhist) offer religious life or a life of self-denial and renunciation as the best alternative: 'Perceiving the truth, they chose religious life with a desire of a pious end' (Ibid. 1.5.5.1). “Knowing pain and