Jain Spirit 1999 10 No 02

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 59

PHILOSOPHY
Jainism, such as Mandalika of Saurastra in the eleventh century, and Siddharaja Jayasimha, King of Gujarat, and his son and successor, Kumarapala in the twelfth century. Kumarapala (1125-1159) declared Jainism the state religion of Gujarat and passed extensive animal welfare legislation.
Jain monks and nuns strive to minimize violence to even one-sensed beings and take vows to not brush against greenery or drink unfiltered water or light or extinguish fires. Perhaps more than any other religion in human history, the Jain faith seeks to uphold and respect animals as fundamentally and really not different from ourselves.
In one sense however, this seems like a work of great benevolence. In the movie Frontiers of Peace produced by Paul Kueperferie, one can witness directly the pain and suffering endured by some of the animals housed in Jaina shelters. Some are grotesquely misshapen by old injuries and others seem to writhe in anguish. By the standards of Western veterinary medicine, these animals should be "put down, that is, killed to spare them their misery. However, for two reasons this would be unacceptable from the perspective of the Jain theory of karma. First, the person who would perform or approve of the killing would incur an influx of black, negative karma. This would bind to his or her life force (jiva) and further impede progress toward spiritual liberation (kevala), the state in which all karma is expelled. Second, it would do a disservice to the animal. Each life force earns its status due to past actions. As cruel as it might sound, the present predicament according to the karmic view holds that the animal deserves its suffering. It is acceptable and meritorious for someone to alleviate the suffering which helps counteract negative karma on the part of the helper.
But at the same time, Jainism, with few exceptions, avoids sentimentalizing animals. Ultimately, the reason one respects animals is not for the sake of the animal, but for the purpose of lightening the karmic burden that obscures the splendor of one's own soul. Seen positively, every act of kindness toward an animal releases a bit of karma. But the approach is more on the lines of a via negativa: by avoiding a potentially damaging entanglement with an animal, one can ward off a potential blot on one's core being.
In conclusion, Jainism sees animals as former or potential human beings, paying for past sins yet capable of selfredemption. Human birth is considered to be the highest birth, as it is the only realm through which might enter final liberation or kevala. However, the best possible human life, that is, a life directed toward the highest spiritual ideal, takes the protection of animal life very seriously. The Acaranga Sutra (1.5.5) states that as soon as we intend to hurt or kill something, we ultimately do harm to ourselves by deepening and thickening the bonds of karma. According to Jainism, the best life pays attention to animals, not in a sentimental way, but in a way that gives them the freedom to pursue their own path, to fulfil their self-made destinies, and perhaps enter themselves into the path of virtue.
But if one has done all that can be done to make an animal comfortable, then one has no further obligation, and particularly must not prematurely kill the animal. If so, then the perpetrator of the killing will thicken and darken his or her karma, as stated above, and the killed animal would necessarily have to endure an eventually torturous further life to finish the atonement process.
Conclusion We have surveyed various aspects of the relationship between humans and animals in the Jain religious tradition. Jainism proclaims a biological and psychological continuity between not only the animal and human realm, but sees insects, micro-organisms, and life dwelling in the elements as part of the same continuum. The Jain tradition developed a code of ethics that requires its adherents to avoid violence to all these life forms to the degree possible depending upon one's circumstances. All Jains are expected to abstain from animal flesh. Jain laypeople are expected to avoid professions that harm animals directly or indirectly.
Christopher Key Chapple. PhD. is Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he teaches courses on Asian religions and comparative ethics. He has published numerous articles and several books, including Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Traditions, which includes a rather extensive discussion of Jainism (Christopher Key Chapple: Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Traditions. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993). In 1998 he convened a conference on Jainism and Ecology at Harvard University's Center for the Study of World Religions.
gullaan Logan
TON e Stenalarga
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सायीमुव्हसाव्हणतंगति वदतणेशालागोतस माणसमाणसगमहावीर डासमिक्षायाममासादा। ध्यावधिमाहातस्मगलि सुहामातरमीदिवासामधी
Lord Mahavir's mother Trishala had many dreams based on animals when he was in the womb
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Jain Spirit . October - December 1999