Jain Spirit 2003 06 No 15

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

Page 60

PHILOSOPHY own
OUR RESPONSE TO TERRORISM
Kim Skoog focuses on formulating a possible Jain response to terrorist acts
H
OW IS A TRADITION LIKE JAINISM TO COPE with an unjust and vicious social phenomenon such as terrorism? What is the proper role of Jain philosophy or theology in helping one to be faithful both to the ultimate goal of liberation and to the inherent themes of compassion and nonviolence that are the very basis of the Jain tradition?
boastfully or out of self-defence in the course of warfare further stirs one's emotions so as to intensify this influx of karma as well as attract a firmer-binding kind of karma that is harder to remove.
Emphasis on the principle of ahimsa in the Jain tradition is well known. However, lay Jains realise that it is impossible to live a life totally in accordance with the principle of nonviolence. Historically, the Jain community cannot be always idenitified as simply pacifist. There were a number of famous Jain generals and soldiers, none of whom was condemned by Jain leaders or followers. However, there does not seem to be a clear stance on how the lay Jain followers are expected to respond to war and terrorism.
According to the few Jain texts that make reference to war, one may engage only in a defensive campaign, where one is to acquire only a less dangerous variety of karmic matter generated from opposing/hindering-based violence (virodhi-himsa). However, the intent is not to encourage such activity but acknowledge its inevitability in a layperson's life, and is considered best if avoided. The Jain texts, in general, regard acts of slaying even in the spirit of self defence to be demeritorious, as such acts inevitably lead to the accumulation of papa or bad karmic matter.
Though Jain lay-followers have engaged in warfare, there has never been any doubt that they were still responsible for their acts, i.e. take rebirth in hell. The way to 'optimum violence', whether engaging in war or responding to terrorism, is by observing the following: (i) not kill for the sake of oneself; (ii) do not act with passion or emotion; and (iii) renounce the act or disassociate yourself from it as much as possible. These directives are based on the Jain explanation of karmic bondage. The more intense passions (kasayas) one undergoes, the more intense the vibrations (yoga) are in the mind that bring about the influx (asrava) of karmas that bind to the soul (bandha).
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According to Jainism, it is not only what actions we do, but also how we do them that ultimately determines the nature of karmas we incur. Accordingly, acting too selfishly,
Jain Spirit June-August 2003
•
"Non-violence
is a spiritual
power"
In addition to optimising one's violent activities done during the war or response to terrorism, one must also strive to shed the accumulated papa through good activities leading to the removal of karmic matter through austerities (nirjara) and repelling or stopping the inward flow of karma (samvara). Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to think that all of this 'debt' could be removed in one's lifetime. While good deeds and austerities help remove some of the bad karma associated with one's soul due to the violence and may, therefore, decrease one's length in hell, one cannot avoid altogether the rebirth in hell that awaits one as a result of killing in war or terrorist actions.
The Jain view of life stresses care and amity in the interaction with all living beings. Jainism, in principle, naturally espouses to non-violence and therefore to some form of pacifism. Yet, as with all traditions, it has to wrestle with the difficulty of what to do with injustice and violence toward others as found in acts such as terrorism. Do we stick firmly to our non-violent principles and simply sit back and watch others suffer unjustly without lending a helping hand to them? Aldos
The Jain tradition, as is apparent from the following analysis by a contemporary Jain teacher Muni Shri Nyayavijayaji, has chosen to tip the scales in favour of the need to act with compassion when it comes to the preservation of social order and the lives of the innocent. In his work, Jain Darsana, he attempts to give convincing justification for why one must help those in need, for not to do so is in itself an act of violence:
"One commits violence by not contributing to the efforts of stopping violence or by simply remaining indifferent to violence, just as one commits violence by indulging in positive violent activity. If one who knows swimming does not rescue a drowning man and simply watches him hidrowning, it is an act of violence. Violence of such type is a result of callous carelessness of the form: "What concern have I? Why should I invite trouble? I cannot