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46/JAIN STUDIES AND SCIENCE
Proactive and Reactive Behaviour
Our actions should be neither appeasing nor offending; rather they should be guided by the vision of dutifulness. Mahapragya quotes from Acharang-Sutra to his disciples to behave beyond ordinary'. He explains, “Ordinary behaviour of an un-awakened human is always reactionary. Ordinary person will only react to a situation - will feel happy if something good happens or will feel angry if provoked. Whereas, when we act proactively, we undertake an intelligent and independent analysis of the situation. A moral judgment always precedes our action. Our acts will always transcend the ordinary, if at the centre of our action lays a basic fact of equality of all souls. Famous philosopher Kant said, - “A good act is for the fulfilment of duty and not for kindness, benevolence, generosity or compassion.” This statement summarises the definition of Dharma. Psychological Aspect
Medical experts have discovered that our health is a delicate balance of various chemicals, particularly hormones. This balance is maintained firstly by the puritan diet, and secondly, by chaste thinking or the virtuous state of mind. Here, we shall discuss the second aspect in detail.
Human mind is full of both positive and negative thinking. Scientists have clinically established that the positive thinking results in the production of hormones which give euphoric feeling, whereas, negative thought process secretes harmful chemicals which are responsible for almost all the psychosomatic ailments and ulcers.
All body functions strictly follow close-loop mechanisms. This actually means that the stimuli and feedback both are monitored by the brain activities. As an example, if we feel pain, endorphin chemical is secreted which acts as mild tranquiliser thereby relaxing the feeling of pain. Immediate purpose of this chemical is to relieve the feeling of pain, but it has its side effects on other body parts including digestive system. Similarly, Mahapragya says, “If we feel hatred or jealousy and act to harm others, brain's defence mechanism secretes chemicals which might increase the blood pressure or harm us in some manner.” Anger too, is one of the negative feelings which results in red-shot eyes and trembling body. Mahapragya, therefore, concludes that in the process of not harming others, we inadvertently prevent ourselves from getting harmed.
Contentment- Key to Universal Friendship
We, so far have studied the wide ranging advantages of practicing the
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