Jain System in Nutshell

Author(s): N L Jain
Publisher: Nij Gyan Sagar Shiksha Kosh Santa MP

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concept of non-violence has been said to be the panecea for these problems in terms of its varied aspects.
Jaina practices are meant initially to improve the physical behaviour and intellectual level of the individuals, It believes that an individual of high ethics has a better value to improve the society and the wrold. That is why the saints have a high esteem and following. It has therefore devised practices for his inner and outer refinement and upliftment. The basic tenet of non-violence carries a much broader meaning in this context. This concept, in its subtlest form, leads to practice universal brotherhood and global ethical behaviour physically, verbally and mentally. Starting with vegetarian food intake resulting in non-degenerate secrettions, it providee with a noble internal and external environment for peacefully progressive life of thoughts and actions. This should inculcate not only compassionate and affectionate behaviour but also a conflict-free life. The individual will behave in a way not to harm others. He will have a cooperative, conscientions and all-welfare attitude. (a) Carry-over problems : Caste, Ethnicity and Religion
For a non-violent preceptor, there can never be problems of ethnicity, caste or religion. Jainism has no place for caste system or ethnicity as all humans are treated as equal and brotherly. It is the good qualities and actions which determine the human character. Thus, the Jainas have no birth-based casteism and ethnicity creating puffal distinctions. Their followers originate from all so-called castes and ethnics. They have been designated as having the highest morals in the world of today. They get surprised at the increasing frequency of ethnic, caste and religious conficts in different parts of the world. Perchance, they are due to supremacy concept which the Jainas do not have. That is why though Jainism could not spread far and wide but it now seems to be a torch bearer for a better society and human race for the coming generation. The supremacy concept must be modified to equalitarian concept of the Jainas for conflict-free world.
Jainism believes the religion to be the carrier of the individual and society towards better and better happiness. It instructs that our outlook and behaviour should be four-foldly tuned (timal, modal, spatial and basal). This is ascertained by the fact that the Jinas and scholars have added, modified, redefined and even included many theoretical and practical aspects for necessary tuning. There has, thus, never been fundamentalism among the Jainas which is so much observed today and decried by the conscientous intelligensia. This is one of the esential aspects of non-violence to develop accommodative nature towards all creeds because of its intellectual and verbal relativistic or polwiewistic training. This equalitarian or equanimous attitude is the need of the day.