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Jaina Philosophy and Religion
satisfied with whatever necessities of life he obtains easily, naturally and without incurring any defilement or defect. He is ever vigilant in his practice of self-control. His spiritual discipline of equanimity, quiescence and austerity is of an advanced stage. His every act is guided by the light of right knowledge. He expects the minimum comforts of life which are inevitably needed to sustain the body and as soon as they are obtained he is contented and happy; and in case he does not obtain them he does not feel sorry and distressed. “I wish I may get food and drink of a particular kind to eat and drink, clothes of a particular type to wear, a residence of a particular type to reside in, or other things of a particular type"-attachment of this type he does not have. He accepts whatever he gets at whatever time naturally and easily and remains satisfied with that. Renunciation of this type is the result of the mental state of real nonattachment. Renunciation without non-attachment is no renunciation, but a mockery of renunciation, because in such cases a person ardently desires the things which he has outwardly renounced. Renunciation does not last long, if it is not the result of non-attachment and is not associated with it.
External ascetic dress or form, on the one side, reminds the monk to live a life in accordance with the path of renunciation willingly accepted by him, while, on the other side, it helps a person pretend to be a monk and cover his impure and unwholesome conduct. If we have blind faith in the external ascetic dress, there may arise a great danger of our being cheated. Similarly, if we do not care to know his life and are simply guided by our feeling of indifference to and disregard for the external dress, there may again arise a great danger of our dishonouring a real saint. So, to arrive at a true decision or judgement, it is necessary to pay attention to both, the external dress and the internal life. And for that, discriminating power and patience are required. There is always a risk in forming our opinion in haste under certain prejudice.
Taking into account their capacity, the monk guides through his preachings and practices householders and monks in their respective fields of religious disciplines. In the religious practice, it is necessary to discriminate the principal matters from the secondary ones. Non-violence, etc., are the five principal matters, while external rites, rituals and ceremonies are the secondary matters. The secondary matters are not so important as the principal ones. That is, the external rites, rituals and ceremonies are not so important as non-violence, etc. So, the monks who
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