Jainism

Author(s): M R Gelra
Publisher: Createspace

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(i) Gyanavarniya Karma & Genes
As the name suggests, Gyanavarniya Karmasomes are inhibiters of knowledge. Most invertebrates do not have mind, whereas the capabilities of mind vastly vary amongst the vertebrates. In humans, we bifurcate the mind as :
Audayic or Conditioned mind,
• Kshyopashmic or Super mind.
Conscious or conditioned mind is the one which we have inherited from generations and is representative of animal behaviour. This conduct is mostly guided by our past Karmas as if the program is already coded into the genes. Another higher level mind is Super mind which is representative of a pure being. It acquires knowledge by way of detaching the Gyanavarniya Karma. It results in human awakening.
(ii) Mohaniya Karma & Psychology
Emotive Karmas are responsible for our psychological behaviour. According to the Jain belief, the human passions of fear, anger, joy, sorrow, love, hate etc. are guided by these deluding set of Karmasomes. Relationships are a source of strong feelings both positive and negative. Our happy and hurtful moments come from them. The closure the relationship, the stronger the feelings it gives rise to involvement and significance we attach to.
Everyone knows what is good and what is bad, yet it is not always possible to conduct accordingly. On the contrary, it is the bad tendency which wins over the noble one. People often blame circumstances for any unworthy behaviour but the root cause is the activation of Emotive Karmas. This must be understood. It happened in the history of Jainism that Muni Sthulibhadra stayed at prostitute Kosha's house in an explicitly passionate environment for four months of chaturmas without even an iota of temptation. This was his capacity to win over the deluding karmas of Moh."
Onslaught of Emotive Karma results in varied impulses of anger, conceit, obsession, voracity etc. All these emotions vary in their intensities and can be categorised into four stages:
•
severe
intense
mild
serene
Practice of equanimity under all circumstances is the key to conquer these emotions. When the intensities of these impulses become thin, we can take first step towards the liberation. From the psychological angle also, these emotive impulses are associated with many a disease. These emotions actually trap us in a vicious circle - more we succumb to temptations, more is our bondage and our sufferings augment.
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