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judgments may be made about it. Even two contradictory statements about an object may hold true. Since we are finite beings, we can know or experience only a few facets of reality at one time. The reality in its completeness cannot be grasped by us. Only a universal observer- Sarvajna can comprehend it completely. Yet even for an Omniscient it is impossible to know and explain it without a standpoint or viewpoint. This premise can be understood form the following example.
Take it for granted that every one of us has a camera to click a snap of a tree. We can have hundreds of photographs but still we find most portion of the tree photographically remains uncovered, and what is more, the photographs differ from each other unless they are taken from the same angle. So is also the case with diversified human understanding and knowledge. We only can have a partial and relative view of reality. It is impossible for us to know and describe reality without an angle or viewpoint, while every angle or viewpoint can claim that it gives a true picture of reality but each one only gives a partial and relative picture of reality. On the basis of partial and relative knowledge of reality one can claim no right to discard the views of his opponents as totally false. According to Jaina thinkers the truth-value of opponents must be accepted and respected.
Non-absolutism of the Jainas forbids to allow the individual to be dogmatic and one-sided in approach. It pleads for a broader outlook and open mindedness, which alone can resolve the conflicts that emerge from differences in ideologies and faiths. Satkari Mookerjee rightly observes that Jainas do not believe in the extremist a prior logic of the absolutists. Pragmatically considered, the extremism breeds dogmatism and it carries a step further, engenders fanaticism, the worst and the vilest passion of human
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Jainism and its History
