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NON-PERSONALISM, A KEYSTONE FOR TOLERANCE
Jainism opposes the person-cult (person-worship) for it makes the mind biased and intolerant. For the Jainas, the object of veneration and worship is not a person but perfectness i.e. the eradication of attachment and aversion. The Jainas worship the quality or merit of the person, not a person. In the sacred namaskaramantra of the Jainas, veneration is paid to the spiritual-posts such as Arhat, Siddha, Ācārya and not the individuals like Mahāvīra, Rsabha or anybody else. In the fifth Pada we find that the veneration is paid to all the saints of the world. The words 'loye’ and ‘Savva' demonstrate the generosity and broader outlook of the Jainas. It is not person, but his spiritual attitude which is to be worshipped. Difference in name is immaterial since every name at its best connotes the same spiritual perfection.
Acārya Haribhadra in the Yogadrsti Samuccaya remarks that the ultimate truth transcends all states of worldly existence, called Nirvāṇa and is essentially and necessarily 'single' even then it is designated by different names like Sadasiva, Parabrahman, Siddhātma, Tathagata, etc. Not only in the general sense but etymologically also they convey the same meaning. In the Lokatattva Nirnaya he says, “I venerate all those who are free from all vices and filled with all virtues, be they Brahma, Visnu, Siva of Jina”.
This is further supported by various Jaina thinkers of medieval period as Akalanka, Yogindu, Manatunga, Hemcandra and many others. While worshiping Lord Siva the Jaina pontiff Hemcandra says: “I worship those who have destroyed attachment and aversion, the seeds of birth and death, be they Bramha, Visnu, Siva or Jina”.
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