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Nobody wants to live in a state of mental tensions. Everyone would like not tension but relaxation, not anxiety but contentment. This shows that our real nature is working in us for tranquility or mental peace. Religion is nothing but a way of achieving this inner peace. According to Jainism, the duty of a religious order is to explain the means by which man can achieve this peace: inner as well as external. In Jainism, the method of achieving mental peace is called as Sāmāyika, the first and foremost duty among six essential duties of monks and house-holders. Now the question arises how this tranquility (Samata) can be attained? Accordingto the Jaina viewpoint, it can be attained through the practice of ‘non-attachment”. For attachment is the sole cause of disturbing our inner peace or tranquility.
ATTACHMENT, THE CAUSE OF MENTAL TENSIONS
It has already been mentioned that the most burning problem of our age is the problem of mental tensions. The nations, claiming to be more civilized and economically more advanced, are much more in the grip of mental tension. The main objective of Jainism is to emancipate man from his suffering and mental tensions. First of all, we must know the cause of this mental tension. For Jainism, the basic human sufferings are not physical, but mental. These mental sufferings or tensions are due to our attachment towards worldly object. It is the attachment, which is fully responsible for them. The famous Jaina text Uttarādhyayana-Sūtra mentions “The root of all sufferings-physical as well as mental, of everybody is attachment towards the objects of worldly enjoyment. It is the attachment, which is the root cause of mental tension. Only a detached attitude towards the objects of worldly enjoyment can free mankind from mental tension.”
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