Jainism Eternal and Universal Path for Enlightenment

Author(s): Narendra Bhandari
Publisher: Research Institute of Scientific Secrets from Indian Oriental Scriptures Ahmedabad

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Jainism : The Eternal and Universal path for Enlightenment
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Three different doctrines have been proposed in various eastern thoughts: Advaitav :d (non-duality or monism), Dvaitav :d (duality) and Anekintavidinfinite possibilities). The universe consists of infinite type of things. The first proposition is that every thing we see has emerged from one. Thus Advaitav d asserts that everything is a manifestation of “One”. If in the beginning there was only ONE”, logically "many" (anek) can not originate from "one" (Ek) because, nothing happens by itself. Without a cause, “ONE” would exist as it is for ever. For anything to happen to ONE, requires an outside agency. Existence of a cause, thus, requires something external of the ONE (i.e. at least two"). Causality requires at least two to interact to give rise to "many", so many" coming out of one" violates causality. This proposition rejects "advaitavad (non-duality, i.e. monism) and necessitates "dvaitav 'd'. In this case every thing emerges from the interaction of Purush and Prakriti. Anekintavéd goes a step further. It asserts that the "ONE" has infinite attributes and thus one and many are the same. It thus synthesizes Ekantvad (advaitav d), dvaitvad in to Anekintavid. Anekintavid should truly be called Anantavd or theory of infinite possibilities. Thus Anekintavid is a correct description of the physical reality and is necessary for understanding the nature of the ultimate constituents of nature.