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JAINISM AND WORLD PROBLEMS
NOT KILL; but it is understood only to be saying THOU SHALT NOT KILL MAN ALONE, ANIMALS THOU MAYEST KILL AND DEVOUR! The truth is that if we have no respect for Life itself we can have certainly no respect either for the animal or for man. In Peace animals are treated as provender for the stomach, and in War man is treated as fodder for guns!
But is it not impossible, at least impracticable, to put the doctrine into practice in daily living and give it full scope? No, it is not; Jainism is a practical religion, and it has not lost sight of the need for toning down the rigid severity of the observance for those who are unable to put it into practice all at once.
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For this purpose the Path of Progress is divided into two parts, the preliminary and the advanced. For those not yet able to aspire to sainthood the preliminary path is the one indicated; but for the saint the higher and the more advanced one is the prescribed method. The layman takes himself in hand, so to speak, and tries to understand his capacity in regard to Universal Love. He must refrain from all the great vices in the first instance, and observe all the rules that the membership of good society and civilized life demand. Then gradually he adopts severer vows of self-denial and virtuous living, as his capacity increases, till he reach Sainthood. Periodically he also tries to practise saintly rules to curb down his evil longings and the cravings of the flesh.
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