________________
JAINISM AND PERSONAL HAPPINESS
Personal Happiness -
When we discuss personal happiness, our attention must focus on the matters and attitudes that ensure this vital ingredient of a wholesome life. While most spiritual leaders down the ages have pictured the worldly existence itself as full of pain and misery, Jainism offers a glimmer of hope in an otherwise hopeless situation. This essay examines the issues that cause misery and explains as to how adherence to Jaina precepts and following the Jaina way of life can relieve such misery and give happiness.
The first question that we must answer before proceeding any further is – “What is happiness?” The Oxford dictionary defines happiness as a feeling or expression of pleasure, contentment or satisfaction. If that were the case, unhappiness or misery is a feeling or expression of pain, discontent or dissatisfaction.
Causes Of Misery -
Now, we come to the causes that result in such a feeling or expression of pain, discontent or dissatisfaction. They are not far to seek. We can list them as follows: - A. Attachment for the desirable things and beings and
aversion for the undesirable ones, which can be grouped under one head - delusion -and which, in turn give rise to the following four,
