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by anger and advocates pious and pure reflections. It can be easily seen that the first two types cause unhappiness while latter two promote happiness. Happiness Of The Clerical Life -
The life for the clergy is governed by the five great vows of observance of complete non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, sexual abstinence and non-possession and guided by the regulations that help them in a flawless observance of their vows. Let us examine the positive effects of observing these vows on their lives. For a better comprehension we shall do it in the reverse order. The vow of non-possession keeps them away from all forms of greed – the mother of all evils. The vow of sexual abstention keeps them away from the most powerful temptations and consequent miseries. The vow of non-stealing or, put in better words, the vow of not taking anything ungiven keeps them from eyeing others' possessions and from misappropriating them to one's own use. The vow of complete truthfulness helps them in accepting their faults, if any, undertaking the due atonement and forgetting the matter for all times to come rather than hiding their faults and getting constantly stung by the attendant feeling of guilt. The vow of complete non-violence towards all the creatures from the smallest to the biggest ones helps them in developing a feeling of universal love and brotherhood, to overcome the feeling of animosity towards even the wrongdoers and gain an inner equanimity and harmony. All the five vows if truly observed, thus, reduce all tensions and help the monks and nuns to lead a life of complete contentment and satisfaction. Happiness Through The Lay Followers' Life-style –
The Jaina injunctions and regulations that govern and guide the Lay followers' lives are essentially the same as the ones for the clergy but at a lesser degree of rigour. They are, therefore, termed as minor vows - Aņuvrata as compared to the great vows
338 : JAINISM: THE CREED FOR ALL TIMES
