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The Path of Arhat : A Religious Democracy
honestly for one month and you will find a world of difference in your attitude towards life and its problems.
Jaina insistence on austerities, daily repentance and meditations ( discussed in the chapter on Modus Operandi ) greatly helps in shaping our pesronality, leading to a life of peace, tranquility and contentment which are in so much demand in modern life. Nivstti in the midst of Pravrtti
As we have already noted, the fundamnental and basic postulate of the Sramapa tradition, to which Jainism belongs, is 'Nivștti' ( retirement ). What is this 'Nivștti'? Does it mean cessation of all activities ? Certainly not. Jainism recognises that so long as the soul is attached to Karmic forces such as body, mind and various types of passions ( Kaşayas ) physical activities are bound to remain, lf, however, we go to the root of all these worldly activities, we find that at the root, is the psychic element of 'attachment. Our attachment to our family, to our society, our nation, our mental pre-possessions, that is, ideologies, our attachment to worldly objects such as wealth, power, position, urge for the domination over others --- all this is at the root of our activities and lend colour as well as dynamism to them. In other words, motivation is 'attachment, known as 'Bhāva Karma' in Jaina terminology (vide chapter on 'Ethics of Responsibility'). It is this attachment, the cause of Karmic forces which binds the soul. It follows that if this attachment is destroyed or, at least, mitigated while doing a particular worldly activity, the binding force of the Karmic bondage is either nullified or lessened. How this is achieved is shown while discussing the process of fourteen 'Gupasthānas' and the theory of 'Kșapaka Śrepi' in Chapter on 'Journey to Freedom'. This is the path of 'Nivștti', not meaning cessation of human activities, but destruction or taming of the element of 'attachment. This is the key of the spiritual success of all Tirthaikaras and Srävakas who either ruled the earth or indulged in various types of household and worldly activities and this was also the key to the spiritual heights reached by
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