Book Title: Pearls of Jaina Wisdom
Author(s): Dulichand Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Previous | Next

Page 80
________________ 44 Pearls of Jaina Wisdom compared with those blind persons, who in order to obtain the knowledge of the shape of an elephant, feel its ear, trunk, feet and other parts of the body separately, and believe that they have the complete view of the shape of the elephant. Thus the doctrine of Non-absolutism tries to find out the unity out of diverse points of view and admits that there is an element of truth in all religions which are but different approaches to the problems of humanity from different points of view. Non-possession ( Aparigraha) Parigraha is clinging to possessions that is, harboring such false notion as 'this is mine' and imagining that one can hold on forever to what he now 'possesses'. The term also includes the four passions. The essence of non-possession is to avoid activities which generate these passions. But such renunciation is not possible unless a person has detached himself from the external possessions like land, houses, jewellery and miscellaneous goods. For a layman, nonpossession is expressed by setting of limits upon what he may own. Thus, by undertaking the vow of non-possession, a Jaina layman systematically reduces his tendencies to fall into possessiveness; thus he protects his soul from increased karmic entanglement and lays the groundwork for complete non-attachment, the path of the mendicant. Ethical Code of Conduct Jaina scriptures describe the conduct elaborately, expected from a monk as well as a house-holder. The monk and nuns observe the five great vows ( Mahāvratas) and the laity five primary vows (Aṇuvratas). The five Mahāvratas are total abstinence from violence, falsehood, stealing, sexual indulgence and possessions. This four-fold congregation known as Dharma Tīrtha ( centre of worship) is still observed and proves that Jainism is a living religion. There are numerous monks and nuns and nearly ten million house-holders continuing the tradition, following virtually the same path as prescribed by Jinas. Jaina monks and nuns move about in Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368