Perspectives in Jaina Philosophy and Culture

Author(s): Satish Jain, Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Ahimsa International

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EDITORIAL
In the cultural history of mankind, only those people who have remained alive to the essential values of life are capable of meeting the challenge of situations arising from the animal nature in man. Psychologically speaking, we may say that animality is very strong in man, so much so that in cvcry walk of life it makes its gross as well as sophisticated appearance In fact, the history of civilization presents a constant fight between the humane and the animal in man The rise of humanistic religions in different parts of the world invites our attention to this fact, with the message that cthico-spiritual values inaugurate the all-round progress of the individual and society But with the advancement of science and technology, new values of life have emerged The rate of valuc change has grown very high, and in consequence it has baffled the great intellectuals of our times It has shattered "the presumed identity between one generation and the next and has made it impossible to predict future values by simple straight-linc projection " Thus the present century is the century of conflict between the values arisen from the impact of science on human behaviour and the values fostered by religions Notwithstanding all this, religions which are the guardians of the essential values of life are not antagonistic to the scientific advancements On the contrary, they are disposed to make use of the findings of science, so long as the cssential valucs of life are not hampered
In consonance with the above-mentioned spirit of religions, the Third International Jain Conference has been dedicated to the promotion of Ahimsa and World-peace, to the propagation of vegetarianism and spiritualism, 10 the upliftment of women and to the inculcation of valuc-oriented behaviour patterns in the Youth Besides, this conference proposes to highlight the contributions of Jainism in diverse fields of knowledge The publication of the book presenting the varied perspective in Jaina philosophy and culture will bring forth the cultural heritage of the Jainas in a nutshell The following running survey will introduce the reader to the general outline of the material presented in this book
In the history of Indian Philosophy, the answer to the question, 'how the world has come to exist ?' has been given either by cvolutionism (Sargavada) or by creationism (Srstivada) The latter accepts substancc-attribute distinction Here the significant contribution of Jainism is to introduce the concept of Paryaya