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EXTREME ABSORPTION OF KARMONS
his enemy and for (f) the individual ponders on how he can help a friend (with an alcohol problem) with equanimity.
6.3 VOLITIONAL ASPECT OF VIOLENCE
As we have mentioned, thoughts as well as deeds, play an important role in forming heavy and light karmic matter. Thus one should exclude any deed involving "premeditated violence". However, such deeds should be contrasted with those which constitute "accidental/ occupational violence". Thus the number of karmons assimilated by a surgeon even on the death of his patient under an intricate operation, is much less than that of a murderer. Further, the surgeon accumulates only light karmic matter (unless he is incompetent), whereas the murderer always accumulates the heaviest karmic matter3. An arable farmer kills insects accidentally in the course of his profession but he accrues mildly heavy karmic matter. Nevertheless, the use of insecticides and pesticides constitutes premeditated destruction of life. In general, the concept of non-violence restricts occupations to those which do not involve premeditated destruction of life above 10-2 life units. Killing, even when done in the most extreme situation of self-defence-"defensiveviolence”, accrues heavier karmic matter.
For most individuals such drastic behaviour is rarely needed. However, the aim is to desist from performing or encouraging others in the premeditated or intentional destruction of souls embodied with two or more senses.
6.4 THE JAIN UNIVERSAL TEMPORAL CYCLES
Jains believe that the universe is finite and it contains various worlds supporting life, including human life. Each of these inhabited worlds goes through an endless series of cycles, half-progressive and half-regressive. However, their phases are different so that at every moment there is a living Tirthankara somewhere. These half-cycles are divided into six time-sections. We write m for misery and h for happiness. For the regressive half cycle the successive time sections are: (1) extremely happy, say hhh (2) happy, hh (3) more happy than unhappy, hhm (4) more unhappy than happy, hmm (5) unhappy, mm (6) extremely unhappy, mmm.
