________________ 200 : Sramana, Vol 57, No. 3-4/July-December 2006 The Sila purifies whatever proceeds from three doorways of the body, the speech, and the mind. No one is able to tell how great is the reward of Sila. The perfume of the flower spreads only in the direction of the wind, but the greatness of him who possesses Sila spreads on all sides without exception. It is as a ladder by which to ascend to the-deva loka; like a gateway that enters upon nirvana. 'Buddha's ethical middle path' is like the 'golden mean' of Aristotle. The Buddhist ethical code springs from Karuna (compassion). The Buddhist doctrine of Karuna calls for a trans-valuation of values through a paradigm shift based on enlightened view of reality of life. It calls for a global ethics of obligations, and not of fights, of responsibility and not of capriciousness of care and concern and cosmic fraternity. The following verse quoted by Suzuki (p. 53, non-awakening Faith is highly pertinent in this context; "Arouse they will, supreme and great, Practice love and sympathy, give joy and protection, Thy love like unto space, Be it without discrimination, without limitation. Merits establish, not for their own sake, But for charity universal, Save and deliver all beings, Let them attain the wisdom of the great way." It touches each and every form of existence. Every existence has intrinsic worth and it must be given due respect. So here this should be the implication of the Buddha's saying, "Bahujana hitaya bahujana Sukhaya". This realization requires propagation and practice of global ethics. The ideal of globalization should not be confined to material sphere in terms of liberalization of trade and commerce. It has to be given a spiritual orientation. Ethics also has to be spiritualistic aiming at universal well-being based on the enlightened principle of selfsameness of all existence. All life is sacred, meaningful and valuable. In contemporary times the Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
