Understanding and Control of Kashayas

Author(s): Anop Vora
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown

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3. Attachment gives rise to two primary emotions (deception and greed) and 5
Nokashäyäs (laughter, feelings of happiness and 3 emotions related to sexual
passions). 4. Aversion gives rise to the remaining two primary emotions (anger and
arrogance) and 4 Nokashayas (feelings of unhappiness, grief, fear and disgust). 5. Emotions identified above lead to verbal and physical actions involving violence,
lies, stealing, sexual acts, possessions/wealth accumulation. 6. Mental, physical and verbal acts then lead to formation of new karmas leading
to further bondage. 7. The bondage becomes a cause for a new cycle of birth, growth, decay and
death. 8. Thus the cycle of worldly life continues to move indefinitely.
It may be instructive to note the relationship between the toxic emotions and verbal and physical acts of sins (step 5 above). In Jainism, sins such as violence, speaking lies, stealing, sexual lust and mad craze after money are considered to have their roots in Kashäyäs and have proclaimed that there is a strong connection between the two.
One is a cause; the other is an effect. For example: violence does not start in a vacuum. Usually it is preceded by either a trace of anger or ego or greed or a combination thereof. Without violent thoughts, there can be no violent action. Even a giant war starts with a single angry thought on the part of an individual and thenbefore we know it-it catches a wild fire.
The same reasoning applies to other vices. Jainism says that if you control these deadly emotions, the control of physical behavior would follow automatically. This is very profound, as here the Jain philosophy is showing a way to bring about a spiritual transformation at the individual level that in turn leads to a better society.
Contemporary Societal Ills
Wars and terrorism in different parts of the world, financial collapse, and global warming are some of the major ills that have impacted the lives of millions all over the world recently. If we analyze each of them, we can easily trace the root causes back to the use of poisonous emotions. Iraq war probably was based primarily upon arrogance and anger, birth of terrorism on anger, hate, and deception, financial meltdown on arrogance, deception, and greed, and global warming on greed. Even we look back at the past; we will find the same common thread. Unfortunately, the political and business leaders who make decisions base their decisions to satisfy their personal egos without giving a due consideration to the spiritual aspect.
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