YJA Convention 1994 07 Chicago IL First

Author(s): Young Jains of America (YJA)
Publisher: Young Jains of America YJA USA

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is a vast subject and a complete system of thought, having its theories on each subject of discourse, be it metaphysics, ontology, theology, cosmology, epistemology, psychology, logic or dialectics, spiritualism or mysticism, worship or ritual, ethics and morality, sociology or polity, and so on. As professor Harisatya Bhattacharya remarks, "about each of the various problems of Indian philosophy, nay, about some of those of the present day speculative systems, Jainism has a definite theory of its own." It is not only a perfect, but also a live philosophy, an ethical system par excellence, of which the entire force is directed towards evolving a God out of man.
world the sublime doctrine of ahimsa. No other religion has emphasized the importance of Ahimsa and carried its practice to the extent that Jainism has done." Professor A. L. Basham also says, "Of all the religious groups of India, Jainism has always been the most fervent supporter of non-violence (Ahimsa), and undoubtedly the influence of Jainism in the spread of that doctrine throughout India has been considerable." To quote yet another scholar, Mrs. Elizabeth Sharpe, "The Jain philosophy is almost perfect. It is a live philosophy, ennobling and reassuring. It puts a supreme and beautiful value on life, believing that when its fragments are disintegrated to a point of almost nothingness, there is a danger of that small evolution losing to itself. This philosophy gives a sanctity to life and its preservation. This sanctity of life, it insists, is the highest religion of the only evolution. This philosophy is optimistic; for it believes, too, that in the end, right, that is life, soul, spirit, must triumph over matter; for once consciousness is restored to life in the form of 'right knowledge', matter has no longer any power over the soul." It is no doubt true that no other philosophy ever tried to carry the antithesis between spirit and matter so much to its logical conclusion as the Jain. It, and therefore its followers, the Jains, consistently upheld the superiority of the soul over the body, and sacrificed the latter at the altar of the former. In this conception lies the secret of the success which Jainism has achieved in molding the lives of countless people to a higher plane of mental discipline, purity of thought, and spiritual evolution. It is a way of life which is fully capable of raising an ordinary individual to the highest height of spiritual realization as preached by and embodied in the lives of the Tirthankars like Rishabha, Aristanemi, Parshva and Mahavira. It is a system which offers much that is permanent and eternal, and has stood the test of time; it has helped and can still help humanity to regain its inner balance, which is the crying need of the present age. There is without doubt great ethical value in Jainism for man's improvement
Every human being, nay very living being, is a soul, though an embodied and mundane one, hence an imperfect one, but which is, in its essence, pure, immortal, eternal and blissful. Every man and woman and child, however strong or weak, high or low, without respect of race, caste or birth, has that divine spark, the infinite, omnipotent and omniscient soul in him or her, which is waiting only to be realized. One has but to arise, awake and free himself from the hypnotism of weakness, from ignorance and delusion, assert oneself and proclaim the God within him. He has to realize that he is not matter, is not a body, but a free spirit which is not the slave of matter, rather it can make matter its most obedient servant. With this realization of the self, of its infinite possibility and capacity to become great and good, the aspirant launches on a course of selfdiscipline and self-purification. His sincere efforts at once begin to bear fruit and ultimately enable him to attain liberation which means freedom-absolute freedom from the bondage of good as well as from the bondage of evil, because a golden chain is as much a chain as an iron one. The acme or pinnacle of spiritual glory consists in perfect vitargata, absolute purity from all emotions, passions, and distinctions of merit and demerit, good and evil. And the Path, practiced and preached by the Tirthankars, who themselves thereby attained that goal, is sure to lead others there.
To a student of philosophy, the Jain philosophy
Obviously, imperfection, which means the
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