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Jainismi A Personat View
By Vinodbhai Kapashi
was giving the finishing touches to my book on the Jain idea of forgiveness, when my daughter got hold
of the script, and started reading it. She knew that I had gone through several original hymns and translated them into English. She liked the writing and layout but she obviously had a few comments to make. Instead of talking at any great length she merely said to me: "But the book should be user-friendly". Those who use computers are familiar with the term. This phrase is used to describe a computer that the user finds enjoyable to work with, easy to use and from which they derive benefit. My daughter had said so much in so few words. I was beginning to think on a completely different line. ls Jainism, I asked, a "user-friendly" religion?
religion. Mahatma Gandhi learned and accepted the idea of Ahimsa into his own lifestyle. He was a rare and unique man who chose to practice non-violence both in politics and in everyday life. Gandhi always said that injustice, inequality and the careless use of resources are different forms of violence. Individuals he claimed, should act with due regard for and with responsibility towards their surroundings. This in Gandhi's view was the real truth. It is more than 2500 years since Lord Mahavir attained Moksha, but his message still holds good. The light he has shown still shines through the dark clouds of despair and hopelessness.
"Is any religion a user-friendly
religion?”
There are only 10 million jains in the whole world. Around 35,000 Jains live in the USA and Canada and around 30,000 Jains are now living in Britain. Though they are small in numbers, they have an 'advanced' philosophy. The immense literature of the Jain religion talks of almost any conceivable subject. There are books on Jain cosmology (which even deals with such subject matters as black holes). Jain logic, Jain mathematics, Jain botany and Jain dictionaries. Virtually hundreds of ancient books on codes of conduct are also to be found. The theory of Karma is explained with the help of atomic movements consisting of logarithm and algebraic functions. There is literally a wealth of knowledge for western scholars to explore.
Is any religion a user-friendly religion? In this modern day and age, it is fashionable not to believe in any established religion. This is perhaps the modern trend. People give different reasons for pursuing all kinds of different activities, often denying that religion plays an important part in their lives. For example, some people practice "Yoga" but will not admit as much, preferring to give a different name, even claiming that they have invented certain postures and breathing practices. But those who know Yoga, know well that these people are merely presenting us with old wine in a new bottle, furnished with a fancy new label.
"Why haven't many people heard of the
Jain religion?”
So when I talk about religion in general and Jainism in particular, I always think that religion should move with the age and the times. A religion like Jainism has much to offer. It is this religion that told us that even small plants have life and feel pain when cut. (Acharanga Sutra 175/44). This religion gave us a cardinal principle of Ahimsa (nonviolence). It categorically said that all living beings want to live and that it is our duty to help them to live. Whilst saying this Jainism has mentioned 8.4 million types of living beings - vegetables, birds, animals and human beings included.
The question remains, however, as to why this religion lost support over the years? Why haven't many people heard of the Jain religion? Providing an answer here is a difficult task. Maybe it grew too complicated. People were not ready to talk about the environment and saving rain forests 2000 years ago. Though Jain monks have always insisted on 'doing as much as you can', people felt that the Jain idea of Ahimsa was too difficult to practice and it contributed in the decline of the Jain faith.
This message of Ahimsa that was explained and preached by Lord Mahavir (599 BC - 527 BC) is a message for humankind. Lord Mahavir, who was a contemporary of Buddha, became the 24th Tirthankar and was the propagator of this religion. He explained Ahimsa in very minute terms. Violence, he said, is not just killing - violence is committed by careless behaviour. You cannot only harm plants, animals and humankind by your actions; you can damage the earth, surroundings and the environment in your ruthless pursuit of greedy motives. You can break the principle of Ahimsa even by proclaiming that your faith alone is the right and just faith. It is hard to find a definition of Ahimsa so all encompassing as that found within the Jain
The Jain concept of Anekantvada (many sided approach, relativity) - the idea that one should be extremely tolerant of everyone's point of view has also led to a certain decline of the faith. Jainism also lost ground to Hinduism where pomp and ceremony in religious practices attracted many common people for whom the theory of relativity or complex Karma theory was too difficult to grasp. The foreign invasion of India in the medieval period also led to a drastic decline in the number of Jain followers. What remains for a Jain like myself is the heritage of systematic books of knowledge to guide oneself. What remains for millions of others are more than 10,000 Jain temples symbolising Jain architecture and faith in the divine. What remains in the state of Gujarat in India, is the overwhelming practice of vegetarianism, which is a direct influence of Jainism itself. And what remains for animals in India are hundreds of animal-sanctuaries where sick and
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