1. Ethics in Jainism

An ethic is the intrinsic choice of the consciousness, between (universal) right and wrong. Of which it naturally chooses the universal right while in its pure or less infected state.

The definition of ethics is–‘moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.’^[1] The principles that start from within and take the human to the pinnacle of ethical behaviour. In Jain philosophy like everything else (like substance, karma etc.) ethics have also been described minutely, to the core. Here each thought that gets originated in one’s mind, each word one utters and each action one performs has to be checked in order to avoid violence of any kind, to any one and to be in harmony with the nature, with the universe. For a saint these practices are the toughest and hence are called mahavrata (great vows) whereas for a layman they are comparatively easier and are called anuvrata (minor vows).

Depicting the control of an ascetics’ mind, Acharya Umasvati writes in Tattvartha Sutra:

Vań-manogupti-rya-dananikepanasamity-alokitapanabhojanani panca
  —(Tattvarthasutra 7.4)

‘Controlling speech, controlling the mind, moving about carefully, handling implements carefully, inspecting food and drink properly to ensure they are acceptable.’^[2]

These actions strengthen the vow of nonviolence.

The uniqueness of Jain philosophy is that here even the emotions are considered as inner possessions.

There are fourteen inner possessions namely–

1. mithyatva (falsity),
2. krodha (anger),
3. mana (pride),
4. maya (delusion),
5. lobha (greed),
6. hasya (laughter),
7. rati (copulation),
8. arati (abstinence),
9. shoka (mourning),
10. bhaya (fear),
11. jugupsa (hatred),
12. striveda (female gender),
13. purushaveda (male gender), and
14. napunsaka veda (neuter gender).

And hence controlling them is an innate part of ethics because uncontrolled emotions lead to uncontrolled violence. Untamed inner possessions lead to unbounded material possessions.

‘Like many other matters in Jainism, ethics is first and foremost a matter of personal responsibility.’^[3] Where one is answerable to none other than the self. Even one’s family, society and nation comes afterwards respectively.

‘A strong sense of individual responsibility that forces everyone to consciously think over one’s actions and attitudes also protects every person against the daily bombardment with disinformation and bewildering propaganda of various kinds by the modern media, which is beneficial for a healthy, democratic and peaceful society.’^[4] Especially in today’s world when one is under constant influence in context of even one’s diet, Jain ethics continuously motivate one to have one’s own thoughts and choices in each matter.

The purpose of being mindful, all the time, is simply to improvise the self and to accept others as they are.

‘If you learn to love everything, the humblest, the least, the meanest, then the meanest in you will be loved.’^[5]

At the same time to keep introspecting within to eliminate one’s own imperfections.

Wonderfully one’s desire of being ethical is not and can never be, a forced phenomenon but one’s own, innate desire to return to one’s true nature that is happiness.

‘Happiness is self-contained and self-sufficient. Happy men are free men.’^[6]

Indeed happiness is freedom.

In his book Messages From The Masters, Dr. Brian Weiss calls devas (celestial beings) as masters. He writes—

‘The messages from the Masters remind us to allow our minds to return to what is important—-love, peace, eternal life, spiritual thoughts and practices—and to put aside what is unimportant—material things, pride and ego, violence, fear, worry, and hatred.’^[7]

Ethics help us tremendously in returning to our true nature.

Often in our routine life, we tend to judge our closest of relationships, we are not aware if this judgment does any harm to others but it surely harms us.

‘When you look at another person, in relationships, in life, see their soul through lifetimes and eons of time. Not just the transitory physical being across from you. You, too, are such a soul.’^[8]

Only if we learn to look into others’ eyes and could understand that this journey belongs to infinity and we are here only to clear some previous accounts, wouldn’t we be at peace? Again we may suspect if this phenomenon of infinite journey is true or not but we can admit that philosophical studies and contemplation about ethics, help us attain peace and balance.

Without a doubt non-violence is a universal law.

‘Ahimsa means noninterference with the natural balance and allowing every aspect of life and nature its own place and dignity.’^[9]

A dream world where each being is respecting the other being by letting it be for whatever it is, not for what one can make it into. Without any selfish desire or expectation… This will be the world of ahimsa (non-violence).

In the quest of fulfilling his blind, self-oriented desires man, today, has become a monster. He creates a planet, where only he exists, and only his command is applied. No other being has even the basic right of life if man does not want it to. Whereas ‘the Earth and the universe were, according to the early Jain sages, teeming with life. Even life forms invisible to the naked eye can be highly complex systems that play an unseen but critical role in sustaining life in its entirety. No life form is insignificant, indeed all lives are critically important.’^[10] Even unicellular bacteria have the ability to help humans to sustain their health. As a matter of fact they, too, have a significant role in the cosmos.

‘The decisive role of tiny organisms such as plankton in the Earth’s climatic stability is recognized by oceanographers and climatologists and with it the campaign for ocean conservation gathers momentum. For a Jain ascetic, this would be no surprise, but an expression of the obvious.’^[11]

For it is a part of ethics to respect each being irrespective of its size and one’s own unawareness about the same.

‘Jain culture discourages judgment of others and encourages self-criticism.’^[12]

Though the beauty of this statement has lost today but this is the most wonderful aspect of Jain philosophy that one cannot raise a finger towards anyone other than the self and this self-introspection has the ability to take one towards salvation.

In his book Life Force, The world of Jainism, Michael Tobias says,

‘Jains recognize their responsibilities are to oneself. You cannot save the world, but you can cultivate your own garden, which the Jains know to be the soul. And there is the indelible twist; one soul is equal to all souls.’^[13]

There is never, can never be, the question of superiority of one over the other, at least in terms of their right to live. The difference lies not in souls but the layers of karmic matter attached to them.

It may sound an imaginary state of perfection but for Jains it is an inbred thought they grow up with.

‘We will not abide the single instance of cruelty. We cannot vouchsafe the lunacy, under any name, or any guise, which hails the abuse of this earth and all her goodness; this life force within us; this frenzy to be born, and re-born; to live and to die; to love and to understand. Short of these freedoms, our life is nothing. Without extending that hand of freedom to every other organism, there is no solace, can be no moment’s respite.’^[14]

If I have the right to live so does every other being; as simple as that.

‘As a species capable of profound introspection, we should have outgrown the carnivore mentality. If we do not, then we will merely continue through the ages to wallow in our own blood or we will die out altogether. Some would say the sooner the better.’^[15]

Leave the other ethical values, considering only the scenario of immensely increasing non-vegetarianism today, we can see in which direction we are heading.

No doubt humans are smart enough to prove themselves right whenever it comes to their own selfish greed. Getting nutrition through animal protein is one such example.

We give excuse that it is essential for good health and to lead a fulfilling life.

‘Contrary to evolutionary expectation, the elephant, the gorilla, the rhino, the hippo, the megamouth shark (the largest shark in the world) are all vegetarians, in spite of their size and the human presumption that the mighty need meat. The brontosaurus-the biggest, the mightiest animal ever lived, and it lived for tens-of-millions of years—was a vegetarian.’^[16]

Isn’t it surprising.

Michael Tobias beautifully mentioned about how Jaina people deal with ‘few minutes’ of craving, while the others plainly let go of themselves and eat whatever they want, absolutely ignoring what their conscience is saying. He writes,

Tthose ‘few minutes’ of psychological impasse, passion, disinterest, oblivion, appetite, are the same few moments that it takes to vent rage, to murder someone, to inflict every pain known to the human arsenal. Those few moments—repeated in so many variations—caused World War 1—with its twenty million dead, fifty million injured; and nearly every other violent tantrum and disorder known to the brain. To temper that killer in man, and the subsequent killing fields, is to grope with those few moments where conflict begins.’^[17]

Indeed it takes only a few minutes of degraded passion to misuse one’s power to destroy the world and at the more powerful position one is, the more possibilities are there of misusing the power.

Touching the softness of human achievements Michael says,

‘Our art is flourishing, not because we have killed, but because we have loved.’^[18]

Thankfully art is there to save us or at least to lengthen mankind’s overall destruction. ‘Imagination realigns the soul, steering it clear of the habitual madness that is the mundane, opening up vistas we had forgotten, or ignored, prompting feelings long suppressed, reinstating that dignity which is our true birth right.’^[19] In the process of creation an artist travels the innermost, the unconditional, the benevolent realms of the consciousness, that helps him in expression along with showing way to the admirers of his work.

The kind of scepticism spread today in the world towards nonviolence, Michael seems afflicted when he writes,

‘according to the most lucid of defence prosecutors, god must surely be dead.’^[20]

Observing today’s religious scenario where the misuse of the name of God is breaking havoc worldwide.

‘Jainism is the only religion that has no god, and yet is not atheistic. The Jains have replaced the notion of god, with “the own nature of things” (vastu-sva-bhava-dharma). Jainism’s accessible genius is the total embrace of the earth. One truth being equal to all truths, one organism being equal to all organisms, one square inch of land equal to all land, and all pain requiring serious consideration, any aspect of Jainism thereby reflects the whole.’^[21]

If only even Jains realise the beauty of this amazing philosophy, they will surely be able to make it reach to every human on the planet.

‘There is incredible appeal in re-calling ourselves, the interest of an old photo from youth. We contact the face, the unwrinkled skin, the more pleasant hair; the eyes were crisp, no dark circles; the grin appeared as though it knew no past, was set up to grin timidly, mumble warily. The majority of our consequent encounters -the delights, the distresses -are in a flash compacted into the impression in reverse. Our internal nature calls to us like a photo from the bliss of our dawn. We don't simply convey the photo in our wallet. We anchor it in our reality.’^[22]

When we were unspoilt by the conditioning of the society, our thoughts were untouched and hence belonged to us, though we were unaware of ethics still we used to be ethical in our choices as our hearts used to be clean; for we were we.

‘What has stood out in Jainism for me is: its penetrating insights, phenomenal integrity, and childlike idealism—unblushing, naked, powerful and enduring. It’s idealism is like a telegram from the earth itself.’^[23]

A world where every human is filled with exaltation and has no fear in keeping his head high for he lives with his own unbiased, honest ideas.

When we talk about ethics the first and foremost thought that raises its head in our minds is the way non-vegetarianism is increasing throughout the world. We forget that there are other ethical choices to be made like–work ethics, moral values, and honesty.

‘The Jains expect much more from human beings than convenient easy slaughter.’^[24]

How easy it is to flow with the flow, when everyone is killing his conscience quite easily that he is not even respecting the simple right to live of the being he is eating. Where every benefit, every act is in the selfish favour of the most developed species on the planet, Jainism tells us to be self-interrogatory. It simply conveys ‘think before each of your act.’

In a world where humans are thirsty for humans’ blood.

‘The Jains say that no individual should interfere in another’s life; that absolute non-interference is the beginning of compassion.’^[25]

Just as I have the right to love my life, you have it to love yours.

Though one cannot do anything about the cruelty going on, incessantly, in the world, however one can save a life around one’s surroundings.

‘I am aware of no more noteworthy alleviation -call it delight, fleeting salvation, the holding disclosure of weakness surrounding us, with no one in charge; no better moderation than the salvage of another being, the effort of the megatonnage in our conscience. Simply toward the beginning of today, I culled a mosquito from a bowl of our parrot Stanley's drinking water. The mosquito had been there quite a while, maybe throughout the night. I thought she was dead. Gently I evacuated her to at the tip of my finger, whence all of a sudden her carefully painted body started to shudder, her wings bungled, her head gazed upward. On the off chance that I'd had the correct chronicle gear, I may have heard her heart siphoning angrily, her lungs wheezing, that still little voice shouting out. I set this young lady of a mosquito downward on a leaf.’^[26]

The above example tells us ethics cannot be imposed on one, but they are one’s innate feelings that are compassionate towards all.

‘Picasso had stated in the late 1940s, ‘Art is the sum total of destruction.’^[27]

Only if there would have been no violence, there would have been art pervaded; the healthier and constructive way out to let go of one’s negative emotions.

Once Professor Padmanabh S. Jaini of the University of California-Berkeley, spoke to Michael Tobias informally of ahimsa:

‘As somebody who was raised as a Jain, I may state that what inspires me most about this religion is its genuine regard for all types of life. The Jains trust that every single individual, anyway little, is equipped for accomplishing salvation and must be permitted to do in its own way and must not be meddled with by our thoughtless conduct. Furthermore, that is for him the genuine substance of ahimsa: not to hurt oneself, and not to hurt some other creatures.’^[28]

No criticism, no judgment towards any being but only acceptance, the way one is.

Michael shares one of his experiences in India, about the Jains,

‘At an Arab creature showcase in Ahmedabad, I looked as rupees irately traded hands, shippers shouting at each other over the frantic bleating of the chiliad of sheep which had been corralled, trapped in wire, sold, tossed into trucks, and driven off to butcher houses. Two hundred and fifty creatures were hurled into every vehicle, similar to gear. The temperature was more than one hundred degrees. The creatures had no water, and could never drink again. Stuffed like sardines, they would be driven in somewhere in the range of many miles to have their heads cleaved off, their meat separated. Jains will regular such markets, which are dispersed all over India--everywhere throughout the world--to spare the creatures, paying about any cost. The creatures are then treated like vagrants, dispatched to different panjorapors, and raised in solace. This also is the place Jainism starts. It is the one type of obstruction inalienable to Jain morals.’^[29]

One may wonder over these heights of compassion. Wouldn’t our planet be heaven like if this kind of stream would start to flow through each heart!

‘Kharavela was both a Jain ruler, and a military victor. In any case, it is critical that there is no notice of his at any point murdered an adversary. The winner utilized considerate methods, evidently, to compel the desire of his rivals and inevitably given the majority of his opportunity to Jain priests. Kharavela hence develops as a model for peaceful military activity. Sadly, there is a deficiency of documentation to light up his specific technique for arrangement, or peaceful influence.’^[30]

This is indeed sad that the rare examples of real bravery of a nonviolent king, has been erased from the history. What we have today is a prominent history of violence and hatred.

krodha-lobha-bhirutva-hasyapratyakhyanany-anuvicibhasanam ca panca
  —(Tattvartha Sutra 7.5)

‘Giving up anger, greed, fear and jokes, and resorting to thoughtful speech. These five supporting practices stabilize the vow of truthfulness.’^[31]

One may find Jain philosophy mere a philosophy of self-introspection, where there is no finger raising towards any other but within. There is no god, but within. No improvement of others but of the self. For anger does much harm to that who holds it, and so does greed. Becoming fearless requires clearer conscience and thoughtful speech supports compassion.

We all praise the persona of honorary Mahatma Gandhi for his non-violent ways in dealing with even the most significant political decisions in his life. World’s great personalities like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, and George Bernard Shaw^[32] were highly influenced by Gandhi’s believe in nonviolence and always used it for sustaining peace.

But rarely people know about the root of Gandhi’s faith in non-violence.

‘Gandhi wasn't really a Jain. Rather, he was raised under the tutelage of a Jain instructor from the age of seven. His dearest companion, the Jain layman Raychandbhai Mehta, practiced a tremendous effect on Gandhi. At a community house in Ahmedabad, Gandhi lived and worked somewhere in the range of 1917 and 1933, and there received ahimsa as his actual religion, alongside a large group of going with pledges, the act of turning, of modesty, small belongings, dietary limitations, and a flat out emphasis on truth in all dealings. These were all Jain ideas profoundly. Gandhi was to indicate how ahimsa could take a shot at the dimension of a whole country in the twentieth century.’^[33]

The way nations are working towards making themselves equipped with atomicweapons, every person on the planet, who has faith in non-violence, knows that non-violence is the only solution.

‘A huge number of Hindus and Muslims slaughtered each other after India's partition, however Gandhi was consistent with his Jain convictions, even up to the exact second of his death. He composed, 'Our non-violence is as yet a mixed affair. It limps. Nevertheless, it is the only way.’^[34]

For the feeling of revenge can never be the quest of the true nature of the consciousness.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

www.google.com (Retrieved on 04/03/2018 @ 12 PM)

[2]:

Tatia Nathmal (Translator). That Which Is (TWI). English Translation of Tattvarthadhigamasutra of Umasvati). Yale University Press. New Haven &London. First Edition: 2011. pp. 170

[3]:

JTIF. pp. 58

[4]:

JTIF. pp. 58

[5]:

Rand Ayn. The Fountainhead (TF). New American Library, A Division of Penguin Group, USA. 1952. pp. 293

[6]:

TF. pp. 636

[7]:

Dr. Weiss Brian. Messages from The Masters (MFTM). UK. CPI Mackays, Chatham, 2000. pp. 10

[8]:

MFTM. pp. 40

[9]:

L.J. pp. 2

[10]:

L.J. pp. 9

[11]:

L.J. pp. 16

[12]:

L.J. pp. 16

[13]:

LF. pp. 7

[14]:

LF. pp. 7

[15]:

LF. pp. 11

[16]:

LF. pp. 12

[17]:

LF. pp. 13

[18]:

LF. pp. 14

[19]:

LF. pp. 15

[20]:

LF. pp. 15

[21]:

LF. pp. 15² LF. pp. 16

[22]:

LF. pp. 36

[23]:

LF. pp. 17

[24]:

LF. pp. 17

[25]:

LF. pp. 36

[26]:

LF. pp. 46

[27]:

LF. pp. 50

[28]:

LF. pp. 57, 58

[29]:

LF. pp. 97

[30]:

LF. pp. 100

[31]:

TWI. pp. 170

[32]:

https://www.thebetterindia.com/35422/20-greatest-world-leaders-and-thinkers-who-wereinspired-by-mahatma-gandhi/ (Retrieved on 08/03/2018 @ 9 AM)

[33]:

LF. pp. 102

[34]:

LF. pp. 103