5.4. Metaphysics, Ethics, Cause and Effect

‘At the point when the modern reader peruses a book about Jaina acara (morals), he is probably going to be baffled by the ordinary blend of moral philosophy and metaphysics. Be that as it may, this is just normal in Jaina thought, since ethical quality, brain science, great wellbeing, metaphysics and numerous different issues are largely parts of human life and subsequently are interlinked.’^[1]

When one starts to find meaning in each happening of one’s life; one tries to join the dots, amalgamating each arena, one becomes a metaphysicist and in this subject everything matters, be it one’s actions, reactions, thoughts, eating habits or relationships. Jain philosophy provides everything with such minute detail that the student’s mind may get boggled, this is the reason it is the philosophy understood by very few.

When one contemplates about cause and effect, questions like these may bother one: ‘why am I here at this particular moment?’ ‘What is the purpose of life?’ ‘Why it had happened to me only?’ and so on. At this time the karma theory comes into picture, to provide satisfactory answers to one’s queries.

The concept of rebirth is also one answer where one understands that whatever is happening with one is none other than the fruits of the tree one has sown in the past, whether this life or a previous one.

‘This faith in rebirth or metempsychosis when in doubt is joined with the acknowledgment of the precept of karma, which is basically an augmentation of the principle of cause and effect into the metaphysical domain.’^[2]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Dr. Zydenbos Robert. Jainism Today & Its Future (JTIF). (PDF of the original book) Munich, Manya Verlag, 2006 pp. 21

[2]:

JTIF. pp. 56