The Jain Path In Life
By Mr. Paul Marett
The Religious Life of the Lay Man or Woman : As we have seen earlier, Mahavira started a fourfold organization of monks and nuns, who can follow his teachings to the utmost limit of human capability, and lay men and women who follow them within the limits of their everyday duties. All can achieve moksa but monks and nuns, because they have no attachments, can follow the path of purification more quickly. Persons born in the Jain community have a better chance of learning the right path, but any person following the teachings of Mahavira can be regarded as a true Jain. The aim of the Jain path in life is to liberate the soul and achieve moksa. There are definite rules laid down for lay people and for monks and nuns.
One thing will strike the thinking man or woman who has been brought up in the Jain community, or who looks at Jainism from outside. This is that Right Faith and Right Knowledge must be complemented by Right Conduct. The conduct of the Jain lay person can be seen from different angles. There is, firstly, the outward practice of rituals, festivals fasts, pilgrimages. secondly, there is private behavior, the moral way of life laid down in the five principles of non-violence, of truthfulness, of non-stealing and of restraint in sex and material acquisition. But Jainism is not just outward rituals coupled with a moral way of life. The private behavior of a Jain includes study, reflection and meditation, which bring the outward practices and the moral life into harmony with the truly religious life.
Non-violence or harmlessness is advocated by many religions: in Jainism it is elevated to the highest principle of behavior. How does this work out in practice? A Jain will obviously avoid occupations or sports which involve violence towards living beings, hunting or fishing for example. Sometimes violence is seen as unavoidable: any Jain should try to avoid harming even the tiniest creature but it is realized that the lay person will unavoidably harm minute one-sensed beings at times. It is impossible to live without harming tiny creatures. SimpIe acts like lighting a fire or digging a garden may unavoidably harm or destroy small forms of life. Disinfectants and antibiotics act by destroying the life of minute living creatures: Jains believe that these have living souls just as we have. However Jains are often found in the practice of medicine and even as soldiers. There have been noted Jain generals in Indian history who must have rationalized the destruction of the enemy as an act of unavoidable harm in the defense of their country. Obviously there can be serious tensions and difficulties for the individual Jain in the practice of ahimsa but it must be remembered that violence is a mental act as well as a physical one. Some, at least, of the effect of violence on the person who performs it is removed if the act is done, not savagely, not thoughtlessly, but with a real feeling of sorrow and regret. Some violence in the necessary performance of one's everyday duties has to be allowable for lay men and women (but is totally forbidden for monks and nuns) because it is unavoidable. It must be remembered that violence may not always take a physical form: hurting the feelings of another may be just as much an act of violence as hurting his body.
To the outsider the most obvious mark of the Jain's concern with non-violence is seen in Jain food. Jains believe that living beings may be possessed of one, two, three, four or five senses (human beings have five senses and the special faculty of the human mind). Our human body is necessary to enable us to clear out the karma from the soul, or jiva, by right conduct. To support that body we must take nourishment but we can reduce to a minimum the violence and anguish thus caused to other beings by restricting our diet to the one? sensed forms of life. Thus Jains will avoid all food except that derived from plants (which have only one sense, that of touch). Even then care is taken because plants can be hosts to teeming microscopic life, some more than others. Jains avoid root vegetables which have always been believed to contain many minute beings. Certain Indian fruits of the fig family have also been forbidden from ancient times. The fermentation process engenders, it is believed, tiny forms of life, so alcohol is avoided (as well as for its stupefying properties). Likewise eggs, even if unfertilized, are forbidden. Food is not taken at night when insects and the like may inadvertently be consumed. The basic rules are simple: harm cannot be totally avoided but to minimize it meat, fish, eggs, root vegetables and alcohol are avoided. In spite of these limitations Jain food is wholesome and delicious. Various kinds of beans provide protein, vitamins come from fruit and vegetables, spices add flavor, and dairy products, milk and yogurt, are very acceptable. In proper balance these constitute a healthy diet. The influence of Jainism can be seen in the diet of the Indian people.
Truthfulness is the second of the five 'great vows'. Here we have the avoidance of doing harm to others in a less violent way. Truthfulness does not just mean accuracy, but the avoidance of hurtful or slanderous words of untruth about other people. It means sincerity and honesty in business and public life and in personal relations. Non-stealing is the third virtue. Theft harms the victim: it also harms the thief, for it is bound up with acquisitiveness. Theft is an expression of the desire for material possessions. Theft can take subtle forms, little instances of cheating, tax evasion, unscrupulous business deals and the like. With the emphasis on the virtues of truth and honesty it is not surprising that Jains have often made very successful businessmen.
The last two of the five great vows go quite well together. The Jain seeks to control the desire for the things of this world, for sex or for material possessions. For the layman that does not mean total abstinence from these, but confining them within proper limits. The proper limits exclude extra? marital sex and exclude the flaunting of material possessions beyond the limit necessary for a reasonable standard of living. (It is traditionally advised for a Jain to live on half his income, to save a quarter for old age, sickness etc., and to devote the remaining quarter to charity. )
The Jain path in life involves the cultivation of self? control, the avoidance of passions of desire and hate, an even-minded attitude to hardship and deprivation. The lay man or woman, caught up in the business of family and work, cannot lightly abandon the things of this world but in the early stages of spiritual training he or she will try hard to reduce dependence on them. Following the path of Jainism, he or she will have high ethical standards. This will include living within one's limits, hospitality and consideration towards other, control of the temper and avoiding harsh or slanderous words, appreciating the good points of others. Violence and misdeeds will be the occasion for regret and sorrow. Such a person will cultivate equanimity which will make it possible to cope with the joys and troubles of life.
To help in the observance of the five great vows there are some supplementary rules which a lay person can undertake to observe. They are a form of self-discipline, like not moving outside a determined area for a certain time, either a wide area (like one's own country, or beyond the mountains or river) or a small area (one's village or garden perhaps). In the first case the vow will apply for a lifetime, in the second for a day or so up to a year. Those are the first two supplementary vows. The third involves refraining from acts, thoughts and words which are harmful and purposeless: these can range from idle chatter to obscene speech and will include accumulating unnecessary possessions. Fourthly, the individual can make a vow that he or she will reduce attachment to material things by giving up certain foods or other objects of use for a fixed period. Next comes samayika or meditation. This really means achieving equanimity and it ought to be practiced two or three times a day. Sixthly, certain days of the month should be observed as days of fasting, coupled with other restrictions to bring the lay person's life for those days as near as possible to that of a monk or nun. Lastly comes the vow not to take food oneself on any day until after providing for the needs of a monk or nun or other.
The five vows and the seven supplementary ones form the lay person's basic code of conduct. One final stage remains for the lay person (or indeed for the monk or nun): that is known as sallekhana. When old age and infirmity are advanced and the body can no longer be used for good purposes, the Jain may complete the abandonment of the things of the world by quietly and gradually giving up all food and drink, whilst keeping the mind occupied in meditation and religious activities, until death supervenes. Jains do not like the word 'suicide' for this, for no violence, in action or mind, is involved. It is the highest form of non-violence where violence in action and mind are avoided to the maximum and thus it helps the spiritual advancement of the soul. (A similar practice was followed by the religious sect of Cathars in medieval Europe.) Sallekhana is the ultimate spiritual discipline, followed, of course, by only a few people but regarded as bringing the present life to a meritorious close.
The Higher Stages of the Religious Life : Whilst it is quite possible to lead a religious life as a lay person complete devotion to religion involves giving up completely the concerns of ordinary life. In most religions we find groups of people, usually fairly small in numbers, who leave home and family and occupation to live dedicated lives as monks or nuns. We are told that Mahavira organized the Jain community into four sections, monks or nuns, who can follow his teachings to the fullest extent, as well as lay men and lay women. Monks and nuns make up, of course, only a small part of the Jain community but they are a very important part. For a religion which has no priests, the monks and nuns serve as religious teachers. Most of the great Jain scholars of the past were monks and even today, when there are also considerable scholars amongst the ranks of the Jain laity, many of the important works on Jain religion are written by monks. Monks and nuns set an example of the religious life for lay people: their duty is their own souls' spiritual welfare, and that of others as well. They are greeted and treated with great respect and it is an act of merit for the householder to feed them and otherwise provide for their needs. They possess no property beyond the bare essentials, a couple of pieces of cloth for clothing (monks of the Digambara division of Jainism do not even have these and go completely naked), a bowl, walking stick, a soft brush to remove insects gently, and one or two other objects, together with books and writing materials. Their daily needs are supplied by the faithful.
Although it is permitted that a boy who shows exceptional promise for the religious life may become a monk as early as the age of eight, most people will be adults, or at least in their teens, when they do so. Indeed it is quite common for middle-aged people to enter the mendicant life. The prospective mendicant must be free from physical infirmities and moral shortcomings and will seek the permission of parents or guardian. The candidate will seek out a guide and teacher (guru) in the order who will make sure that this person is suitable in every way and who will remain his mentor throughout life. The diksa or initiation ritual will be the occasion for great ceremony, when the candidate renounces his worldly possessions and receives the essential items for his new life. His hair is plucked out in imitation of the act of Mahavira when he renounced worldly things. Now the initiate receives a new name to show that he has completely left his home and family and all his earlier life. Family life, business, politics, are no concern of the Jain monk or nun. For the first year or two the novice will receive training in the rules and practices of monastic life before being confirmed in his or her vocation.
The sadhu or sadhvi is bound to keep the five great moral precepts in their fullest rigor. Non-violence involves for the mendicant the most meticulous care to avoid harm to even minute creatures which have only one sense, the sense of touch. (It is recognized that a layman cannot always avoid harm to these.) This can involve softly sweeping the ground if necessary to clear living creatures, carefully removing insects, and sometimes using a cloth over the mouth to avoid harm to the most subtle beings of the air. The vows of truthfulness and non-stealing are interpreted in the strictest manner: the mendicant may not take even the most trivial object without its owner's permission. Sexual restraint is total, non-acquisitiveness means the virtually complete abandonment of material possessions.
The person who has adopted the mendicant life should cultivate ten qualities. First comes forgiveness of those who have done harm and avoidance of anger. Then there are modesty (not least the avoidance of pride in one's spiritual achievements), avoidance of deceit or concealing one's faults, contentment and the avoidance of greed, teaching others the high ideals of the scriptures, watchfulness to avoid harm to living beings, undertaking austerities without hope of material reward, avoidance of tasty food and comfortable lodging, complete renunciation of the desire for possessions, and lastly careful restriction on association with members of the opposite sex. Self-control, and vigilance in every daily action to avoid harm, are the two chief virtues.
The daily life of the sadhu or sadhvi is ordered and regulated. The monk rises from his simple bed hours before dawn. He says the Panca Namaskara, the fivefold formula of obeisance to the superior beings. He greets his teacher respectfully. A period of meditation follows, after which he recites the rituals of penance or confession (Pratikramana) for any violence or misdeeds he may have committed. He checks his clothing carefully and removes any small creatures which might get harmed (and he will do this at least twice a day). By this time the sun will have risen and he can spend a couple of hours in studying the scriptures (for a monk does not use artificial light). The teachers will give sermons for both monks and laity. Then he will go to the temple to worship the Tirthankara. Detailed rules regulate the way in which monks and nuns may seek their food: they should go each day to different houses and will accept only food which is willingly given and not specially prepared for them and, of course, which is acceptable in terms of the Jain monastic vows. On returning from the trip to seek food the monk will present the food before his teacher and will share it with other monks who, from sickness or other cause, cannot themselves seek food, before he takes any food himself The afternoon and evening are devoted to further study and meditation as well as the small tasks like writing letters which even a mendicant will have to do. There will be a second trip to seek food in the late afternoon so that the meal may be eaten before nightfall. The day ends with a further visit to the temple, a further ritual of contrition, and the monk goes to bed after vowing forgiveness to those who have harmed him and seeking forgiveness from all. The life of a sadhu or sadhvi (nuns follow the same routine) is hard but they learn to overcome hardships and face them resolutely and with detachment.
The spiritual life of the Jain has been likened to a ladder. There are fourteen 'rungs' or stages (gunasthana) on the ladder. These have been described in great detail in the scriptures. To start with the individual has not even begun the ascent and has totally wrong attitudes. If the individual can get rid of delusions then the soul succeeds in going straight to the fourth rung of the ladder but the position is still precarious and it is possible to slip back onto two different levels of wavering states and even right back to the beginning. But if the individual can control passions desires, hatred to a reasonable extent (not retaining them beyond the annual self?examination in the Paryusana season of the Jain year) the ascent is begun. He or she will now feel a tranquillity of spirit, will have the ability to discriminate between right and wrong, will want to avoid purely material pleasures, will be kindhearted to others and will have a clear vision of truth. Such attitudes will naturally lead on to undertaking to obey the five great moral precepts, and this will be the next rung on the ladder. We saw in the previous chapter how the lay person reduces his or her attachment to the things of the world and develops attachment to religion. That process happens at this stage or rung on the spiritual.
The sixth rung on the ladder marks a great decision for now the individual has progressed so far that he or she is intent on renouncing the world and adopting the life of a monk or nun. Henceforth life is totally directed towards spiritual progress. The great vows are followed in their entirety and the individual reaches the stage of eliminating all the stronger passions. Daily self-examination and sorrow for offenses committed knowingly or unknowingly is now obligatory and the individual who succeeds in the discipline of the sixth stage rises further to the next rung. Passions are virtually subdued but alertness is still needed to prevent slipping back. The aspirant climbs three more rungs, at each stage gaining more complete control over himself. The eleventh rung is unsafe: even now, nearing the top of the ladder the individual soul can drop back, desires and hatred can arise again and the slow climb must be restarted. Some individuals, very few at any time, reach the twelfth stage. Delusions and desires have been eliminated and the way is clear to the thirteenth rung when the soul achieves complete enlightenment, total knowledge. The fourteenth rung detains only momentarily the enlightened soul which passes quickly over it to achieve moksa or total liberation.
This is a long process. Every individual soul passes through countless lives. Sometimes progress is made, sometimes not. The mendicant who sets himself or herself resolutely towards spiritual development still has a long way to go. Even when self-control is almost achieved and delusive views of the nature of life and the universe have disappeared for the few who reach the stage described as the tenth rung on the ladder, the completion of what can be described as the constructive stages of the mystical life, even then the old suppressed passions can re-emerge and the final goal recedes as the soul drops back into old habits, old feelings, old delusions.
Throughout the development of the spiritual life the individual will have before his or her eyes the example of the Tirthankara. According to Jain tradition, in each of the great cycles of time, lasting countless thousands of years, some people gain total enlightenment. Of these, twenty-four in each half-cycle are known as Tirthankara. They are the ones who, having achieved total knowledge themselves, pass on knowledge in teaching the people, before they leave the world and attain the ultimate state of moksa. Mahavira was, of course, the twenty-fourth Tirthankara in the current half? cycle of time. At all stages of the religious life the Tirthankara are seen as a help to the aspiring soul, they are the nearest thing Jainism has to a god, in fact they are sometimes even called 'god'. In a Jain temple the image of the Tirthankara is worshipped and treated with great devotion and respect. But the individual must understand that the Tirthankara is to be taken as a supreme example of spiritual struggle and success, not as the donor of favors or the author of fortune or misfortune. The individual must work out salvation for himself but it is a great help and very meritorious to meditate on the example of the Tirthankara (whether in the presence of an image or without that material figure before the eyes), to take the Tirthankara as an ideal and to resolve to follow the path the Tirthankara has shown.
---------------------------------------------
Article Courtesy : Mr. Pravin K. Shah
Chairperson Jaina Education Committee
Federation of Jain Associations in North America
509, Carriage Woods Circle Raleigh, NC 27607-3969, USA
E-Mail : pkshah1@attglobal.net
-----------------------------------------------------
Mail to : Ahimsa Foundation
www.jainsamaj.org
R211102
