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28: Applied Philosophy of Jainism
cumstance, etc. Here, we will have to assess the life-value of the creatures at stake.
The life-value of any creature depends on two considerations, namely1. the sensory and spiritual development of the creatures in question and 2. their social utility or usefulness.
Generally, a human life is more valuable than an animal life and within the human lives also the life of a spiritually accomplished saint is considered as more valuable. At time, however, an animal life may be more valuable than that of a human being. Possibly, in the development of this sensitivity between lives, this question of life-values has remained ignored and, therefore, we could become sensitive to the lives of ants but remained aloof or even indifferent towards those of the human being. Today, we require turning the direction of this thought current and becoming more sensitive towards the humans as well. It is only then that our non-violence will become positive.
The Importance of Positive Non-violence
The importance of positive side of non-violence was realised from the ancient times only. From the ancient times to date leaving aside some exceptions almost all Jaina masters and preceptors have accepted the value and importance of positive non-violence. They have always accepted it among the essential activities to be practiced by the householders. Today, the population of Jainas in India may be merely one percent but the number of charitable and socially useful institutions run by them exceeds far beyond their representation on the demographic population figures. Today almost 30 percent of the charitable and public welfare organisations are run by the Jainas. The contributions of the Jainas in the relief activities following natural and man-made calamities are simply unforgettable, none can ignore them. Whenever the questions of saving not only human lives but also those of the animals have arisen, the Jaina community has always come to the forefront. Even today there are such silent public welfare workers in the Jaina community that donate their physical,
| SR No. | 032589 |
| Book Title | Applied Philosophy Of Jainism |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Sagarmal Jain |
| Publisher | Prachya Vidyapeeth |
| Publication Year | 2018 |
| Total Pages | 82 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 9 MB |