Applied Philosophy Of Jainism

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Prachya Vidyapeeth

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2: Applied Philosophy of Jainism
day the life on earth is so luxurious and pleasant as it was never before, but due to selfish and materialistic outlook, nobody is happy and satisfied, as a result everyone is tensed. The intoxication of ambition and success has made us more greedy and egoistic. Our ambition and desires have no limits. And, when they are not fulfilled, create frustration, which culminates into emotional disorder and mental tension.
As a remedy for this problem Jainism teaches us detachment or anāsakti. Uttaradhyayana-sūtra says that "the root of all sufferingsphysical as well as mental of everybody including gods is attachment, the root cause of mental tension. Only a detached outlook towards the object of worldly enjoyment can free mankind from mental tension." The attachment developed in relation to things considered to be one's own and the aversion developed in relation to those considered to be alien to oneself have to be discarded and so one must reflect: 'I am born alone, I die alone, and alone do I reap the fruits of the form of pleasure, pain, etc. yielded by the karmic seeds sown by myself.' This type of reflection nourishes self-dependence and non-attachment.
The problem of Survival of Human Race and Disarmament
The second significant problem, the world is facing today is the problem of the survival of human race itself. Due to the tremendous advancement in war technology and nuclear weapons, the whole human race is standing on the verge of annihilation. It is not the question of the survival of any one religion, culture or nation, but of the whole humanity. Because of the advancement in scientific knowledge our faculty of faith has been destroyed. When mutual faith and faith in higher values of cooperation and co-existence is destroyed, doubts take place. Doubts cause fear, fear produces the sense of insecurity, which results in accumulation of weapons. This mad race for accumulation of weapons is leading to total human catastrophe. Here stands the problem of survival of humanity.