Dr. N.L. Kachhara
A relationship between order/disorder and quality of life can be established. Forests are order-producing systems, for they receive thermal energy from sunlight and convert it into chemical and electrical energy with the help of nutrients. As chemical and electrical systems are better ordered than thermal systems, plants produce order from disorder. The burning of fuel converts chemical energy into thermal energy and increases disorder. Atomic energy power plants convert electrical bonding energy into thermal energy and also increase disorder. A forest-based lifestyle where all of the requirements of living beings are met conserves order in the environment. From this consideration, animals do not contribute to disorder. Human beings, by burning fuel or by making use of energy resources, produce disorder, the magnitude of which increases with the increasing rate of burning as is the case with industrialization using fossil fuels and atomic energy. We know that industrialization adversely affects quality of life in various ways, particularly through environmental pollution. As industrialization increases, a higher disorder is associated with a low quality of life and vice versa.
Jain philosophy describes in detail the quality of life in the middle loka. There are two types of lands: the lands of enjoyment, where life is forest-based; and the lands of action, where living beings employ various kinds of skills, perhaps including the burning of fuel. The lands of action are found only in the part of the middle loka comprised of Jambudveepa and two similar regions. Jambudveepa and these two lands have not been identified in the modern context. In this part of the universe there are 15 lands of action, and our planet is one of them. This means that there are 15 planets or regions in the middle loka where human beings employ advanced skills for living. Most of the lands of action maintain a constant standard of quality of life at different levels, but there are a few, like our Earth, which experience a temporal, cyclic change in the quality of life. We are presently passing through the descending phase of this quality cycle: that is, the quality of life is going down. This means that disorder is increasing on our planet, a fact that cannot be disputed. This downward trend is, according to the Jain calculation of cycles, is supposed to continue for about 40,000 years, when disorder shall reach the maximum level and the quality of life shall be at its lowest level. Thereafter, a reversal in the trend shall occur and disorder shall start decreasing, eventually producing conditions for a better quality of life.
In those lands of action that maintain a given quality of life, human beings must be wiser and not indulge in activities that increase disorder. As stated above, human beings are found only in a small part of the middle loka; in the remaining part, only animals are supposed to exist, and life must be forest-based, producing no disorder. Thus, the scenario that emerges is that, in most parts of the middle loka, living systems produce no disorder: only natural systems may disturb the balance of order and disorder. As natural systems involve electrical and chemical as well as thermal processes, there is a good possibility of order being maintained at a constant level in the middle loka.
The above analysis of living and nonliving systems shows that all regions of the loka except the middle loka maintain order. In the middle loka there are some areas where disorder is created. But this happens in a cyclic manner in which disorder is replaced by order after a certain time. Thus, over a period of time the conditions are restored and a steady state is effectively ensured in the loka. Incidentally, by this analysis we also appreciate the importance of the time-cycle described in Jain cosmology. It shows that there are cyclic changes in some parts of the middle loka, but that temporally the loka maintains a steady state and there is no possibility of the loka coming to an inactive condition or heat death.
From above we see that Jain philosophy allows for local variations in disorder, as we find on Earth, but that should not be a matter of alarm as far as the universe is concerned. The universe, being endless on a time scale, maintains a stable condition of order/disorder and life is maintained on a continuous basis.
