Acharya Tulsi
Jainism is a religion of humility. Humility is based on behaviour. There are three dimensions of attaining Moksha—to see, to know and behave accordingly. The most important of all is to act or behave. Without it seeing and knowing alone will not help anyone reach the destination so Jainism is an action oriented religion.
The religion of action that was propounded by Lord Mahavira carries all the virtues of Mortality. What is mortality? The application of non-violence in social life is what mortality is. Mortality can be defined in many ways. The following stanza is a definition of it:
एक व्यक्ति का अपर प्रति प्रामाणिक व्यवहार |
नैतिकता है धर्म का परस्परित आचार ||
Religion is one dimension whereas morality is two dimensional. In one’s personal life the application of non-violence becomes religion and when it becomes part of one’s behavior it becomes morality. One who is devoid of the feelings of kinship, lacks compassion and lacks the empathy of realizing one’s pain how he could be moral? Morality flows from the feelings of friendship.
Some people in the name of nationality develop morality. This however lacks the sensitivity towards human beings that is the byproduct of following non-violence. A person relying on non- violence seeks to find his own self in others. He never misbehaves with anyone that he himself never wants. He even considers the traits that are used for the welfare of nation as violence. In this way even the effort to establish moral values in a nation is also considered as a quintessential part in creating national character. In this context it can be believed that morality is nationality but it has an existence o fits own. This value also rests upon the mutual harmony shared by human beings.
It is said that there is lack of morality at present. But in this regard I would like to say that there is lack of non-violence, friendship, compassion and mutual love. Where there is a loving relationship no person can immorally behave there. If a person in such an environment deceives himself or others his soul becomes heavy with repentance. Immorality dwells in a place where there is a sense of hostility. In this context the value of non-violence teaches us to expand our self. The self must be extended to such a great extent that there remains no one to be called the other. With the cessation of the feeling of other the immoral tendencies also get diminished. Jainism has been casting light on this matter from time to time.
