Reverence for life, which grows out of a proper understanding of the will to live, contains life-affirmation. It acts to create values that serve the material, the spiritual, the ethical development of man.

Albert Schweitzer

Right perception, right knowledge, right conduct combined together become the means to liberation.

Tattvartha Sutra of Umaswati (1/1)

Enmities do not abate here at any time through enmity; and they abate through friendliness. This is the eternal Dharma (law).

Dhammapada

Animosity dwindles when Ahimsa reaches perfection.

Yogasutra of Patanjali

The Philosophy

The Jain philosophy has described seven basic concepts in the path of purification. The first is Jiva or soul, which is the subject of the process. Soul is one of the two elementary energy forms out of the six fundamentals (soul, matter, space, motion, inertia and time). It normally, exists intertwined with matter at different stages of development, but it is different from matter. It manifests itself in the physical dimension through matter, but it is not made from some combination of matter. It is the doer of all deeds and also the sufferer of all consequences. In the path of purification, soul is the entity to be purified and liberated from under the yoke of matter.

The second basic concept of Jainism is Ajiva (the opposite of Jiva, or soul, or life) or matter. This is the second of the two elementary energy forms among the six fundamentals, and it continually interacts with soul. Matter in its gross forms is visible all around. The Jains have gone into details regarding sub-microscopic particles and beyond, even to the level of subatomic particles. The Paramanu as defined by Jains is not the atom, the meaning given by literal translators of scientific terms from English to Hindi. It is an entity even subtler than any known sub-atomic particle. The literal meaning of the word ‘Paramanu’ is ‘ultimate particle’, and Jains have used the word in that sense precisely.

Beyond that, Jains have hypothesized Karmic particles which, are particles of matter at such a subtle level that they can interact with soul. When fused with soul these particles, in their variety of combinations, are considered to be the dynamic blueprint of the whole life of a living being. The whole life according to the Jains is not just a lifetime as we define it, but a series of continued rebirths, which ends only on liberation.

The third basic concept is Ashrava or inflow of Karmic particles that cause the tarnishing of soul once fused with it. Soul is open to continuous interaction with Karmic particles, and this term includes all the tendencies that cause the interrelationship between soul and matter.

The fourth basic concept is Bandh or bondage, the fusion of Karmic particles with soul. The forces responsible for this fusion are attachment and aversion. The intensity and extent of this fusion depends on the intensity of the passions within the attachment or aversion. This fusion is the cause of continued rebirth of the soul in varieties of mundane bodies.

The fifth basic concept is Samvar, or preclusion. This is the act or effort of stopping the inflow of Karmic particles, and it is the first essential achievement on the path of purification. All the disciplines, conducts, and practices lead to this stage of development.

The sixth basic Jain concept is Nirjara or cleansing. It is the shedding of Karmic particles already fused with the soul in the immediate and remote past. It has two categories, one done with conscious effort and another that happens naturally. The first is similar to using a catalyst and speeding up the process; this requires a conscious effort to force the deep-rooted Karmas out to surface and tackle them with equanimity. The second category of Nirjara is the surfacing of Karma in their own natural course and, when they surface, tackling them with equanimity. The important factor is tackling them without evoking any intense feelings. Intense feelings only cause additional bondage and so all efforts go in vain.

The seventh basic concept is Moksha, or liberation. This is attained when a soul is absolutely pure and free of all Karmic particles. It is the state where all Karmas have been shed and also there is no further inflow and bondage of Karmic particles. The soul is in a state of eternal bliss floating in pure and all enveloping knowledge, free from the cycles of rebirth. This is the bliss of ultimate freedom, and it is the final goal.

Of these seven concepts, the most important and cardinal are soul and matter. Inflow and bondage are states derived out of the combination of life and matter, and are the causes of life cycles. Preclusion and cleansing are the terms for the cleaner states of soul, and these are means to liberation. Liberation is the absolutely clean state of soul and is totally devoid of any interaction whatsoever with matter. As such, the later five concepts become inherent to the two former concepts, or the first two of the five fundamentals, life and matter, as activities or states.

At the early stages of life cycles or the lower levels of living organisms only the first four of these concepts are active; because the later three come into play only after the awareness of the self is born. With the birth of individual consciousness and its refinement, there is a slow transformation from group activities to individual activities. Beyond this point, any progress is through one’s efforts towards purifying the soul and indulging in disciplined activities.

After defining these basic concepts comes the means of purification. A combination of three processes has been defined as the means of purification: right perception (Samyak Darshan), right knowledge (Samyak Jnana), and right conduct (Samyak Charitra). The capacity or intellect with whose development one can recognize and perceive truth is called right perception. The understanding, through right perception and undeniable proof, of the ultimate reality of all fundamentals and basic concepts is right knowledge. The activity guided by right knowledge and devoid of passions is right conduct. Right perception and right knowledge are complementary to one another, and one does not exist without the other. Similarly the right conduct has to be practiced after acquiring right perception and right knowledge.

The driving force, that gives soul the strength to elevate itself, is right knowledge, which comes through right perception and helps practicing right conduct. It is this combination of right perception, knowledge, and conduct that helps one at every step in the path of purification and liberation. Any act without knowledge is worthless as far as purification is concerned.

Poison mixes with blood and disrupts every system of the body by spreading its toxic effects. Similarly, passions disrupt the progress and activity of soul with their toxicity of Karma. In order for the body to regain its normal activities and health, the input of poison has to be stopped and toxicity of the poison already ingested has to be flushed out. Without this, no amount of nutrition will help improve the health. Similarly, for regaining the normal activity of soul, which is endeavour towards purity through right perception and knowledge, the input of Karma has to be stopped and already fused Karmas have to be flushed out. Passions are poison for soul and they manifest through wide varieties of violence. Without eliminating violence, one cannot steer the soul towards right perception, knowledge and conduct. That is why Ahimsa finds such pride of place in the Jain Philosophy.

As already explained, violence does not just start at wielding a weapon and end at killing by that weapon; according to Jain Philosophy, it is much subtler, much deeper, and much wider than the mere act of killing of human beings or other life forms. Violence does not need a weapon it is a weapon itself. It is not just physical; it involves the depth of soul, mind, and psyche. Ultimately, leaving the gross world of subject and object, it reaches the singular world of individual consciousness, mind, and soul.

At the point where an individual leaves the physical and social level and enters the subtler world of realities of soul, there is a strange dimensional change. Some aspects start converging or concentrating and others start diverging and diffusing. Here the interpretations undergo a progressive change, and at points become confusing if the perspective does not match with the level.

The realization of the pain and anguish of other living beings is the starting point of the path of Ahimsa, for it is the directive factor toward refraining from causing pain. This realization is directly dependent on the object’s capacity to express and subject’s capacity to understand. The expression depends on the quality of life of the object, while the observation depends on the level or knowledge and purity of the subject.

Since the capacity for expression decreases with lowering of level of life forms, the requirement of knowledge and purity increases. In other words, as the level of knowledge and purity increases the capacity to observe the expressions of lower life forms increases. This phenomenon automatically expands the field of compassion and brings more varieties of life forms into its scope.

The design behind the Ahimsa code is that one gradually purifies oneself, starting at the grosser levels, where one recognizes the feelings of the most expressive of the life forms, human beings. As one purifies the self and pursues the path of knowledge, the capacity develops to observe and recognize the feelings of beings at lower levels of expression. At a certain point of development, this expansion encompasses the simplest form of life. Here the expansion instantaneously collapses to one singular point-the pure life energy or soul.

In the process of blindly following the rules, without understanding their principles, the followers have left the principles in the pages of canons and reduced the discipline of mind and soul into mere rituals. We have totally reversed the process and, instead of starting with fellow human beings and going out to all forms of life, we start and end with unseen, unknown, and not comprehended life forms. We make a lot of fuss about harming or not harming micro-organisms, but do not even think about harming or not harming our fellow human beings. We think and talk too much about gross physical activities, rather than the activities of mind, feelings, and soul.

Ultimately it is the impressions left inside the soul that are significant, as they are the only things that influence the soul in the higher path of purification. They are the only things one carries to the next life. Everything else is left behind, when the present fades into the past.

Looking from this ultimate viewpoint, violence becomes all the more subtle. Any transgression into the outer firmament by venturing out of one’s own physical and mental borders triggers a chain of events which, if not controlled, results in violence.

From the social dimension of observing others, purity causes one to transcend into the individual world of observing the self and to strive for the purity of knowledge of self, or soul. Once this point is attained, the need to observe and refrain vanishes. With that purity, all the social concerns of compassion, fraternity, etc. become meaningless. Meaningless, not because they are wrong but because they are spontaneous, natural and integral parts of the purity. No efforts are required, no disciplines need be imposed. Pure soul is itself the embodiment of these positive feelings; it does not have to practice; it simply radiates these feelings.

The quality of our behaviour with individuals as well as groups depends on the level at which we comprehend the self, or soul. As our indulgence in soul increases, we continue to stir many unknown, and dormant parts of our brain. These are the areas responsible for our developing the finer qualities of equanimity, goodwill, compassion, etc. The true knowledge of self opens up the wellspring of all-round and spontaneous goodwill.

The unique principles of Anekantvad/Syadvad, relativity of thought or truth explains violence and non-violence at levels beyond the physical. Reality is multifaceted, and the attitude of condemning one facet due to ignorance is violence. After all, the truth, as you know it, may be just one facet of the whole, and the knowledge about the same fact may be understood differently through other facets. Condemning or denying the others’ viewpoint without examining all the facets is violence.

Anekantvad/Syadvad, as many interpret, is not an effort toward compromise, or concept based on indecisiveness. It is acceptance of the truth from a viewpoint different from our own. If knowledge is multifaceted, it is also dynamic. There was a time when it was believed, on the basis of available proofs, that light travels in a straight line. As more knowledge was acquired, it was proved that light travels in waves. Going still further, it was found that it travels in impulses of particles. None of these statements can be termed as false; each is true from one particular viewpoint and up to a certain level of knowledge. Accepting all the three, once the level of knowledge is attained, can certainly not be termed as compromise or indecisiveness.

Anekantvad/Syadvad keeps one’s mind open to various possibilities and curiosity alive to reach new dimensions of knowledge. Once a truth is accepted as one-faceted, the chances of exploring its other variants are reduced, and the knowledge remains incomplete. It is the unrestricted flow of pure knowledge from all directions that is the ultimate Ahimsa or Keval Jnana through which the soul transcends to the state of liberation or Moksha.