Shivani Bothra
In the lines above David Korten, an economist, author and a prominent critic of globalization, describes the need for a new vision in the emerging global society. The present thesis is the study of the Anuvrat Movement, whose advocates conceive of the movement as a practical form of spirituality and one of the possible solutions that Korten is calling for. The movement arose as a response to the challenges of modernity emerging in the context of the post-independence India.
The founder of the movement was the late Acharya Tulsi, a celebrated monk within the Jain tradition. Accepting the monkhood at the age of 11, he was accredited to be the Acharya (His Holiness) of the Jain Svetambar Terapanth[1] tradition at the age of 22. Along the lines of Korten's view as expressed above, Tulsi perceived that modernization contributed to the deterioration of the moral character and value system in the pluralist Indian society. He also observed that there were aspects of his Jain tradition that could be useful in addressing such issues, but they needed to be shared outside the Jain community. Therefore, at the age of 34, he conceptualized and instituted the Anuvrat Movement. The thrust of the movement was to regenerate the character of Indians through individual self-transformation, which would eventually influence the building of a healthy society and the development of methods for fostering social justice, peace and sustainability.
According to Tulsi, one cannot solve the problems of violence, human rights, poverty and the environment all at once. Instead, Tulsi thought that by employing the concept of small vows for the individual, borrowed from the Jain tradition, he could develop the framework for social improvement achieved through personal action. The Jain doctrines of ahimsa (non-violence), aparigraha (non-possession) and anekant (non-absolutism) also served as the foundation for Tulsi's program.
Both non-violence and non-possession are pan-Indic concepts, however anekant is unique to Jain philosophy. Anekant is the theory that truth and reality are perceived differently from diverse points of view, and that no single point of view is the complete truth.[2] Inspired by his own study and experiences, Tulsi expanded on anekant using it as a core concept to transcend the religious and incorporate concepts of morality into a secular movement.
The movement was initiated in the mid twentieth century, during the time when theories of secularization were being expanded. The main thrust in secularization theory has been "a claim that, in the face of scientific rationality, religious influence on all aspects of life - from personal habits to social institutions is a dramatic decline. [...] The underlying assumption was that people have become or are becoming less religious."[3] However, Peter Berger, in his popular article, Secularism and Retreat stated: "The idea that modernization necessarily leads to a decline of religion both in society and minds of individual has turned out to be wrong."[4] Some sociologists have addressed how modern political and social movements have all tended to diminish the power of churches. Yet another sociologist, Antonio Flavio, notes: "In the last three decades of XX century [sic], the last quarter was the most secularized century of all centuries, religions have regained vigor expanding and multiplying themselves considerably."[5] Following from these viewpoints, Tulsi's approach recognized that the power of religious institutions was diminishing in response to secularization, but spirituality was not. He wished therefore to incorporate spirituality into a secular movement without direct reference to any specific religious institution.
