In one sentence, my philosophy is to spend this life trying to improve and better my soul using the principles below to move it towards perfection, to its ultimate release from the cycle of life and death.
1. Ahimsa - lacking the desire to kill. But its more than that. I believe that all life - every bug, every plant, every animal, every fish, every human is equal, sacred and worthy of achieving Moksha (enlightenment, release from life and death). I do my best every day to cause as little pain in thought, word and deed to any life process as possible.
2. Aparigraha - lacking attachment. I interpret this as nothing in my life should control me. This means not being addicted to anything or anyone. This includes types of food, material things like my car, my stereo, my Mac (trust me that is hard!). I should be completely adjustable to any situation no matter how difficult or easy.
3. Anekantvaad - Non-absolutism. All opinions are equally likely. This means I want to respect people who disagree with me. I want to accept and listen and really hear what the person is saying and what the person is trying to say. I want to try and be empathetic and not become angry when someone disagrees or attacks me.
4. Kshamapna - Forgiveness. It is important for me to be able to forgive and forget. I want to forgive those who I think have hurt me, and also learn to forgive myself for my own transgressions.
Basic questions faced by me and tried to solve in context of Jain philosophy:
1. To drink or not to drink alcohol
- I think it is okay to drink alcohol as long as you do not lose control of your senses, i.e. as long as alcohol does not control you! It is true that excessive drinking harms your health, and has a host of other social, economic and health issues associated with it but in moderation and an occasional drink seems okay to me. Let's examine it in terms of the 4 principles - drinking alcohol is not violating Ahimsa, Anekaantvaad, Kshamaapna for sure. Its only the principle of Aparigraha that needs to be looked at carefully in context of drinking alcohol.
- Often elders in our community say you must recite this Mantra this many times. Why do we make such rules? What is the purpose? I think its a good suggestion because I believe this mantra reminds you to be humble but doing it as a rule without the emotions and purpose seems to be a waste, a farcical exercise with no real purpose!
- Again - let's examine where this comes from. It is related to the very first principle of Ahimsa. The idea was that if you eat potatoes, onions and other things that grow underground you have to uproot the plant and that would be committing himsa. But let's look at the current status of food. Eating anything that you have not grown, that you have
- In the spirit of the philosphy, animal products could be used when they were by-products but now that we know how most, if not all, animal products are made/produced, I do not believe we can use most of them. In the US this is particularly true when it comes to the dairy industry. Check out the short documentary Meet your Meat! but a fair *WARNING* This video might change your eating habits. After watching this, knowing that one of our main goals is to be free of violence / harm to others, I believe one cannot eat/drink animal products.
- A no-brainer here. Harm to the environment is as integral a part of Ahimsa as there can be. Often our convenience / way of life harms others and the destruction of the environment is one of the most dangerous acts. So obviously biking vs. driving - duh!? Biking.
7. To debate or not to debate the merits of Jainism to other Jains
8. To call Jainism a religion or a philosophy
9. Is there a hell? Is there heaven? Does it matter?
10. Who was Mahavir? a God?
11. Is there a God in Jain philosophy?
12. How do you deal with parents / siblings who don't really listen to you?
13. How do you deal with parents / siblings who do not treat you like an adult?
14. How do you deal with passive aggressive people?
