Spiritual Literacy

SPIRITUAL LITERACY
Right Knowledge Right Perception Right Conduct
NIRANTAR MANJUNATH
SPIRITUAL LITERACY 1
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THE STORY OF FIVE MONKEYS
One day, five monkeys were placed in a cage by few scientists. In the middle of the cage, they placed a ladder with bananas on the top. Every time a monkey made its way up the ladder for the bananas, the rest of the monkeys were soaked with cold water. As this happened a few times, the monkeys picked up the pattern, one monkey goes up the ladder the rest of the monkeys get soaked with cold water. Therefore, whenever a monkey went up the ladder the rest of the monkeys started beating it up. The beating up of the monkey whichever attempted to climb the ladder continued even when the cold showering had been stopped. This beating procedure went on for a while until no monkey dared to climb the ladder, however, tempted it would have been. Then the scientists removed one monkey from the group and introduced a new monkey. The new monkey headed straight up the ladder and the rest of the monkeys dragged it down and gave it a hard beating. This beating up happened until the new monkey learned to stay away from the ladder even though it had no idea whatsoever as to why. Then the scientists removed another monkey from the first group and introduced a new monkey. Again, The second monkey followed the temptation and headed straight towards the ladder. The four monkeys dragged it down and beat it up. The first new monkey also participated in the beating of the second new monkey. The beating lessons continued until the second monkey also learnt to not climb the ladder. Scientists then replaced the third monkey and the same episode unfolded. The fourth monkey was replaced and the same beating lesson unfolded. Finally, the fifth monkey was replaced and the same behaviour by the four monkeys continued. The four monkeys that never received a cold shower where now beating up the fifth monkey. This is how religion is in the todays world.
If someone were to ask those monkeys why are they beating up the monkey that attempts to go up the ladder, perhaps the monkeys would reply, that is how it is or this is what our predecessors or our gurus did. The monkeys established a code of conduct to avoid getting a cold shower, but a few people in the history have propagated codes of conducts, stories and principles for their own benefit, to dominate the society, to subjugate people and to rule over them and by doing so have driven us into a delusional world that is not serving us and will not serve our generations to come. We humans have the power to think, the power to reason, and we must use these powers to propagate the truth. We are practising religion without understanding how it all started. The religion is turning the masses into robots which are button controlled by some religious leaders. In this book, I have tried to provide you with information and knowledge that I have discovered after years of learning and reflection. In this book, I am going to deal with the invention of religion, invention of god, principles of karma, soul and so on.
IDENTITY AND RELIGION
Once upon a time, a snake lived near a river bank. One day, the snake decided to cross the river and go to the other side of the bank. But the snake faced a problem. There were crocodiles in the river and the snake knew that it would be eaten if it tried to swim through. The snake thought of a plan. It thought of asking the boatman to help it cross the river, therefore, it approached the boatman and asked for his help. Seeing the snake, the boatman was frightened at once. Dont be afraid. I am not hear to hurt you. The snake reassured the boatman. What do you want? The boatman asked still unsure about the snakes intentions. I desire to go to the other side of the river bank. Please help me cross the river in your boat. The snake pleaded. You are a snake, a poisonous one, you bite. Go away at once. The boatman said. I will not bite. Trust me. The snake said. I will not bite. Please take me to the other bank in your boat. The snake pleaded again. Ok. Trusting the snakes words the boatman agreed and told the snake to get on the boat. The boatman started rowing the boat gently over the river. When the boat was in the middle of the river the snake bit the boatman. You said you were not going to bit. The boatman exclaimed in pain. I am a snake. That is what snakes do. They bite. The snake said.
The poison took over the boatman, and he collapsed on the boat overturning it. The snake and the boatmans body were eaten by the crocodiles. The gist is: whatever a person considers himself to be, he will act in that manner. The identity influences behaviour. The beliefs a person holds about his identity determine his behaviours. Whatever religious identity a person holds for himself, his behaviour will be consistent with those beliefs that are preached in that religion. To understand religion, we must understand the origin of religion. That is what the next chapter is all about.
THE PURPOSE OF LIFE, THE FOUR PATHS OF A MAN, AND THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION
A man has three worldly aims or paths and then there is the fourth one that is said to be the aim of the soul. THREE AIMS OF A MAN: 1. Aim to acquire knowledge or Path of knowledge or Motivated towards acquiring knowledge. 2. Aim to acquire wealth or Path of wealth or Motivated towards acquiring wealth. 3. Aim to enjoy the pleasures of life or Path of enjoyment or Motivated towards enjoying the pleasures of life. THE FOURTH AIM: 4. Path of liberation or salvation or spirituality. It is from this path the religion has sprung and has engulfed the entire mankind into a mainstream identity giving cult. The first three aims are described as the main aims of the majority of the human beings. The fourth path is optional which was chosen voluntarily. A human being will be dominated by one of the temperament of the above mentioned paths. Our ancestors divided the life of a human being into parts or phases depending on what phase of life would be suitable for which path or purpose of the human being. 1. Bhramacharya ashrama (school of student life): This phase is our early childhood to early adult life where the purpose was getting educated only. Phase of life: Upto 25 years.
2. Grahasta Ashrama (school of a householder life): This phase included finding a suitable means to earn wealth and leading a family life and enjoying the life pleasures through the wealth earned. Phase of life: 25 years to 60 years or how long the person wished, maybe till death. 3. Vanaprasta ashrama and sanyasa ashrama (school of monkhood): This is the spiritual phase of a mans life which included spiritual contemplation and doing penance and leading a life of an aesthetic or a monk. This phase depended totally on the personal choice of a person. Phase of life: Around 50 years till death. A human being has three basic aims in life: knowledge, wealth, and enjoyment and when a human being decides not to pursue those aims or decides that he has had enough of the world then he takes on to the path of liberation. The young age is said to be suitable for gaining maximum knowledge, the youth for earning wealth and enjoyment of the pleasures of life, and the old age for spirituality. The path of liberation has two different ways today 1. The path of devotion or bhakti marga, like Vishanvism, Shivisim, etc. 2. The path of meditation, penance and austerity like Jainism, Buddhism.
The Path of Liberation
Path of Meditation
Jainism, Buddhism
Path of Devotion
Vishnavism, shivism
A man can only achieve success by putting his concentration on one path only. If he is on the path of gaining knowledge, he will have to give up wealth, enjoyment and liberation. If you want to become a billionaire you better study and do business and seek advice from others who have made it big in the business world rather than praying for miracles or asking a religious guru to guide you on the matters of money. If a person seeks liberation, he will have to give up everything and move around meditating. The whole schisms got created when the followers of different paths started stressing that their way was the best way. It is a well-known fact that Emperor Chandragupta Vikramaditya, the Great emperor of Gupta dynasty, renounced his kingdom and became a Monk under Acharya Badharabahu, a Jain monk, and led his last days of life in the mountains of Shravanabelagula, Karnataka. A person who knows only religion will say, Emperor Chandragupta practiced Hinduism at first and then converted to Jainism. In reality, he just passed from one phase of life(enjoyment phase) to another(Spiritual phase). That is, he acquired the knowledge to rule a kingdom at the
young age, ruled the kingdom and enjoyed the pleasures of life in the youth. When he felt old enough, he gave up his throne to his son and walked the path of liberation and led a life of monk till death. Definition of Hinduism be Hinduism: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. Hinduism: Knowledge, Wealth, Enjoyment of pleasures of life, and Liberation. The oldest way in the path of liberation is the path described in the Jain philosophy. I am of the opinion that the path of devotion was created after the Buddhism was established. In the early Jain cannons, we dont find any criticism or mention about the god or path of devotion, but in the latter Jain works we do find criticisms about the theory of creationism and god. Below is an excerpt from Mahapurana by Acharya Jinasena. Some foolish men are declaring that a creator (god) made the world. The doctrine that the world was created is ill-advised and should be rejected. If god created the world, where was he before the creation? If you say he was transcendent then and needed no support, where is he now? How could god have made this world without any raw material? If you say that he made this first, and then the world, you are faced with an endless regression. If you declare that this raw material arose naturally you fall into another fallacy, for the whole universe might thus have been its own creator, and have arisen quite naturally. If God created the world by an act of his own will, without any raw material, then it is just his will and nothing else and who will believe this silly nonsense?
If he is ever perfect and complete, how could the will to create have arisen in him? If, on the other hand, he is not perfect, he could no more create the universe than a potter could. If he is form-less, action-less and all-embracing, how could he have created the world? Such a soul, devoid of all modality, would have no desire to create anything. If he is perfect, he does not strive for the three aims of man, so what advantage would he gain by creating the universe? If you say that he created to no purpose because it was his nature to do so, then god is pointless. If he created in some kind of sport, it was the sport of a foolish child leading to trouble. If he created because of the karma of embodied beings (acquired in a previous creation) he is not the almighty lord, but subordinate to something else. If out of love for living beings and need of them he made the world, why did he not make creation wholly blissful free from misfortune? If he were transcendent he would not create, for he would be free, nor if involved in transmigration, for then he would not be almighty. Thus the doctrine that the world was created by god makes no sense at all. The god commits great sin in slaying the children whom he himself created. If you say that he slays only to destroy evil beings, why did he create such beings in the first place? Good men should combat the believer in divine creation who is maddened by an evil doctrine. Know that the world is uncreated, as time itself is, without beginning or end, and is based on the principles of movement and rest. Uncreated and indestructible, it endures under the compulsion of its own nature.
THE SIX BLIND MEN
Once, six blind men were asked to feel an elephant through their hands and explain what it looked like. The blind men felt the elephant through their hands and explained about the elephant. Each of their explanation was vaguely different. One of them explained only about ears, another only about the trunk of the elephant, another explained only about the legs. Each of the five blind men could only give only a partial explanation about the appearance of an elephant. Not only that, but the each of the blind men claimed that what they explained was the absolute truth. In reality, none of them were right. The reason they could not clearly explain what the elephant really looked like was due to their limited perception. And then there was the sixth blind man who never touched the elephant. He started giving descriptions of the elephant that had no basis. He was giving elephant all sorts of characteristics and was making it sound celestial. He was associating features to the elephant that would not make an elephant at all. Suppose, at some point, elephants were to go extinct and what people were going to hear would be just stories and descriptions about the elephants and if to those descriptions, the descriptions given by the sixth blind man, who never touched or felt an elephant, were to be added, then there is a great probability that some people are going to assume his descriptions and illustrations to be true as well. The more his teachings get popular, the more people will believe it to be true, even if the description said that the elephant was an animal with a donkeys body and a giraffes head. If those teachings were to become mainstream and were to last for decades and a vast majority of the population believed it to be true then the elephant would be described as an animal with a donkeys body and a giraffes head for the next centuries of generations to come.
This is same about the existence of god. Nobody has seen him or heard him. We have only read about him in the books or heard about god from others. This phenomenon is best explained by the popularity of the big bang theory. It is yet to be scientifically proved that the universe started with a big bang explosion, but you can find a lot of people who are totally convinced that the universe started with a big bang. Similarly, you can find a large group of people believing in the existence of dragons, vampires, ghosts and other mythological stories to be true and real. The concept of god is as fictional as the concept of a superhero. If a man can write fabulous fictional novels, he can also compose dubious literature and name it as religion.
LOKA PURUSHA, THE COSMIC MAN AND THE INVENTION OF GOD
I am going to propose a hypothesis as to from where the concept of god could actually have its roots. In Jain cannons various methods and procedures for reflection are proposed. In one of the procedures it is described that a man must reflect that the universe is standing in the form of a man where his feet represent the hell, his stomach region the earth (the place where animals and humans live), the face forms the heaven and the top of the head is the Moksha or the adobe of the liberated souls.
In the Jain cannons we can also find the descriptions about the structure of the universe. The universe is described to be in the shape of a man standing straight with his hands on his waist and legs apart. The bottom part has been divided into hell, totally there are said to be seven different forms of hell. The stomach region is said to be the place where the human and animal life exists. The upper part is said to constitute the heaven which again is said to be of seven kinds. The top of the head is said to be the adobe of the liberated souls, i.e., the souls which will never return to the cycle of birth and death. There is a high degree of possibility that this concept was distorted to form the idea of god and then to put forward the creation theory.
MORALITY ISSUE
Morality and conduct of a human being varies from human being to human being. One day, six travellers come across, on their way, a tree full of delicious mangoes. The thought of eating the mangoes crosses their mind. One of the travellers suggests of uprooting the entire tree. One of them suggests cutting off of the tree from the trunk. Another one suggests cutting the branches. Another suggests just about cutting the twigs. One of them suggests plucking the fruits only. While another traveller suggests of just eating the fruits that have fallen on the ground and to leave the tree as it was. The suggestion given by each traveller indicates the nature and level of wickedness and compassion of each traveller. The first traveller who wanted to uproot the entire tree was the wickedest and the traveller who suggested of eating only those fruits fallen on the ground was the most compassionate. From the above parable, I want to impress upon you that the conduct of a person depends on his inherent nature, identity, emotional disposition, beliefs, peer values and values that he has learned overtime, etc. The god addicts and faith-heads argue that if a human being loses his faith in so called god there would be mayhem and chaos and unlawful activities all around. Isnt there enough mayhem and chaos already? They often ask what about morality. Who is the human being accountable for? If humans and the world were indeed controlled by some almighty, then we would not have needed army, police or any other emergency services.
The ideas such as the will of god, almighty, fate, destiny and other nonsensical and preposterous notions must be rejected. A mans behaviour is dictated by his values, beliefs, identity and other psychological and environmental factors.
WHO AM I? I am a soul is the answer. Neuroscientists have for decades studied the human brain and have come up with significant breakthroughs and yet have not been able to explain the biggest mystery that continues to entice them, the consciousness. Here, I am going put forward a theory from the ancient Jain texts that can help them decipher the mystery. In the Jain texts we find the description of six universal substances among them are the Jiva and the Ajiva. Jiva Ajiva The living thing (soul) The non-living thing (ex: Human body)
When we refer to a living being, the living part is the soul and the nonliving part is the body. When we talk about human beings, the human body is the non-living thing and the soul is the living being. The cell is just a complex chemical structure capable of doing certain functions. The biggest mistake that the science has made is teaching us from the schooldays that a cell is a living thing and a cell has life, which is false. If single cells are considered to be Jivas or living beings then it would mean that scratching ourselves when it itches would also mean killing of thousands of cells. A cell can be synthesized artificially in a laboratory. The bacteria, the viruses, the mitochondria, the chromosomes, the genes, the DNA all these things can be artificially synthesized in a laboratory. The soul experiences the world through the body that it acquires.
TRANSMIGRATION
Anything that is real has a property called existence. We can simply say anything that is real exists and anything that is false does not. A substance that exists undergoes constant and countless changes. Let us take the example of an iron. The iron earlier existed in the form of an ore, then the ore was treated and refined to extract the iron from it. Then the iron was heated and cooled to mould it into a new shape. Some of the iron extracted was mixed with different elements to produce an alloy which were used to make car wheels, door handles, pressure cookers, knifes and various tools. The Iron that was in the form of an ore now exists in the form of an alloy with a mixture of different elements. Even though, the iron has undergone a series of changes from the ore form to an alloy form it still retains its original qualities that are permanent to its nature. The unchangeable qualities of a substance are collectively called as Dhravya in Jain literature. An element or an entity in this universe constantly sheds its old form and acquires a new form. The form in which an element is manifested or is expressed is called as Paryaya. Each element in the universe has three aspects to it. Utpada Formation, change form an old form into a new form. Vyaya Distruction, the destruction of the current form. Dhravya Permanent properties that never change. Certain properties of iron will always be characteristic to iron in whichever form it may exist.
Let us take another example of a carbon molecule. There are certain properties of the carbon molecule that are permanent to the carbon molecule and are characteristic properties of it. Apart from existing as a pure molecule carbon may also exist in other combination such as CCl2 CCl4 CH2O C2H6O Carbon chloride Carbon tetrachloride Formaldehyde Ethanol
The different forms in which the carbon exists is called as Paryaya. Even though the carbon exists with different elements and is contributing to different properties in each form, certain properties that are unique and permanent to carbon are still present and the carbon molecule never ceases to be the carbon molecule. It is just that the true properties of the carbon are eclipsed. When the carbon is separated from other molecules we are still going to get the pure carbon. The karmic particles are like the bonds that bind the carbon with different molecules. The carbon never ceased to be carbon. Similarly, a soul never ceases to be soul weather due to karmic bondage it is bound to the body of a cat, elephant, lion, hellish being or heavenly being. Infinite knowledge, infinite power, infinite perception and infinite bliss are the true properties of a soul.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SOUL FROM THE JAIN SCRIPTURES.
1. The soul is home for excellent virtues, the best among the substances and the highest reality among the realities. 2. The mode of manifestation of soul is in three forms: Antar-athma (Introvert soul), Bahir-athma (extrovert soul) and Param-athma (supreme soul). The supreme souls are of two different kinds Arihants (the omniscient beings on earth) and Siddhas (the liberated souls). The soul which is just carried away or is led by its senses is called a Bahir-athma (extrovert soul). The soul which is indulged in self-contemplation, spirituality, focused on meditation can be described as an Antar-athma (introvert soul). The soul that is liberated, un-polluted by the karmas and has no desire for fruits of action is called as Param-athma (supreme soul). 3. Transmigrations like birth, youth, old-age, disease, death, sorrow, family, name, social status, political status, wealth, property etc. dont belong to the soul. 4. The soul has no colour, no taste, no smell, no gender (male, female, neuter), no bodily form, no skeletal structure. 5. The pure soul is free from activities of thought, speech and body. The soul is independent, infallible and fearless. The soul is also free from mine-ness, attachment and delusion. 6. The pure soul is free from complexes, attachments, blemishes, desires, anger, pride, lust and all other kinds of defects. 7. The state of pure knowership is neither vigilant nor non-vigilant. The knower self is called pure, because it is only knower and nothing else. 8. The soul is neither the body, nor the mind nor the speech, nor their cause. Nor is he doer, nor the cause of action nor the approver of action.
9. After knowing that the pure soul is different from everything else, is there any wise man who says "this is mine?" 10. The soul are of two types liberated and non-liberated. 11. The qualities of a liberated soul: Infinite knowledge, omniscient perception, Infinite power, Infinite bliss. The liberated soul has no body and never gets caught in the cycle of birth and death. 12. The qualities of a non-liberated soul: Limited knowledge, limited perception, limited power, limited bliss, has a body, is caught between the cycle of birth and death and is capable of being liberated.
THE THEORY OF PARTIAL VIEWPOINTS (NAYA-VADA):
In this Jain philosophy it is stated that only the important qualities of an object or only the important qualities of the reality is described, whereas, the unimportant qualities are ignored, even though an object or reality has infinite qualities to it. Let us say there is discussion going on about the recent football match that just concluded. Your discussion may be about the goals that were scored or about your favourite players or about other crucial moments of the game. The reality that you have ignored is that there were thousands of others who witnessed the same game in the stadium and there were several others who witnessed the game just like you in their respective homes on their television. Even if you knew that thousands of people witnessed the game along with you another aspect of reality that you dont know is of what their names are and who was sitting where. You might not know who the referees were and what their names were. You might know the names of different players but you may not know where each player was born and what his parents name are and at what age each player started playing football. All these are not important for you, therefore, you dont discuss them and you dont even bother to know about them. A person who has become an omniscient being (Kevala Gayani) will know all the aspect of the game. If you ask him he will be able to tell you all the aspects like how many people were present at the stadium, each and every person who was present, what each and every person spoke, where those people are and what they are doing at this point in time. The knowledge of each and every aspect of reality is called omniscience. All the Thirthankaras were omniscient beings. An omniscient being will never try to alter the reality or the events that are going to occur even if he can, but if accepted as guru will guide his disciples on the path of liberation and ultimate realisation of the absolute truth.
The omniscience state, a state of total bliss, is achieved by a man who has exhausted all his karmas and has won over the inner defects of the human nature like ego, lust, greed, anger, jealousy, attachment etc. It was the omniscient beings who thought the Indians mathematics, astronomy, etc. It was through the knowledge given by the omniscients that the Indians knew that the earth was spherical and rotated on its own axis before the modern scientists could. In order to achieve liberation from the cycle of birth and death, a soul has to exhaust the karmic bondage that binds it to the world. As the person who joins the engineering stream is not thought medicine and as the person who joins the medicine is not thought engineering, the Jain theories only deal with monkhood and the liberation aspect of the soul. Therefore, if you want to become a billionaire you will have to learn about money, study business and do business and have successful businessmen as your peers and mentors.
KARMA
Ignorance is not an excuse. Usually when karma is spoken about it is typically called as cause and effect, as you sow so you reap, etc. But it is in the Jain scriptures that one can truly find the detailed description of karma. Karma according to Jain agamas is described as pudgala or matter which binds to the soul and causes bondage. The bondage produces the effects. The effects may be good or bad depending on the nature of the cause that caused the binding of the karmic particles. Excess positive karmic bondage makes a soul to be born in heaven. Excess negative karmic bondage makes a soul to be born in hell. In order to attain liberation, both positive and negative bondages have to be exhausted and further influx of karma has to be stopped. It is the constant contact of the soul with the matter that keeps the soul in the Samsara or the cycle of birth and death. As long as the soul is bound by karma, so long it has to stay in the samsara or be caught in the cycle of birth and death. As the oil is latent in the seeds, ghee in the milk and fire in the wood, the karma is latent in all actions. If the bondage accumulated by the soul in the past life is evil then soul is considered to be bound by the iron chains. If the bondage accumulated by the soul in the past life was good then the soul is considered to be bound by the golden chains. In both cases the soul is bound. Unless all the karmic bondage is exhausted, the soul remains in the cycle of birth and death. When a soul exits a body on death, by the weight of its karma it is drawn towards another state (gati) where it binds the soul to another body. When the soul frees itself from both the good and bad karma it
becomes a Siddha (liberated soul). Thus attaining its true state and forever is free from cycle of birth and death. The mind, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin are said to be the sense organs and the hands, legs, mouth, anus and genitalia are said to be the action organs.
NAVA TATTVA
The single most important subject in the Jain practice dealing with the karma are the Nava Tattvas that furnish the basics of the path of liberation. The full and proper knowledge of this is essential and foremost important for a man to progress in his spiritual life. I am going to give a brief account of Nava Tattvas here. Nine Tattvas (Principles) 1. Jiva - Soul 2. Ajiva - Non-living substances 3. Asrava - Cause of the influx of karma 4. Bandha - Bondage of karma 5. Punya accumulated good deeds which produce good results 6. Papa - Sin 7. Samvara - Stoppage or arrest of the influx of karma 8. Nirjara - Exhaustion of the accumulated karma 9. Moksha - Total liberation from karma 1. Jiva (Soul) We have already discussed. 2. Ajiva (Non-living) Substances Except soul, everything else in the entire universe is a non-living substance.
3. Asrava (Cause of the influx of karma) Asrava is described as the cause leading to the inflow of the karma causing the bondage of the soul. There are 17 major causes 25 minor that are causes described. Example: Ignorance, Lack of self-restraint, carelessness, emotional actions like anger, conceit, deceit, and lust, activities of mind, speech and body and causing others to use their mind, speech and body. 4. Bandha (Karmic Bondage) When the karmic particles attach to the soul it causes bondage. The karmic bondage has four properties. Prakriti bandha Nature of karmic bondage. 1. Ghati Bandha (Dangerous Karmic bondage) 2. Aghati Bandha (Non-dangerous karmic bondage) Duration of karmic bondage. Types of experiences or the fruits the Karmic bondage causes. Quantity of Karmic bondage
Sthiti bandha Anubhava bandha Pradesa bandha
Prakriti Bandha (Nature of Karmic bondage): When Karma attaches to the soul, it eclipses the true nature of the soul. The different ways in which the true properties are eclipsed are described below. Ghati Bandha (Dangerous Karmic bondage) Jnana-varaniya Bandha: It eclipses the soul's basic quality of perfect knowledge making it ignorant. Darasna-varaniya Bandha: It eclipses the soul's power of perfect perception. Mohniya Bandha: It causes delusion in the soul with regard to its own true nature causing the soul to identify itself with material substances and relationships.
Antaraya Bandha: This type of karmic bondage prevents the soul from attaining liberation. It also prevents a living being from doing something good and enjoyable. Aghati Bandha (Non-dangerous Karmic bondage) Vedniya Bandha: It eclipses the blissful nature of the soul. Nama Bandha: It eclipses the non-material existence of the soul and produces the body with its limitations, qualities, faculties, etc. Gotra Bandha: It determines the family, social standing, and personality, etc of the soul. Ayu Bandha: It determines the lifespan of different births. Lifespan as an heavenly being, animal, human being etc. 5. Punya (The good fruit baring bondage) The karmic bondage that produces or effects good fruits and pleasures in life is called as Punya. There is no word in English that can accurately describe this word. A soul bound by this type of karmic bondage is said to be bound by golden chains. Excess of Punya makes the soul to take birth in the heaven. Nine kinds of punya are described: Anna Punya: This kind of Punya is gained by giving food to the deserving destitute who are hungry. Depending on the amount of this Punya a person may be born as a merchant, ruler or may enjoy some other good position in the next life. Pana Punya: This kind of punya is gained by giving water to the thirsty. There is no harm in giving un-boiled water to the lay man, but for a monk only boiled water must be given. Vastra Punya: This kind of punya is gained by giving clothes.
Layana Punya and Sayana Punya: This type of punya is gained when a man rents his house for less or provides shelter for the destitute. Running the orphanages and other services that help the needy with honest and self-less manner are said to provide highest rewards. Mana Punya: This type of punya is gained by thinking and wishing well to all. Kaya Punya or Sarira Punya: This punya is gained by doing service or saving life. There is a story that describes this. Once, a very terrible fire raged in a forest and all the animals rushed to a safe spot to take shelter. An elephant that had also taken shelter there moved to change its position and as it raised its leg a rabbit ran under it. The elephant noticed that if it put its leg down then the rabbit would be crushed at once and there was no other place that the rabbit could move to. The elephant decided to keep its foot in the air. It continued to hold its foot in the air for hours and hours. This got the elephant the Sarira Punya and in the next birth the elephant was born as a prince. Vachana Punya: Punya is also gained by speaking without hurting others. But flattery and other dishonest lies will gain the opposite of Punya that is sin. Namaskara Punya: This Punya is gained by saluting and showing reverence to the Jain monks and bowing to the elderly such as our parents, grandparents and elder brothers. A man with excess of Punya is born in heaven after death and after spending his tenure according to the merit of the positive Karmic bondage returns to earth and takes up another worldly body that his remaining karmic bondage entails. The Punya also causes a man to be born in a rich family, gives a man a handsome body, the man gets respects from whoever he meets, etc. Around 42 ways in which these Punya are enjoyed are also described briefly in the Nav Tattva principles.
Pap (Sin) The soul that is in the bondage of sin is said to be bound by the iron chains and is dragged down to hell and suffers from misery. This type of karmic bondage produces negative effects and pain in a life of a living being that is caught in the cycle of birth and death. Around 18 kinds of sin and 82 different results that it produces are described. In this category both the sins and the factors that cause a man to sin are described. Himsa: Inflicting pain, torturing, Killing. Killing is described as the biggest sin. Whether be it an ant or an elephant, the sin incurred is the same. Note to common people: Practicing non-violence in no way means to be a walkover or a doormat. In everyday life we meet and interact with all kinds of people and it is of most importance to ascertain what kind of people we are interacting with or dealing with. While you may be acting with compassion, on the other hand the person you are interacting with may be a wicked man. Understand that while there good people all around, there are also thieves, conmen, etc. Remember these two adages: 1. The straight trees are cut first. (Therefore, be careful.) 2. A snake, however, non-poisonous it may be must scare people away. Otherwise, it will be beaten to death. The himsa is again divided into two categories: 1. Bhava Himsa: Thinking about inflicting pain on others or thinking about killing others. Constantly thinking about killing may eventually lead to real killing. And also If one does not continuously strive for selfdevelopment, or strive to complete ones education, or does not strive to improve ones mind, or does not strive to discipline ones self, etc, one commits Bhava Himsa. Further, for instance, there are two boys playing with a ball. One of them hits the cow and repents and the other hits the cow and feels proud of it then the Second boy will have far more heavier Karma to purge than the first boy. 2. Dravya Himsa: Actual Killing of a living being. Committing suicide. Smoking, drinking alcohol, doing drugs that harm the body, etc.
Asatya or Marisavada (Untruthfullness or lying): There are four ways the people talk: People may tell truth. People may tell absolute lies. They may occasionally tell white lies(A harmless or trivial lie, esp. one told to avoid hurting someone's feelings). They may talk with half-truth-half-lie pattern or mixture of truth and lies. A man must always strive to speak the truth. Absolute lies and speaking in a mixture of truth and lie is a huge sin. Adattadana (Dishonesty): Apart from stealing(taking things that belongs to others without their permission), this also includes cheating, conning, treason. Keeping others lost property or money, making illegal profits, etc. account for this sin. Abhramacharya: Celibacy is a strict rule that the monks follow. Parigraha: Possessiveness or excessive attachment. Krodha: Anger. Mana: Conceit, excessive pride of ones social status, family lineage, strength, form, wealth, reputation, knowledge, position in the government office etc. Maya Intrigue (The secret planning of something illicit or detrimental to someone) and cheating. Lobha: Avarice or extreme greed. The quote Loba Papanaam Mula, excessive greed is the root cause of sin, is a well-known adage all over India. Kasaya: The duration of time for which the four emotions anger, intrigue, conceit and greed are held in once mind. Kasaya is divided into 25 divisions including 9 minor kasayas.
Raga or Asakti: Excessive emotional indulgence of love, affection, etc. The attachment of the soul to the worldly matters draws it back to the worldly life. Dvesa: Envy and Grudge. Klesa: Quarrelsomeness. Abhyakhyana: Making false and damaging statements about someone. Rumormongering and Slander. Paisunya: This is another type of rumormongering and slander which involves telling false and damaging stories about someone. Ninda: Always criticizing and finding faults with others. Rati and Arati: Lack of self-control at the times of joy and sorrow. Mayamrisa: Hypocrisy. This is illustrated by giving the example of a stork. A stork stands on the banks of the river on only one leg pretending to have the least possible connection to this world or to the things happening around it, but when a fish appears near, it swoops down and kills it. Mithya-Darshana salya: Holding superstations and wrong beliefs. A wrong belief makes a man to take wrong actions that in turn brings heavy karmic bondage. Around 82 results of the sin are described in the Jain texts briefly.
Samvara (Stopping the inflow of the Karma) The methods to stop the inflow of fresh Karma are described. A man must neither act through his mind, speech and body nor should he cause others to act through their mind, speech and body. When the supply of water to a tank is stopped the water in the tank gradually decreases and dries up due to consumption and evaporation. Similarly, the Karmic bondage of a man that he acquired through millions of births gets annihilated if there is no influx of further Karma. There are 57 practical ways through which a person can stop the influx of karma. These 57 ways are divided as follows 5 types of Samitis: Carefulness 3 types of Guptis: Preservation 10 types of Yati Dharma: Monk virtues and practices 12 types of Bhavna: Reflections or Thoughts 22 types of Parishaha: Subduing of Suffering 5 types of Charitra: Conduct Five Samitis (Carefulness): Samitis purify the actions Irya Samiti: Bhasha Samiti: Eshna Samiti: Adana Nikshepa Samiti: Utsarga Samiti: Proper Proper Proper Proper Proper care care care care care in in in in in walking speaking asking taking and keeping disposing of waste
Three Guptis (Preservations): Guptis prohibits sinful activities Mano Gupti: Vachan Gupti: Kaya Gupti: Control over Mind Control over Speech Control over Body
Ten Yati Dharma (Ten Virtues of a monk): Uttam Uttam Uttam Uttam Uttam Uttam Uttam Uttam Uttam Uttam Kshama: Mardava: Aarjava: Saucha: Satya: Samyam: Tapa: Tyaga: Akinchanya: Brahmacharya: Supreme Forgiveness Supreme Modesty or Humility Suprreme Straightforwardness Supreme Contentment or purity Supreme Truthfulness Supreme Self-restraint Supreme Austerity, Penance, meditation Supreme Renunciation Supreme Non-attachment Supreme Celibacy
Twelve Reflections (Thoughts, Bhavna, or Anupreksa): Anitya Bhavna: Impermanence of the world. One must constantly remember and reflect that this world is transient, our body, family, social status, etc. Once, a beggar after having eaten a very tasty and delicious meal slept under a tree. He dreamt that he was a king and had four beautiful wives who admired him. A beautiful throne that he sat upon and people bowed to him with respect. When he woke up he found that all his glory and wealth had vanished and he was only left with his torn bedding and a begging bowl. Similarly, in this life we must expect everything to pass away. Asarana Bhavna: No one provides protection or shelter. One must constantly reflect that there is no permanent shelter or protection for oneself. Once, there lived a handsome and wealthy landowner whose handsomeness was adored by everyone. One day, he was infected with a disease of the eye. His family and the doctors efforts were futile in lightening his pain. He gradually realised that no one can protect him from a disease, death and old age. This reflection caused him to withdraw from this world and when he promised to become an ascetic monk, his infection healed immediately. He renounced this world and became an ascetic. One must constantly reflect that there is no protection from disease and death.
Samsara Bhavna: One must constantly reflect on the cycle of birth and death. Ekatva Bhavna: One must constantly reflect that one was born alone and dies alone. Here is a story the king Nami describing how he realised the true meaning of this reflection. Once, the king fell very ill and the physician ordered that the only remedy for the illness was rubbing sandalwood over the kings body. Each queen terrified at the thought of being widowed grabbed a sandalwood and started rubbing a part of the kings body. The bangles in their hands jingled as they rubbed. The king irritated by the sound of bangles yelled at them to stop. Instantly, each of the ladies removed all their bangles except one (taking all the bangles would have been a bad omen since it would be looked upon as anticipating widowhood) and the rubbing proceeded in silence. After a few moments the king asked them what they had done and they replied that they were now wearing only one bangle. The meaning of the reflection that he had heard so often now dawned on him. Exclaiming that he was born alone and must die alone he renounced his kingdom. Anyatva Bhavna: One must constantly reflect that the soul is separate from the body and material world. Asuci Bhavna: One must constantly reflect that the body is impure and is filled with filth. Asrava Bhavna: One must reflect that the karma is flowing and constantly binding the soul in the cycle of birth and death. Samvara Bhavna: One must reflect that stopping of the inflow of the karma is the first step towards liberation. Nirjara Bhavna: One must reflect that shedding of all karma leads to liberation. Loka Bhavna: One must reflect the universe to be in the form of a man. The feet symbolizing the hell, the stomach region symbolizing the place where the humans and other worldly beings live, the face symbolising the heaven and the top of the head symbolizing the adobe of the liberated souls which is the aim of every single soul.
Bodhi-durlabha Bhavna: One must constantly reflect that it is difficult to obtain right knowledge, right perception and right conduct. Among all the living beings it is only the human being who has the ability to obtain these three gems. Dharma Bhavna: A monk must constantly reflects on the 10 ten virtues which are supreme forgivingness, supreme humility, supreme simplicity, supreme purity, supreme truthfulness, supreme self-restraint, supreme austerity (it is called as uttam tapasya there is no word in English that can exactly describe the word tapasya sometimes meditation is also used to mean tapasya), supreme renunciation or self-sacrifice, supreme possession-less-ness or non-possessiveness, supreme celibacy. Nirjara (Exhaustion of the attached karma) The exhaustion of karma is described in this. The exhaustion happens gradually like the water seeping out of a porous jar. The chief ways for the reduction of the karmic bondage is burning it up with heat of austerities. Two types of austerities are described the external and internal. External Nirjara: Anasan: Complete abstinence of eating any food and drinking liquid for a certain period of time. Alpahara or Unodary: Reduction in the quantity of food one normally eats. Vrittisankshep or Ichhanirodha: Willingly limiting the food one eats. Rasatyaga: Giving up attachments over tasty foods and pleasures. Kayaklesa: The monks undertake this austerity by traveling bare foot in severe hot and cold weather conditions. Sitting and meditating in the summer on heated stones; and in the winter, meditating even when it is cold.
Samlinata: This is plasticised in four ways Indriya Samlinatha: Governing and controlling the temptations of the senses. Kasaya Samlinatha: By exercising control over anger, decide, pride, and greed. Yoga samlinatha: Sitting silently in the lotus position or meditating posture. Internal Nirjara: Prayaschita: Repentance for the breach of vows for spiritual purification. Vinaya: Politeness and showing respect towards elderly people or family members. Vaiyavrata: Doing selfless service to the ascetics. Helping the needy and deserving. Svadhyaya: Self-study. Studying the right spiritual teachings. Dhyana: Meditation. There are four types of meditation a man does. Two are dangerous and two are auspicious. Dangerous ones: Artha Dhyana: Grieving too much about the dead or the past. Rrudra Dhyana: Remembering and thinking with anger about the personal injuries that one may have suffered and brooding over them. Auspicious ones: Dharma dhyana: Thinking and contemplating about the spiritual teachings. Shukla Dhyana: Soul meditating on itself free from the worldly thoughts. Kayotsarg or Utsarga: Relinquishing all bodily activities and standing or sitting in a meditative posture for long hours. This is described as one of the effective ways of destroying karmas.
Moksha (Liberation) When the soul is free of all karmic bondages, including the positive and the negative ones, it is said to be liberated. The adobe where all the liberated souls reside is called the Moksha. Once the soul attains Moksha (liberation), it never returns to the Samsara or the cycle of birth and death.
THE FOCUS
Happiness and help come from within and not from outside. The souls are also classified into three categories namely antarratma, bahiratma, and parmatma. Antaratma (concentrated on the self, introverted, and self-contemplating, focused inwardly), bahiratma (externally projected and driven by senses), and parmatama (supreme soul). The supreme souls are divided into two categories Arihanta and Siddhas. The Bahiratma is always motivated by the external pleasures and driven by senses. It undergoes constant emotional changes due to the constantly changing nature of the external world. One moment it experiences happiness and the other moment sadness. A soul which is focused outwardly can never be happy. The idea of creation and god makes a soul externally oriented. The singing of devotional songs, reciting prayers and other such activities only give the soul a temporary emotional peak. Slowly, a man gets addicted to these emotional peaks that the religious ceremonies provide. The external focus makes the mind weak and lowers the will power and makes a man susceptible to emotional peaks and valleys. A man who is focused externally can never be happy or content. Whereas, a man who is inwardly focused, who regulates and controls his mind and emotions and does austerities, gains self-control and happiness easily.
THE SPIRITUALITY IN THE INDIA AND THE EAST The spirituality in India is samsara and Moksha, i.e., belief in cycle of birth and death and liberation. A mans life is divided into four parts: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. Dharma (student life, gaining knowledge), artha (earning wealth), kama (enjoyment of pleasures of life), moksha (performing austerities and penance in old age). The whole spirituality is centred on the laws karma, the cycle of birth and death and liberation. The heaven and hell are not permanent. The excess of good karmic bondage leads to heaven and excess of negative karmic bondage leads to hell. Once the soul completes its tenure in heaven and hell, it returns to earth. For a soul caught in the cycle of birth and death, i.e, samsara, painpleasure, loss-gain, and life-death are inevitable. For an ordinary man in India, the human life is like a capital. Profit means being born in heaven. Loss means being born in hell or being born as an animal. Neutral would be to be born as a man again. Karma determines everything. The spiritual ideas were followed by people who had the first knowledge of zero and gave mathematics to the world. People who knew the earth was spherical and that it orbited on its own axis. People who knew that the planets did not have their own light even before telescopes were invented.
WESTERN AND FOREIGN SUPERSTITION
They believe that the universe is a creation, supposed to have been created by someone called as god, who never shows up, but instead out of billions of human beings living on the planet only interacts with one human being or sends his angels to interact with a single human being. He has never showed up to the Buddhist monks who have been meditating on the Himalayas from centuries, but is supposed to have revealed himself in a desert. They believe that there is no transmigration and after death it is either heaven or hell for eternity. According to them whoever believes in their god is going to heaven for eternity and whoever doesnt is going to hell for eternity. According to them if a man who is noble and who has worked for the empowerment of society, who has helped hundreds of people, who does regular charities and donations, who follows the tenets of truth and justice, but believes in Sri Rama is going to hell irrespective of his good deeds and will be burnt in hell fire for eternity. But whereas a man whose life has been unholy, who has committed murders, who is corrupt, who has indulged in anti-social activities, if he seeks shelter in their god will go to heaven and live there for eternity. The idea of god and spending eternity in heaven and hell is totally absurd and nonsensical and has to be rejected. Why did god create something like earth and hell when only heaven would have been enough? Why there is so much of indifference in the society, why are people created as rich, poor and middle class? Why are there human right violations? If he is omnipotent he could announce to the entire world about himself for once and end all the confusion, but why reveal himself to only single person?
If someone called god is testing the man, then human beings are just space monkeys and guinea pigs and not actually human beings. A person who cannot trust his own creation or doubts his creation is not an omniscient and omnipotent and cannot be god. One must understand that the western superstitions were propagated by people who had no scientific knowledge whatsoever. These were the people who believed that the earth was flat and in other nonsensical and unscientific theories. Their superstition which is deceitfully packaged as religion and god has been propagated by people who did not understand the three worldly aims of a man and the aim of a soul. Their ideas must be rejected.
KNOWLEDGE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS
A man brings pleasure or pain, loss or gain upon himself due to his thinking and karma. A man is a master of his own destiny. Wrong knowledge brings wrong perception, wrong perception brings wrong conduct and wrong conduct brings wrong results and puts a man into a downward spiral. Right knowledge brings right perception, right perception brings right conduct and right conduct brings right results and puts a man in an upward spiral. Thats why they say rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The type of Knowledge a man acquires determines his perception and his perception determines his actions.
Right Knowledge Right Perception Right Conduct

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SPIRITUAL LITERACY

Right Knowledge Right Perception Right Conduct

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