Ahimsa Day 2008 15th October
Portcullis House
House of Commons
London
Synopsis of the paper presented by Dr Rashmikumar Zaveri
Theme: Jainism and Alleviation of Poverty
INTRODUCTION
Jainism is one of the oldest living religions of the world. Mahavir was not the founder of Jainism but a rejuvenator, propagator and exponent of it. He was born as a prince in 599 BC. His entire teachings revolve around purification of soul. His values are based on five vows of non violence, devotion to truth, non-stealing, celibacy and non-possession. The quintessence of his Sermon was compassion.
The Jain philosophy is essentially a super spiritual ideology, with the final emancipation from the mundane state as its summum bonum, which means end of the perennial sufferings. A very relevant corollary of this high objective is that the sufferings in the worldly life also cannot be mitigated through material and economic developments only. The whole humankind is making strenuous efforts for such developments through science and technology and gigantic macroeconomic projects. But, alas! The result is quite the opposite. The more we achieve, the more are the problems. We are getting materially richer and richer but simultaneously less and less happy. We are afflicted by the virus of, in the words of Oliver James, ‘Affluenza’. Let us try to evolve a new paradigm of philosophy, mainly based on Jainism through which a balanced view of life can be made acceptable and a viable sustainable development can be made. Before we discuss the Jain concept of economics, let us briefly have a picture of global poverty.
Poverty
A recent report of the World Bank on latest estimation of global poverty states that the global poor living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 per day is pegged at as many as1.4 billion people! These statistics are based on estimates of the purchasing power parity (PPP) made by the World Bank. These shocking facts reveal the extent of poor people living below poverty line and their ranks are swelling
But according to me the real issue is not alleviation of poverty. Because “poverty” is a relative term. Its definition and connotation change with reference to time, place and individual view point. The real issue that should be addressed is how to make available the most basic and primary needs of a human being- food, clothing and shelter and the minimum adequate medical and education facilities to all.
Jainism offers a direct solution to this issue and suggests following steps to alleviate the problem of global poverty: Jainism advocates a life-style based on the cardinal principles of spiritualism – ahimsa, stoicism, reduction and/or giving up the desire for material things. It says that one should pursue one’s needs rather than one’s wants
This brings us to the Economics of Mahavir.
Mahavir’s Economics
Lord Mahavir said, “Dhammo mangal mukkitham ahimsa, sanjamo tao”. That means Religion or spirituality based on non-violence i.e. ahimsa, restraint and austerity is the best auspicious for mankind. Mahavir’s economics is based on these three principles. He was not an economist and He didn’t express any views on economic principles directly, but Acharya Mahapragya (receiver of today’s Ahimsa Award) has developed these principles from the farmer’s utterances on renunciation and self-restraint. Mahavir has laid down the standards governing desires and prescribed the limits of consumption. We must realize that economic systems emerge from interactive human behaviour. The imbalance in the economic social order is generated by man’s deviation from a righteous path. Mahavir studied these patterns of human behaviour and propensities for deviation and laid down a twelve-fold code of conduct for his disciples based on twelve small vows.
One of these vows, viz., yathasamivibhaga vrata, that means sharing plays an important role in giving rise to a new economic model envisioned. This vow alone, if observed by most of the people of this world, can create a sustainable and non-violent society in the world. Mahavir goes to the extent of saying that asamvibhagassa hu natthi mokkho meaning he who does not share his resources, eatables and other objects of daily use with others will not attain liberation.
Another important vow is upabhoga-paribhoga parimana.. It says that one should daily make a list of things or articles of daily consumption that one will use during the day and refrain from consuming any other article. Mahavir said annahanam pasae pariharejja. He said that a seer or an enlightened person will consume things differently. He will use and consume only those things which are absolutely necessary for his sustenance. He will not waste anything nor will he crave or pine for unnecessary or luxurious things. He will not succumb to his desires for material things
Economics of Mahavir lays down following cardinal principles:
- The central focus should be man and not money or material
- One should voluntarily limit his desires and needs A man’s richness should be measured not by the amount of his material wealth but by the fewness of his wants.
- One should earn his livelihood by his own labour and refrain from exploiting labour of others.
- One should not resort to unfair, unethical, immoral, dishonest or illegal means to earn his livelihood. One should not cheat others {e.g. using wrong weights or measures}, nor resort to adulteration nor sell spurious articles
- One should put a limit on one’s personal consumption. One should not buy or consume or accumulate things which are not necessary for his livelihood.
- One should put a voluntary limit on accumulation of wealth. If he is fortunate to earn more than this limit by his skill, dexterity or labour, he should consider himself as a trustee of that extra wealth, rather than considering himself as owner of it.
Economics is the science of material prosperity while the voluntary limitation of accumulation of wealth is the science of peace as prescribed by Mahavir. Man does need economic resources – both natural resources and man made products – both of which are necessarily limited. Now if majority of these are owned and or controlled by a few individuals or nations, there will be imbalance of economic affluence and economic power. This will always lead to unrest. Greed, tendency of wanton spending and uncontrolled consumption of the rich have pushed up the prices of basic necessities. The tendency to purchase certain things at any cost- just because of the fancy of the rich and their capacity – has sent the prices sky- rocketing beyond the reach of the ordinary man.
LIFE STYLE PRESCRIBED BY MAHAVIR
Mahavir prescribed a life style of balancing. He advocated the principle of self-discipline, restraint, abnegation, sacrifice and voluntary limitation of accumulation of wealth. He said that. Initially wants arise from hunger, and then the wants themselves turn into hunger – hunger for more wealth, more accumulation, more consumption, leading to loss of direction and peace.
The root of the problem lies in our lifestyle propelled by competitive modern economics which is totally devoid of ethical values. It is making people self-centered, greedy, insensitive and violent.
If economics continues to remain merely the economics of utility, it will not be possible for us to remove social disparities. Only if the basic human values like non-violence, peace, purity of means, self-restraint as propounded by Lord Mahavir are integrated with the modern economic principles, it will bring about a big change in social outlook towards production, distribution and consumption. It will also result in the fulfilment of the primary needs of the poor and weaker sections of society. Lord Mahavir has laid down the vow of non-possession for ascetics. He knew that it was not possible for the house-holders to refrain completely from possession, so he propounded the principle of limiting individual desires and wants. If an individual can limit his desires and wants, it will pave the way for an economically sustainable society.
One of the essential steps in changing the life-style is bringing about a change in pleasure seeking life-style. Pleasure seeking is not bad in itself, but now thirst for pleasure has become limitless. If the desire for pleasure and comfort becomes insatiable, the appetite for glamour and pleasure will forever go on increasing. Jainism firmly believes in the aphorism: “samyamah khalu jeeanam” which means discipline coupled with stoicism is life. Life is where discipline is. If passion increases, the entire world may find itself on the brink of annihilation.
ECONOMICS OF NON-VIOLENCE, PEACE AND CO-EXISTENCE
Violence and acquisitiveness (parigraha) are inseparably welded together. Voluntary limiting the possession and consumption of material objects through curbing own cravings and pining called Iccha-parimana is the best solution for solving the problem of global poverty The vow of Ichha-parimana should be associated with modern economics and concept of development. This will evolve new paradigm in economics, leading to develop “Economics of Non-violence and Peace’. This will minimize the disparity between the rich and the poor and combat the problems on humanitarian basis by giving a new life-style. This will make our life happy and peaceful in true sense of the words.
Practice of Preksha Meditation is a practical form of spiritualism capable of bringing about bio-chemical transformation including neuro-endocrinal secretions and hormones. This ultimately makes psyche (and mind) free from perturbance, delusion, agonies etc. We shall have to re-define the basic philosophical principles and interpret them in context of the global problems, and apply them to find out the solutions thereof, which can be accepted globally.
To overcome the problems of unnecessary violence, fundamentalism, environmental crisis, socio-cultural conflicts, human solidarity and techno-scientific challenges we need a holistic thinking, peaceful co–existence, socio-economic policies governed by ethico-spiritual or eco-human values and self-restraint lifestyle followed by training in non-violence and transformation of consciousness.
The ideas of balanced and sustainable development, global ethics, inter-cultural dialogue, equality, justice and peaceful co-existence unfold themselves in the restraint, compassionate, rational and Jain ethics of tolerance, inter-connectivity, reciprocity.