Many a time, a thought has occurred to my mind that someday the civilization could come to an end not by an atom bomb or famine, but by man’s loss of self-control, his unrestrained and continually multiplying wants, exploitative and abusive harnessing of resources and wasteful and often over- consumption. Such are the tensions of our growing artificial and superficial civilization,’ observed Arnold Toynbee. In this jet age of nuclear and biological weapons, threatened by terrorism and silent wars, gripped by fear and insecurity, where violence is the order of the day, crime rate is on the increase, the potential for frustration looms larger than the promise of faith, it is indeed comforting that a reflection on the unique and the universal dimensions of Jainism comes as breeze of fresh air of hope and security.
Religion and religious experiences can be understood as the quest for ultimate reality in order to experience eternal life and joy. Reality is complex and multi-dimensional and religious pluralism which celebrates unity in plurality and plurality in unity is a unique characteristic of the evolving world of today. Reality is transcendental as well as immanent and needs to be thoroughly examined and rightfully experienced for mankind to build a peaceful, harmonious and sustainable society. Respect for one’s faith and the other springs from an insight of reality. Spirituality, religiosity and morality coupled with scientific temper can facilitate man to co-exist with his fellow men in this age of conflict and enable him to resolve conflicts occurring between man and man, man and animal besides man and nature.
The word for religion in the Sramanic tradition was ‘dharma’ which means the nature of all substances or the underlying reality of all things. Jainism has been the greatest propounder of the dharma of non-violence. What we understand as Jainism today was known as Arhat Dharma, Ahimsa Dharma, Nirgrantha Dharma, etc in the past. Jainism belongs to the Sramanic current of thought and is a pre-Vedic tradition which has nurtured the Indian millennia for centuries and has great relevance for the modern world. It is one of the oldest living religions of the world, whose antiquity is traced to pre-historic times. When one hears about Jainism, the first words that ring in one’s mind are Ahimsa i.e., non-violence, vegetarianism and compassion. Jainism is a unique spiritual system that has always demanded that the practitioner question ‘blind religious faith’. In other words, ancient Jain philosophers did not require a ‘leap of faith,’ but on the contrary, applied logic and rationality to satisfy their quest for spirituality. The classical approach of Jainism to spirituality is what the world could use to satisfy the spiritual needs of the 21st century.