I. We have so far seen the pathway to perfection
through the practice of Yoga and the stages of self- realization. But the
transcendental perfection is to be rooted in the empirical life; as we
cannot ignore the empirical for the transcendental. We have first to
learn to live a good life in this world and then we can go higher to
spiritual perfection, or else it would be like one aiming at climbing the
Mount Everest without setting a foot on the base camp or without training
oneself for mountaineering. Moral excellence is, therefore, as much
important as spiritual perfection.
It has been alleged that the Jaina outlook, as of other ancient Indian
though, is negative. In their zeal for the otherworldly ends they have
ignored the things of the world; lie negation and not life affirmation is
the dominant spirit of their outlook; and it is throughout pessimistic.
For Jains ultimate spiritual excellence could be attained by the gradual
process of getting moral excellence. The good man can reach the destiny
of perfection of the soul. There is no short cut to moksa. As we
have seen in the last chapter, Schweitzer maintains that the problem of
deliverance in the Jaina and the Buddhist though is not raised beyond
ethics. In fact it was the supreme ethic, and it was an event full of
significance for the thought of India. And in Indian though category of
Dharma is important. “So far as the actual ethical content is concerned,
Buddhism Jainism and Himduism are not inferior to others.” Suffering in
the world is a fact: sarvam duhkham was one of the cardinal principles of
the Buddha. Misery leads to think of an escape from the bonds of this
life. In this sense all philosophy is pessimistic. But, the ultimate
ideal of a Jaina is perfection and life- negation is a means to an end.
It is the negation of empirical values of life and not of the supreme
values; and ethics leads to realization of the supreme values. In the
west the Helenic ideal was to be a good citizen, to attain excellence in
this life. The Vedic Aryans aimed at happiness and good life in the world
and heaven hereafter. The Indian seers realized that we have to
transcend the empirical to reach pure perfection, or else we have no
lasting peace. Yet the empirical is a stepping stone for the
transcendental perfection. Moral life, therefore, is important as the
pathway to perfection. The ways of flesh and mind are to be channelised
to the pathway to perfection giving Caesar what is due to him. Ethics for
the Jainas is working in righteousness all the days of one’s life. Of the
triple ways to perfection enunciated by the Jainas, Samyak- caritra is
equally important. It is a way leading to moksa: without hunger and
thirst for righteousness we shall not enter the kingdom of perfection.
Caritra is predominately activistic. It refers to moral and spiritual
excellence. It implies willed activity, and samyak- caritra (right
activity) is an important step one has to adopt in the pathway to self-
realisation. To attain samyaktva is not an easy task. One has to be ripe
for it. Samyaktva is possible for one who has attained Samyag – drsti
(right faith) and Samyga- jnana (right knowledge). One who has cleared the
darkness of the deluding karma and who possesses knowledge adopts Samyak-
caritra. It consists in avoiding the influx of karma (asrava) coming as
it does from the practice of himsa (injury to life), anrta (untruth),
steya (stealing) and other forms of sense pleasures. Samyaktva has been
assimilated to the status of a vrata and presented with five aticaras
(infraction). They were enumerated as early as the Tattvarthasutra,
though not found in the canon. Without entering into the minor
discrepancies of the Digambara and Svetambara version of the essential
qualities of samyaktva, we may mention the characters of Samyaktva.
Samyaktva (rightness) is characterised by I) samvega (spiritual craving),
ii) Sama (stilling of the passion), iii) nirveleda ( disgust for sense
pleasures), iv) bhakti ( devotion), v) anukampa (compassion), vi) ninda
(remorse for the evil acts of relatives and others), vii) garner
(repentance expressed in the from of alocana made in the presence of Guru)
and viii) vatsalya (loving kindness to the living). Samyaktva expresses
itself in nihsanka (freedom from doubt), nihkanksa (desirelessness),
nirguhana (absence of repugnance), amudha- drsti (absence of perversity of
attitude.
The description of the nature of Samyaktva as shown above has a great
psychological significance. It presents the mental setting required for
developing character and personality as needed for spiritual progress. The
instructive tendencies and emotions have to be channelized and directed by
transformation and sublimation with a view to attaining mental equipoise.
Ethically considered the characteristics of Samyak- caritra present a
back- ground and a canvas for the illumination of one’s self towards the
goal of attaining perfect equanimity and spiritual strength.
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