The Science of Religion (i)
Let us start with karma. (Do not be put off by the fact
that some of these terms are not familiar in plain everyday English: every
science has its own technical words, and the science of religion is no
exception.) Karma just means actions, or deeds. When we talk about the
'law of karma' all we mean is that a person's physical and mental make-up
and fortune in life can be traced back to the effects of his or her
previous actions, in this, or an earlier, life. It is common sense really.
If I eat too much I shall get fat (the effect of my actions). If I control
my appetite then I shall not. If I do not control my desire for
possessions then I shall get greedy and unpleasant. If I do not control my
attitudes to other living creatures then I shall get violent and
unpleasant. All these things add up: all my actions and thoughts help to
make the sort of person I am. And they obviously have their effects on my
position in life. It is true that in the short term violent or greedy or
dishonest people often appear to succeed in life, to reach high positions,
acquire wealth and live in comfort, even though they are feared or
disliked by pleasanter, more honest people. But Jains look at the long
term. They see that violence and greed and dishonesty build up conditions
within the individual which are certain to have their effect eventually.
Every action, whether it is physical or mental, has its
effect. The person who commits continual violence will find himself (or
herself) becoming more and more bound up in the ways of violence, with a
personality becoming more and more twisted and unpleasant. It may take two
or three lifetimes, even more, for the effects really to show. But one
cannot escape them. Of course good actions, kindness and non- violence and
lack of greed equally have their (very different) effects on the
individual's life and personality.
Not only outward actions count but also inward
thoughts. A person who is subject to inward passions may perhaps be
prevented by force of circumstances from giving outward expression to
them. There is obviously no virtue in refraining from violence or
acquisitiveness because you are prevented by circumstances you cannot
control. Suppose that you want to injure a person and you attack an
inanimate dummy, fully believing that it is that person. You may not be
guilty by law, but morally you are as guilty as if you had not been
mistaken. Of course, if you have violent or greedy thoughts and
consciously manage to control them, you are less blameworthy. That is why,
a few lines back, we said that every action, whether it is physical or
mental, has its effect. Our condition in life is the result of the things
we do and the things we think, of our actions and our attitudes.
Jainism is particularly concerned with ethics, with
matters of right and wrong, with morality in its widest sense. This will
be apparent to the reader of this small book. At this point let us
remember that to the Jain the great ethical principles are five in number.
Most important is non- violence, towards all living creatures. The other
four are truthfulness, sexual restraint, not taking the property of
others, and not seeking to accumulate excessive possessions.
Now the effects of karma appear over many lifetimes of
any individual. We know that some people argue that when the death of a
physical body occurs, that is the end of the individual. Frankly this does
not seem very probable: is it likely that all the thoughts and feelings,
the ideas and ideals, the love (and hate), that make up me, or you,
suddenly stop when the body dies? Jains believe, as indeed do most Indian
(and Western) religious thinkers, that the physical body is only a
container for something much more important, for the real individual
inside it. This real individual (Jains call is jiva, sometimes translated
as 'soul' or 'self') leaves the body at death and finds another body,
another container, in which it lives out another life. Naturally the jiva,
which is the real personality of the individual, is still bound by the
effects of its previous behavior, its karma. The condition of the jiva, as
affected by its previous karma, will determine what sort of new life it
will enter into. The effects of a violent and greedy life may be many
lifetimes of misery before the individual has worked all the bad effects
out of the system. Equally the individual whose personality has been
shaped by good and loving behavior in past lives may now be leading a good
and pleasant life.
It is very important to remember that every living
thing, not only human beings, is basically a jiva. In the universe are
countless myriads of jiva, whether contained in the simplest single-celled
living creature or in complex beings with many senses and high
intelligence like humans. From creatures so tiny that we cannot see them,
to plants, birds and animals, all are jiva. And there are beings also,
beyond our normal understanding, living their lives, according to their
karma, in the heavens and hells. In our previous lives we, you and I, have
passed through many different forms, and in the countless lives to come we
shall pass through many more. (This is, of course, the reason why Jains
place such strong emphasis on ahimsa or non-violence: all living things
are jiva, they are all important, even the smallest and apparently most
insignificant, and the true Jain will try his hardest to avoid harm to
any.)
Jain scholars from earliest times right up to the
present have devoted much thought to elucidating and expanding the
explanations of the karma processes as they are given in the ancient Jain
scriptures. This is not easy to put into simple terms. As we said earlier,
the word karma basically means actions. But Indian thinkers use the word
karma for the process, or link, by which the actions of an individual have
their effect on the soul. In most Indian schools of thought karma is seen
as some sort of immaterial force or power, generated by the individual's
actions and feelings, which then produces the effects of those actions on
the soul.
