Religion & Society:
Relativism is not limited to spiritualism. We Jains are expected to apply it to all spheres of life. Analyzing every concept and situation in the light of relativism will help us minimize violence, physical as well as mental.
The theory of relativism consists of seven aspects. These include the positive aspect (SYAT ASTI), the negative aspect (SYAT NASTI), the aspect of inexpressibility (SYAT AVAKTAVYA), and their combinations. On the surface, the positive and negative aspects seem to be contradictory. However, the following examples show that they are correlative.
(Note: For a discussion of relativism, please see 'The Doctrine Of Relativism' by T. U. Mehta, 'Studies In Jainism: Reader 2', pages 141-147.)
Games of Chance: Innocent Fun or ... :
According to common perception, gambling and visits to casinos is good clean fun. Some Jain institutions even employ them to raise funds for 'good causes', disregarding the fact that such incidents can cause addiction to gambling. However, a story written by Steve Friess, entitled, 'The Dark Side of Gambling', broadcast on CBS News on May 22, 2005, presents the ominous consequences of gambling. The story presents a number of instances depicting the sufferings of many individuals who indulged in gambling. Here are some individual cases:
"Frankie Suarez knows that had things worked out differently, she'd be comfortably retired now and finally taking those European vacations her husband, Tony, had promised her. Instead, she's still working in her late 60s, dishing out food at a hospital cafeteria and relying on those meager wages plus social security to pay her rent.
"Tony Suarez shot himself to death in 1999, leaving behind a wrenching note apologizing for the disaster he'd made of their finances and their lives. His demise wasn't altogether a surprise; Mrs. Suarez watched helplessly as he took two years to squander their once considerable savings at the blackjack table of a nearby casino since they moved here (Las Vegas) in the mid-1990s from Baltimore. "He had no control over it, I know that," she says quietly ... I just wish we [had] understood the problem sooner. It all happened so fast. He had a problem and we did not know what to do. Neither of us wanted to admit what was happening.
"The dark side of gambling - the urge to risk all again and again - has led to untold numbers of cases like that of the Suarez family. Such addiction is a nationwide problem, as much a part of gambling as bright lights and ivory dice."
Observations of an Indian visitor:
Positive and Negative Aspects of Modernism:
In February 2005, Mr. Mukund Kulkarni, a visitor from India, published his observations about USA on the Hindi website 'webdunia.com'. The title of the article is 'America: On The Zenith Of Prosperity'. Here are some of the positive and negative aspects that he has presented.
Commenting on the present state of the world, Mr. Kulkarni pointed out that there have been certain natural disasters such as the tsunami in 2004. People have no control over them. The only recourse is that we make proper use of our knowledge and time.
Mr. Kulkarni raised the question: How can anyone support the violence motivated by selfishness and/or the anxiety of future? With the excuse of self-defense, nations spend money on war material, neglecting the essentials for survival, such as pure drinking water, nourishing food, education and health care. Shouldn't we endeavor to minimize the exploitation of man by man and extravagant use of natural resources by all?
Mr. Kulkarni observed that we Indians have forgotten the Vedic precept: The entire world is my family (VASUDAIVAKUTUMBAKAM). Our ancestors believed in 'plain living and high thinking'. Now following the rest of the world, Indians are engaged in the mad pursuit of sensual pleasures. In America, consumerism is on the climax - it is the foundation of its economic policy. However, the economy of America has been in flux during the past few years. Unemployment is on the rise. The country is feeling the pinch regarding pensions, social security and health care.
Researches are being conducted in various fields in this country (USA). They constitute a great gift to all peoples of the world.
The edicts 'the entire world is my family' and 'simple living and high thinking' are worthy of notice by Indians who wish to maintain their culture and traditions.
Price of Prosperity and Comfort - Cycle of Violence:
There is no need to describe the comfortable and affluent life we enjoy in this country. We also feel gratified by the charity that is part of our activities. This is the positive aspect of the state of affairs. But how many of us give a thought to the negative aspect of this situation?
In an interview on the PBS Program 'NOW' of March 18, 2005, conducted by David Brancaccio, actor and playwright, Wallace Shawn, dubbed as 'an American in the dangerous world of 2005', made some pointed remarks: He said, "Violence is underlying the pleasant life that we lead. People are killed on a daily basis in order for us to have the material goods that we enjoy."
Walllace Shawn continues, "And, in a way the whole point of the brutality that powerful countries have always used against the weak is to preserve a pleasant and genteel existence for the upper classes of the powerful country."
David Brancaccio remarked, "And you feel that you're a beneficiary of that?"
Wallace Shawn retorted, "Well, that's the sad reality of it. In other words, basically less privileged people in my country are sent to fight less privileged people in other countries so that the ones who are privileged back at home can lead a life with very little disorder and very little strife, in a way. A pleasant life."
David Brancaccio observed, "But you felt you had to confront that, among other things. That tension. You know, you living your fancy American life, and the nasty reality of the world."
The tension that the common people feel is serious mental violence of self. How many individuals realize that this is a moral issue of prime importance? Do the politicians realize that the cycle of violence only aggravates the problems facing mankind?
Wallace Shawn concludes, "Aunt Dan [representing a common individual] gets the full fun out of privilege and power, and is not embarrassed about it. And if you're a reactionary person and you say, 'Well, I have a privileged life, I didn't kill anybody to get it, I enjoy it, it's fun,' you know, there's a charm that comes from that. Whereas a guy like myself, who is privileged but squirming, and twisting, and there's a worm-like lack of charm to that. [For most individuals] it's more fun in some ways to hang with people who just enjoy their privilege, and don't have any bad feelings about it."
Confessions of an Economic Hitman:
The aid provided by wealthy nations to the poor is exemplary. Everyone on earth applauds these endeavors. However, there is a dark side of the story as presented in a discussion between David Brancaccio and John Perkins on the PBS Program NOW of March 4, 2005. For much of his career, John Perkins was a consultant in international development. His job, he says, was to convince developing countries to borrow money to build expensive projects - projects like roads, dams and power grids that would ostensibly improve the quality of life. But there was a catch: These projects would also leave these countries with more debt than they could ever hope to repay. This crushing debt, Perkins says, left those countries with little choice but to follow America's lead on foreign and economic policies. He is the writer of the controversial book, 'Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man' that has been on the New York Times best seller list for 11 weeks.
The interview contains much food for thought. Among other things, John Perkins stated: "Well, that (improving conditions in the developing world) is what I had learned in business school and that's the model that the World Bank presents. But if you really get to know these countries, and I did, I spent a lot of time in them, what I saw was that the money that was going to build these projects like the hydroelectric projects or the highways or the ports, hardly ever actually made its way to the country.
"The money was transferred from banks in Washington, DC to banks in Houston or San Francisco or New York where most of it went to big US corporations. The ones we heard a lot about these days like Halliburton and Bechtel. And these corporations then built these projects and the projects primarily served the very rich in those countries. And so at some point in time, we economic hit men, we go back into the country and say, 'Look, you owe us a lot of money, you can't pay your debts. Therefore sell us your oil at a real cheap price or vote with us at a UN vote or give us land for a military base or send some of your troops to some country where we want you to support us.'
"There's no question in my mind that this was what I was intended to do. I was to go out and create these projects that would bring billions of dollars back to US corporations and create projects that would put these countries into such deep debt, that in essence, they became part of our empire. They became our slaves in a way.
"The reason I wrote the book, David, is because finally after 9/11 I realized that the American people must know what's going on. Because most Americans don't know ... that 9/11 was just symbolic of a tremendous amount of anger around the world. And we in the United States are not aware of that. September 11th made us somewhat aware of it although I think we've really covered that aspect of it over. We say this is a rogue terrorist.
"Twenty-four thousand people die every day from lack of nutrition. Thirty thousand children die every single day from diseases for which we have cures, for which we have medicines. And that shouldn't be happening. It doesn't need to happen. That's over 50,000 people every single day dying terrible, painful, awful, needless deaths. So 3,000 at the World Trade Center was atrocious, terrible; 200,000 or whatever the tsunami took is atrocious and terrible. And they make the news. But these 50,000 plus that die every single day needlessly don't ever make the news. And their families and the people in those countries are very angry.
"We didn't try to share the wealth. We Americans believe that that's what we're doing. We're a good-hearted compassionate people. But the fact of the matter [is that] the ones who make the decisions [, and] I was in that position [and there] is a lot of people out there today in that position [, who] are getting very wealthy. Their corporations are getting wealthy, and a few families in these developing countries who collaborate with us in this process, are getting fabulously wealthy, too.
"But the poor are getting much poorer and the gap between rich and poor has increased tremendously over the last 30 years. Over this time when the World Bank and the United Nations has told us that we're making improvements, in fact the gap has more than doubled."
The Jain scriptures teach us to minimize violence in all aspects of life, including our business and profession. These revelations teach us that we should carefully consider the impact of our actions on others while taking any steps in our personal and professional lives.