Jainism by Quotation

• Whatever you wish for yourself, wish the same for others.
• Jainism relies a great deal on one's own efforts and initiatives, and laws of nature.
• We are the masters of our destiny. ** Attachment and aversion are seeds of Karma, and karma is the source of misery.
• Even the most offended and powerful enemy does not cause as much harm as uncontrolled attachment and aversion do.
• One, who washes away the dirty heap of greed with the water of equanimity and contentment, attains the everlasting happiness, Moksha.
• All the living beings wish to live and do not want to die. That is why tirthankars prohibit the killing of living beings.
• Just as pain is not acceptable to you, it is so with others.
• There is no fear for a person with the right perception.
• Knowledge without right conduct, accepting vows without right faith and performing austerities without self-control are all futile.
• Right faith is the root of the great tree of liberation.
• True austerity results in the absence of desire, and absence of desire results in the salvation.
• A person with right knowledge does not lose him/her self in this material world.
• Just as a millions of lamps are of no use to a blind person, study of numerous scriptures does not do any good to a person without proper conduct.
• Equanimity, tolerance, pure-thought, freedom from attachment and aversion, right conduct, religion, devotion to one's own self - all of these are one and same.
• One should practice religion when he/she is young and healthy.
• In the ocean of the material world, right religion is the best island for supreme shelter.
• The knowledge which reveals the multiple aspects of things in an indirect form and is free from any doubts is called the scriptural knowledge.
• To be Anekäntvädi: 1) Do not insist on your own approach, 2) Accept partial truth as expressed by others, 3) Accept the truth even if it is expressed by adversaries, 4) Accept that the truth can consist of seemingly opposing views, 5) Develop a strong urge to seek truth, 6) Believe in possibilities and 7) Exercise equanimity towards all.
• Shrävak (male householder) or Shrävikä (female householder) is the person who is living in a house, has unconditional faith in the teachings of Jina and at least practices the some of the partial vows (anuvrata).
• Ahimsä holds the key position in the whole scheme of the ethical discipline of the householder and the monk.
• The true religion is consisted of continuous act of compassion.
• Religion is supremely auspicious and its essentials are the practice of nonviolence, self-control and austerity.
• True renunciation consists in developing indifference towards the world, the body and the enjoyment.
• Every soul is in itself absolutely omniscient and blissful. The bliss does not come from outside.
• The essential nature of a thing is called Dharma.
• I am alone, pure, eternal and formless, and possessing the qualities of apprehension and comprehension. There is nothing, not even an atom, that is my own.

"Knowledge without action (conduct) is of no consequence and action (conduct) without knowledge is of no consequence. A lame man can see the fire (has knowledge) but he cannot escape from it (thus his knowledge is ineffective.) On the other hand, a blind man (not knowing in which direction he is running) tries to run away from the fire (takes action) but (without knowledge) he may not be able to escape the fire.""

" Unity of knowledge and action (conduct) leads to the desirable result. These are like two wheels of a chariot which cannot run on one wheel. Everybody knows the story of the lame and blind who got together, escaped the fire in the jungle and reached the town."

"The fire of austerity (conduct) which is associated with the air (oxygen) of knowledge and which has the blaze of chastity, burns the seeds (Karma) that are responsible for worldly life like wildfire burning a heap of hay."

"Jains believe that the complete truth cannot be explained by one view point. To know the complete truth, all angles and all aspects of the given situation need to be analyzed and considered. This approach is called "Anekäntväd" (multiplicity of views and theory of relativity)."

"Anekäntväd is the basis of Jainism. It is the life-force of the Jain philosophy."

"Without whom, even the worldly affairs cannot be carried out, I bow to that Anekäntväd , the only preceptor of the universe."

"Our beliefs in Ahimsä supersedes all concepts, ideologies, rules, customs and practices, traditional or modern, eastern or western, political or economical, self-centered or social"

"Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness) is physical Ahimsä (nonviolence), Syädväd (accepting others words in "some respect") is verbal Ahimsä and Anekäntväd (multiplicity of views) is Ahimsä of thoughts. The violence begins in thoughts, then transforms in speech, and then in physical form."

From Dashvaikälik Sutra:

• Anger (KRODH), pride (MÄN), deceit (MÄYÄ) and greed (LOBH) add to demerit (PÄP). He who is desirous of his own well-being, should completely give up these four passions.
• Anger spoils good relations, pride destroys humility, deceit is detrimental to friendship, while greed destroys everything.
• One should suppress anger by tranquillity. Pride should be replaced by humility. Deceit should be avoided through simplicity (straightforwardness). One should overcome greed through contentment.
• If anger and pride are not controlled, and, if deceit and greed are allowed to increase, then these four evil passions serve to water the roots of the tree of transmigration (Sansär, cycle of birth and death).

From Uttarädhyayan Sutra:

• Anger causes degradation of soul. Pride leads to a low state of existence. Deceit is an impediment (hindrance) to progress towards better state of existence. Greed spoils both, the present and the future lives.
• Knowing that greed has no bounds - all the rice and barley of the entire earth, all the stock of gold and all the cattles of the earth are not sufficient to satisfy the desires of a single individual; the wise should practice austerities.
• Greed always increases with possessions. The more we get, the more we want. In the beginning, we desire far a little wealth and think that it will be sufficient for our needs. On acquiring it, we think that even millions will not be sufficient for our needs.
• By renouncing passions, the soul attains the state of complete freedom, the state (VEETARÄG) beyond attachment and aversion. On attaining the state of non-attachment and non-aversion, the soul becomes indifferent to worldly pleasure and pain.
• By conquering anger, the soul acquires the quality of forgiveness. By conquering pride, the soul gains humility. By giving up deceit, the soul acquires simplicity and straightforwardness. By conquering greed, the soul attains contentment.

o A person who is free from delusion (who understands reality), has no misery. A person who is without any longing has no delusion. A person without greed has no longing. A person who does not have possessions has no greed.