To Admire - A True Jain Value by Dr. Palakh Jain and Aditi Jain

Dr. Palakh Jain

Dr. Palakh Jain is an Associate Professor in the School of Management at Bennett University in Uttar Pradesh, India. A Fellow of IIM- Ahmedabad in Economics area and alumni of Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Palakh was awarded Junior Research Fellowship by the UGC in 2005. She has been chosen as the "Exclusive 20 Emerging Female Leaders" from India by “Women in The World Foundation”, New York.

Aditi Jain

Aditi Jain is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP)® with 20 years of experience across fortune 500 companies, the development sector, international universities, and global start-ups in India and abroad. Presently, as Head of the International Relations and Corporate Outreach Office, she provides strategic direction for setting up and expansion of Bennett University's (BU’s) social responsibility vertical and international office.

Today a Jain scholar told me that he used to admire a Padma Awardee Jain individual (names not mentioned for confidentiality). “Admire” – the word stuck a chord! I reflected on the word and my reflection yielded that “to admire” is a true Jain value.

From childhood, in Jain families, we are taught to look at the gunas (good qualities) of others. I remember one of my Jain students mentioning to me that he doesn’t like college as everyone is criticizing the other and, in his family, he has been taught that one should not criticize. I realized that day that he is a true Jain. Every individual is blessed with both good and bad qualities. However, it is in the hands of the other person to view the good or the bad quality.

I recall a story from Mahabharata: both Yudhistar and Duryodhan were asked to roam in village. The former was told to find a bad person and the latter was asked to go and search for a good person. They both went to the same village and at the same time. Upon their return, Yudhistar said he could not find a single bad person as all were good people. On the other hand, Duryodhan said, he could not find a single good person. The difference in opinions is because a human mind mirror what they have inside them.

Just as an experiment – try two things: criticize and admire. You will realize that you feel terrible when you criticize as it is a sort of ‘himsa’. On the other hand, when you admire someone, you feel joy within, and your heart expands. Scientifically also it has been proven that good hormones are secreted when you admire someone, and the not-so-good ones are secreted when you criticize someone.

The title of the article is “To Admire; A True Jain Value: according to Jains, their Gods (Jinas) are the ones having infinite qualities. In bhakti, a devotee admires the qualities of God as it is said that what you see in others come to you. To become God (the ultimate aim of Jains) one needs to imbibe the qualities that God has. It is only possible if one starts seeing the divinity in other human beings.

Admiration triggers positive emotions like appreciation and empathy which in Jain Bhavana is known as “Pramod Bhavana” (Feeling of Appreciation)

In Pramod bhavana, we admire the success of our friends, spiritual leaders and Arihants. It guides us to recognize, regard, and respect others’ virtues. This Bhavana harnesses love and empowers us to channelize everything good in life. The practice of Pramod is feeling as well as action-oriented and instrumental in developing the virtues such as compassion, friendship, appreciation, and equanimity which are necessary for one’s spiritual growth. Appreciation implies deep respect for the intrinsic worth of every human being. It replaces a mindset of scarcity with abundance which in turn leads to that beautiful feeling of gratitude for everything you have.

Rejoicing (admiring) the virtue starts sprouting the same in our heart. However, admiration should be with a purpose to cultivate that virtue being admired. The inner feeling should be ‘I wish I had that virtue’. If it’s an object such as a painting or a location with natural beauty, we should have high regard for it with heartfelt appreciation. It must not be just a formality or a show-off. We grow towards what we admire. It strengthens our ability to grow that virtue.

The essence of Jainism lies in the element of admiration. As a matter of fact, the Jain prayers are the admiration of the virtues or the guṇa (the good qualities) of the gods, teachers, and the saints. Namokar mantra, the most significant and profound mantra is the symbol of deep respect towards spiritual beings.

Kabir Das ji, the greatest Indian mystic poet and saint said –

Looking for vices all around, such vices nowhere I found. Introspecting deep revealed, those vices does me surround

Kabir says that instead of finding fault in others, retrospection of one’s own self will reveal that the fault lies with our own perceptions and mindsets. But if one chooses to love, appreciate and be compassionate it would enhance his spiritual intelligence and drive him to connect with the Infinite.

In the materialistic, we idealize the person who is the expert in the field we want to excel in e.g. an aspiring cricketer will admire Sachin Tendulkar and epitomize him. In order to become a better human being, it is important to avoid the superficial and admire the goodness of others to avoid becoming acquisitive.

While we keep aspiring to achieve the life goals we forget the basic values of appreciation, love, admiration, respect, and gratitude that make us a better person and paves the path to achieving that higher goal in life we were all born for. It’s time for us to reach out to our roots and be receptive to all the goodness around us and discover the world of boundless joy.

To quote Voltaire, the French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher:

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

PRAMOD BHAVANA – FEELING OF APPRECIATION

In this bhavana, we admire the success of our friends, spiritual leaders, and the Arihants. One of the most destructive forces in our lives is jealousy. However, friendship combined with the admiration, destroys jealousy. As jealousy subsides, negative impulses are turned into positive ones, and in due time, we will be at peace.