SOURCES OF SINS(6 to 18)

SOURCES OF SINS(6 to 11)

We discussed what is meant by sinful activities and what do they do to us. We also discussed first five activities namely, Violence (Pranatipata), Untruth (Mrushavada), Theft (Adattadan), Unchaste (Maithun), and Possessiveness (Parigraha) in the last chapter. Now we will discuss next six sins in this chapter.

Krodh: It means anger. Whenever we do not get what we want, we get upset and mad, and depending upon the situation either we throw the things, use the harsh words or have negative thoughts. When a person is angry, he cannot distinguish between right and wrong or good and bad. To overcome this anger, we should develop tolerance. This way, we can stay calm even if things do not look right. If we can achieve that, then there will be no place for quarrels around us and we will be able to live peacefully.

Mana: It means the ego. Egoism, pride, arrogance, self-admiration, and conceit are all synonymous. The ego means thinking too much of the self. Due to the ego, we tend to look down upon others. Ego can be overcome by cultivating the sense of the humbleness.

Maya: It means to deceive, cheat, or mislead. Deceit, cunning, and maya are synonymous. When we cheat and succeed in doing so, then that leads to ego because we feel proud of what we have done even though it was wrong. When we get caught cheating, then we get in big trouble. So instead of cheating, we should be honest.

Lobha: It means greed. When we have enough to meet our needs but we want more for the sake of having it, then this act is called greed. We should realize that there is no end to our desires. We should not forget that when we do not get what we want, we get angry. We become jealous of someone who may have what we want. To get what we want, we may use all means from a simple buy out to deception, stealing or even killing. Most of the wars between nations are the result of greed of one to take over the other. Therefore, instead of being greedy let us be content and share with others what we have. If everybody does that, then there will be peace and harmony among ourselves.

Raga: Raga means attachment. Suppose you went shopping at a clothing store and you saw pants that you liked. You checked the price tag and decided to forget it, but then you saw a T-shirt which was cute. You liked it very much and you wanted to buy that. You checked its price tag and it was high too. You thought, "Well, I will wait until it comes on the sale." You kept on checking every two to three days to see if it was on the sale. Your coming back to the store was due to your attachment for that T-shirt. Attachment can be towards any thing including the relationship with spouse, parents, children, relatives, money, toys, clothes, house, etc. Sometimes this attachment can blind us to get what we want and to do so, we may even use harmful methods. Therefore, we should avoid developing attachments for things. After all that is not the only thing in the whole world. In other words, we should learn to live a life where it is all right whether we get what we like or not.

Dvesha: Dvesha means hatred. Every now and then, we may come across a situation where we do not like something. Most of the time we can ignore that, but sometimes it develops into the hatred towards someone. If the hatred is due to the loss of something, then it can turn into anger and may cause harm to others and to us. Hatred brings enmity. Instead, we should develop love and friendship for everybody. Even if someone is cruel to us, we should show compassion.

In the next chapter we will discuss the last 7 sinful activities namely, Quarreling (Kalah), Accusation (Abhyakhyan), Gossip (Paishunya), Criticism (Parparivada), Liking and disliking (Rati-arati), Malice (Maya-mrushavada) and Wrong beliefs (Mithya darshan shalya).
So far, we have discussed the first eleven sinful activities including, Violence (Pranatipata), Untruth (Mrushavada), Theft (Adattadan), Unchaste (Maithun), Possessiveness (Parigraha), Anger (Krodh), Arrogance (Mana), Deceit (Maya), Greed (Lobh), Attachment (Rag), and Hatred (Dwesh) in the last two chapters. We are going to discuss the rest of the seven sinful activities in this chapter.

Kalah: It means to fight. Most of the time, if we do not agree with others, the first thing we do is to fight. Many people fight even for a trivial matter. Sometimes, it may seem that we win by fighting, but we lose in the long run. Frustration or anger are the cause for fighting. We should not forget that fighting breaks up even a good friendship. Therefore, we should learn to let go and believe in forgiveness.

Abhyakhyan: Making false accusations on somebody is called abhyakhyan. Some persons cannot accept their losses and blame others for it even when the others are not at fault. When people find out the truth, they are going to lose trust in these people. Therefore, before accusing anyone, we should ask ourselves, "What is the truth and why am I looking for the short term gain?" No wise person will do this. Therefore, accept the truth and live by that even though sometime it may not be in our favor.

Paishunya: Talking behind someone’s back or spreading rumors are all known as paishunya. Many people try to look smart by spreading rumors about others. This is a wrong habit which leads to the unnecessary friction and the quarrels. This takes time away from constructive activities. Instead of indulging in the gossip, we should form the habit of appreciating others.

Parparivada: It is formed of two words. 1) Par means the other person and 2) parivada means to criticize. Many people do nothing but criticize others. Instead of admiring others, they always find faults instead. If criticism is done with the good intention of improvement cause, then it is considered positive or constructive criticism, and that is welcome. But if the criticism is done to put down others, then it is considered negative criticism and it should be avoided. It creates unnecessary friction, cultivates anger in the people, and can lead to unfortunate events.

Rati-arati: Rati means liking, while arati means disliking. When a friend comes to our house, we like him, but on the other side if a funny looking stranger comes to our door we dislike him. This liking or disliking seems to be a natural response but we should not forget that they can bring the feeling of attachment or hatred in our minds. Therefore, even though our expressions may look innocent, we should be careful about them and try to balance them.

Maya-mrushavada -Telling a malicious lie is called maya mrushavada. As such any lie is bad, but when it is done with the malice it is even worst. Malicious behavior causes nothing, but quarrel and friction. Not only should we avoid such habits, but we should stay away from those who have such habits. Instead of being vicious, we should be kind to the others.

Mithya-darshan-shalya: This word is combination of three words. 1) mithya means false, 2) darshan means the faith, and 3) shalya means a thorn. This means to believe in a false faith is a thorn. We know thorn never gives pleasure, but rather they always hurt. In the same way, keeping faith in a false belief will lead us to nothing but sufferings. False beliefs can start from believing in false teachers, false religions and false gods. False teachers are those who do not believe in the five major vows as prescribed by the Jinas. They promote violence, lying, stealing, immoral sensual activities, and possessiveness. These activities will bring our downfall. In the same way, false religions will promote teaching opposite of what the Jinas have taught. False religions would promote violence, anger, ego, deceit, and greed. They will nourish attachment and hatred. Therefore, that will be bad for us. In the same way, false god would be the one who is tinted with attachment and hatred. When someone is biased, he cannot give proper advice. But Jinas do not have any attachment or hatred; therefore, they do not expect anything from what they advise. There is no reason for them to give us any advice that will hurt us. They reached the higher state by following the same path they have shown us. They have taught us that we are our own savior, and only we can save ourselves. Thus, we should have faith in the right teachers, the right religion, and the right god if we want to stay away from the troubles.

So, from the discussion in the last three chapters, we can realize that any of these 18 types of sinful activities are harmful. As long as we are living, we are bound to undertake some of these activities, but we should be careful and replace the sinful activities with good activities to minimize harm to our souls. If we have to get involved in any sinful activity due to the unavoidable circumstances, then we should do it with regret, and repent for doing such acts but never enjoy doing it.