RENUNCIATION AND ASCETICISM IN JAIN AND BUDDHIST TRADITIONS An Alternative for Radical Living
The world today is quite complex with its multifarious human contact and social dynamism. Fixing the goal with maximum production within limited time, the consequent business and labour stress is the day-to-day encounter in the global world. Socializing is quite common and religious mobility is not a strange phenomenon in a place like India. People witness new rituals, take part in pujas and festivals, interrelate and dine together, exchange gifts and greetings, food and other items. A Hindu is familiar with a Christian church and a Sikh Gurudwara and a Christian is not any more a stranger to a Hindu temple or a Muslim mosque.
Impressive plurality of world-views and culture bring people in friendly/hard/inimical relationships. Teamwork is the order of the day, demanding inter-dependence and cooperation for work and livelihood. The seekers and those who want to experiment something new, and those who are dissatisfied with their own and look toward something fresh and meaningful… search for an alternative, engage in knowing and understanding of the other, belong to the other, and become part of the other. This is true especially in a multiple faith milieu. This kind of mobility seems positive and necessary for the integral growth of the body, mind, and the spirit of the individual and society.
Exposure and engagement in multi-religious knowledge bring with them enriched psycho-spiritual values that motivate people amidst life. Thus our own seeking to know and to understand the values of other religious traditions become necessary and helpful especially in the present context of socio-political and religious upheavals. Jainism and Buddhism, the well-known renouncer traditions, inspire us in our life’s interior journey marked with challenges and struggles, requiring our proper discernment for a genuine appreciation, open consideration, and possible adoption....