SUPREME TRUTHFULNESS Jai Jinendra Friends, · Our life is as genuine as our ingenuity of our mind. · Only those who are free of all Kashayas attain a life of truth. Attaining truth means attaining our true nature, getting close to purest form of our soul. An unblemished soul can only attain truthfulness. Truthfulness is nothing but the pristine form of conscience in the absence of all four passions (anger, arrogance, maya (deceit), & greed). The prerequisite to attain a truthful life is to make our mind truthful. To achieve this, our Acharyas have listed eight steps: 1. Never doubt truth & genuineness. 2. Even if a lie can get you everything in this world, never have a desire for this world. Instead only if we desire truth can we attain a truthful life. 3. Never disgust truth, never disgust a truthful person. What happens generally is that we loathe a truthful person; we consider him a fool, an out of date person. Stay away from such feelings. 4. Whatever may be the incentives given, we shouldn’t desist from the path of truth. 5. We may commit some mistakes while practicing truth, ignore those mistakes. 6. A person trying to walk on the path of truth may defer on some instance, we should not only ignore his one off mistakes but also give him the chance to stabilize. 7. Whenever the feeling of affection comes in the mind, feel affectionate for truth. 8. Start respecting truth & true people. Whenever we don’t praise a person for his truthfulness, it’s incentivizing him to follow the path of lies. Nowadays it appears that liars get more benefits & so people think it’s better we lie & find an easy way out. For example, a student couldn’t do his homework due to headache. When enquired in the class by the teacher, the student truthfully says that he couldn’t complete his homework due to headache. The teacher punishes this student thinking that he must be giving lame excuses. On the other hand another student who didn’t do his homework lied with confidence that he has done his homework. The teacher didn’t even check his copy. So the other student thought “what the use of my truthfulness is.” I could have also lied like him & would have escaped the punishment. On such occasions we must try to enquire in a justified manner & make sure that we always praise the true person. If we always praise truth then slowly our life will also become truthful. Meaning of Truth It is necessary that we are truthful first & then speak the truth. Even a truth spoken by a liar can be very harmful. Speaking truth doesn’t only mean stating a fact as it is. Before telling a fact, Acharyas have asked us to consider the following – first of all avoid use of words so far as possible, that’s the most desirable situation. If this is not possible then speak words that are not going to hurt others. When we renounce all such detrimental words & swear to speak the truth then it’s called “Satya Mahavrat”. Jain Acharyas have defined truth as – that which is harmless (hitkari)is truth. A truth that will cause harm to someone is put into the category of lies. Jain Acharyas say that it is secondary whether you are telling a fact as it is or not. What’s more important is whether it is saif with pure intentions or with feelings of anger-greed-mockery etc. Intention is Important While speaking truth weight it on the following criteria – firstly speak the truth, make sure you are saying with a good intent & pure mind, a truth spoken with a maligned conscience would also be converted to a lie. Secondly, before speaking truth think over its impact, the result. Remember words have a significant impact; you may get into a fight with someone & beat him up – he may forget that in a few days. But if your words have hurt someone deeply, then its impression will remain on his mind for a lifetime. Wealth & power are two things that divert a person from truth. Once you know that you have a command over something (due to money or power), then it’s very easy to forget the path of truth. So be cautious of these two, & even if you achieve them never forget the path of truth & modesty. Speak – that which is true & delightful On the path of truth all we need to do is to be a bit cautious & speak that which is true & delightful at the same time. Let’s take a small example to understand this: A king wanted to make a portrait picture of him. Many artists were called to do this. A king’s portrait shall be really beautiful. But our king had a problem – he had lost one of his eyes. On one hand the picture should be beautiful & on the other hand if the picture is to show the truth then it won’t have an eye & wouldn’t look beautiful. So one of the artists thought “I’ll draw what’s true, & not what’s pleasing (but untrue).” He made a beautiful picture except that it didn’t have an eye. The king didn’t like that picture. Another artist thought “The picture should look beautiful irrespective of whether it shows the truth or not.” So he made the picture with two beautiful eyes. Looking at that the king said “That’s a beautiful portrait, but it doesn’t show the truth.” This one looks pleasing but is untrue. First one didn’t look pleasing but wasn’t true. Both got rejected. A truth that’s unpleasant is not appropriate neither is a lie that’s pleasing. Third artist made another picture. In that the king looks mighty, is brave & is shown as an archer. He has a bow & an arrow in his hand & is taking an aim. While taking an aim one eye has to be closed, this way the artist pictures the king with one eye closed. That picture was passed because it was both true & delightful. Similarly if we make an effort & cautiously use our speech then there is no doubt that we will rise in our life. Every day try to find at least one such incident where even if we had to lie to someone (for pity gains, or out of fear), then confess it to that person before the evening. Let’s pray that we become true & genuine by the day.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 07:44:38 +0000