Spiritual Discipline, for the Layman (grhastha-dharma)

Friday, May 16, 2008

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Home » New to Jainism? » Jina and the Soul » Spiritual Discipline, for the Layman

Spiritual Discipline, for the Layman (grhastha-dharma)

In the Jaina scriptures and philosophical works, the terra 'grhastha-dharma' and ' sravaka-dharma' have the same meaning. A man and a woman who observe the grhastha-dharma are called 'srdvuka and 'sravika respectively The term 'sravaka is derived from the verbal root '.sra' (to hear, to listei to). Those who listen to with interest the discourses on the path of spiritua welfare are 'sravakas' and 'srdvikas'. The term 'upasaka' is also employee in the sense of sravaka. In the works dealing with the spiritual discipline for the layman, there occurs the exposition of twelve vows. They are-gross vow of refraining from violence, gross vow of refraining from lying] gross vow of refraining from taking anything which is not given, gross vow of refraining from sexual activities, gross vow of limiting one's possessions, vow of limiting the area of unvirtuous acts, vow of limiting the quantity of things that could be used once as also of things that could be used repeatedly, vow to abstain from harmful activities that serve no useful purpose, vow of remaining completely equanimous for a fixed period of time, vow of reducing for a limited period of time the limits of area set forth in the sixth vow (digvrata), vow of observing fast and living like a monk for certain days and vow of sharing with a deserving guest. Among them, the first five vows are called 'anuvrata (atomise vows, minor-scale vows) as they are partial. Their nature of being partial and limited is suggested by the term 'shtula.' ('gross') used a, their qualifying adjective.

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