Jainism and the Art of Doing Less Harm

A Jain monk walks with a soft broom, gently clearing the path ahead so he doesn't accidentally harm even the smallest living thing.

It’s an extraordinary image. But what if we aren't meant to imitate the monk? What if we're simply meant to notice what he's doing?

In this episode, we explore:

• Why ahimsa, or nonviolence, is more than a rule
• What the Jain practice of attention can teach us about everyday choices
• The blind men and the elephant, and the problem of assuming we see the whole picture
• Why intellectual humility can be part of nonviolence
• The Jain idea of non-possession and the question, How much is enough?
• What it means to ask forgiveness for harm we didn't intend
• Why trying to make the perfectly ethical choice can leave us exhausted
• The Jain understanding of karma and liberation
• And what it might look like to make one slightly less harmful choice at a time

You don't have to eliminate all harm. You don't have to become perfectly ethical.

Maybe the practice is simply to notice what's in front of you, make the next choice with a little more care, and keep going.

Because sometimes the whole path isn't ours to figure out.

We just need to clear the ground for the next step.

@nonebutcurious

nonebutcurious.org

--Hey! check out roomforcuriosity.org -- the space for agnostics, nones, spiritual atheists, spiritually curious and in-betweens to gather locally (and even virtually this winter). It's time we get out of our headspace and talk out loud together --