Peace on Earth: Renunciation Keeps Man, Nature Happy - Aparigraha

By Amrit Gangar

On September 22, 1931, two icons of the West and the East met in a humble tenement in London. Mahatma Gandhi impressed Charlie Chaplin with his view that supreme independence meant shedding oneself of unnecessary things.

Chaplin believed this principle was the basis of Gandhi's political-economic-spiritual argument against machinery.

However, what Gandhi told Chaplin that day echoes the Jaina principle of aparigraha (the first letter 'a' pronounced as 'u' in upper).

Simply put, aparigraha means non-possession or non-acquisition. As is well-known, Gandhi was deeply influenced by Jainism.

Right knowledge, right faith and right conduct are the three basic pre-requisites for attaining liberation.

In order to acquire these qualities, Jainism prescribes observation of the five great vows - ahimsa or non-violence; satya or truth; asteya or non-stealing; brahmacharya or celibacy; and aparigraha or non-attachment.

Acquisition of material goods leads one to attachment and hence pain if, for some reason, the goods or wealth are lost.

Happiness is about freedom from pain and hence can only accrue from leading a life of simplicity and non- attachment.

That is the message of aparigraha. The thrust of aparigraha is to create a balanced society with balanced individuals.

The absolutely secular principle of aparigraha - not to allow greed to dominate our thoughts and actions - can help overcome our tendency to overaccumulate.

Gandhi was right when he said the earth had enough to satisfy the needs of all the people, but not for satisfying the greed of some. Here lies the subtle difference between 'need' and 'want'.

Jainism believes that the more worldly wealth a person possesses, the more likely is he to commit sin to acquire the possession, and in the process be unhappy.

Worldly wealth creates attachments, which will continually give rise to greed, jealousy, selfishness, ego, hatred and violence. Attachments to worldly objects result in bondage to the cycle of birth and death.

Therefore, one who desires of spiritual liberation should withdraw from all attachments to objects of all the five senses.

Practical wisdom tells us that anything in excess is harmful. Over-consumption or overacquisition affects our social environment just as environmental degradation affects our physical survival.

Aparigraha can be interpreted in multifaceted ways - preserving nature, conserving energy and living austerely. The kind of inequity that prevails in the world today is alarming.

Statistics inform us that over the last four years the world's 200 richest people have doubled their wealth to more than $1 trillion, while 1.3 billion people are living on less than a dollar a day.

The affliction of consumerism promises to get worse as the system insists on finding new ways to exploit people and the environment.

If everyone practises aparigraha, how pure and peaceful our world would be! In the contemporary context of globalisation, the applied theory of aparigraha can work as a good interventionist and ecological measure to retain the balance between man and nature.

Farsighted Gandhi realised its value - both in strategic and spiritual terms. Every action of his suggested that he was a practising environmentalist, long before environmental protection became fashionable in the West and elsewhere.

In the modern world, Gandhi provided us an alternative model of development we forgot to remember.

In a nutshell, renunciation through aparigraha could end in more genuine peace and happiness for all.

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See also: Peace of Mind, Peace on Earth, Life and Beyond, Love and Happiness, Body Mind and Soul)