Religious people appear to respect a book that they truly neglect. If one truly respects sacred teachings, it is necessary to practice than merely preach. Then the choice becomes simple; you can either stand up and be counted or lie down and be ignored. It is wiser to act on what you choose rather than say what you choose.Among the beautiful teachings of Jainism is Syat Vaada (“Perhaps”}. If one truly practices, the beauty of it will be revealed as an inner freedom. Syat Vaada says everything is relative and nothing is absolute.
For example, if one is practicing Syat Vaada, and hears that a person is stupid, then he will say that his stupidity is relative and not absolute. Jain seers spoke of the theory of relativity thousands of years before the western world was aware of it. Syat vaada can be better be understood through a story.
A poor Chinese farmer found a beautiful black horse on his farm. The farmer and his only son were excited to see such a beautiful horse. The King of that place heard about that wonderful horse and offered a huge sim to buy the horse. The farmer humbly rejected the offer. All the villagers told the farmer that he was stupid in rejecting the offer from the king. The farmer answered “may be”.
After few days the horse was missing. The villagers once again told the farmer,”Do you realize you were unwise?” The farmer answered again “may be”. After a few days the horse returned with 20 other horses. The villagers now told the farmer, “You are really wise by not selling the horse.” The farmer again answered “may be”.
The farmer’s only son while training the horses fell down and broke his leg. Meanwhile, a war broke out in China, and all the youngsters had to go to war except the farmer’s son, as he was not fit. The villagers once again said, ”You are lucky, you only son is saved.” The farmer yet again said “may be”.
This explains in Syat Vaada the things are relative. If one understands the theory of relativity one will not be the victim of absolutisation. How does one practice this principle in daily life? This insight from a story reveals a lot on how it can help people in their lives. When an opinion is made of a person, the question to be asked is – “Is it absolute or relative?” Whenever one makes an opinion of others and considers it as absolute, then one stops seeing the person as a flowing being. Nobody is static, everyone is a flowing being. Considering as absolute is, destroying the basic quality of an individual as a flowing being.
Questioner : How does this concept help in our daily life?
Swami : Syat Vaada involves applying it in the following ways in our daily lives :
• As far as I know
• Up to a point
• To me
The quality of our life depends on the quality of our relationships. Keeping the perception of our relationship relative is keeping it open. Being open gives ventilation to life.
If someone says Mr. X is stupid, then he is not practicing Syat Vaada. But if he says, ”As far as I know, Mr.X is stupid,” then he is not labeling the person and at the same time validating his perception, yet being open to other variables which do not make the other person stupid.
So often, we are prisoners of our own knowledge. So by saying, as far as I know, I am not making my knowledge as absolute and at the same time not deleting whatever I know and being open to other variables. In this process, I am setting myself free and others free by not labeling the other. We label others and see only the labels and not the persons. This is an ignorant way of living. Jainism tells us to live a life based on this principle and be wise. A wise person created happiness around while an unwise one creates unhappiness.
Practicing Syat means “up to a point”. If I can make statements like “Up to a point this person is bad,” then I am allowing myself to see beyond my limiting perception. Any person is bad up to a point. Even a thief is bad up to a point, but he will do good acts for someone he cares for. So how can we say that the thief is bad in absolute terms?
This principle can be applied as “To me”. In our perceptions and in our opinion of others, if we tell ourselves that “To me” a person is bad and not that he is bad in the absolute term. Such a perception is more factual.
We suffer in life for we make absolute statements of others and ourselves. We can set ourselves free and others by practicing this principle, which says maybe or things are relative. When we operate on a relative plane, we are open to other possibilities. Creativity happens in the space of openness.
When we are open, we see opportunities . There are far more opportunities than we think. When opportunity knocks, a wise person is open to the opportunities, whereas a unwise person complains. So openness is a great virtue and this is the result of the practice of the principle of the principle – Syat vaada.
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