Anekantavada - Multiplicity of viewpoints

September 19th, 2008 admin Posted in Uncategorized |

I opened wikipedia by chance this morning and the very first article I saw was on Anekantavada, a concept from Jain Philosophy, which observes and explains that there is always multiplicity of view points when trying to comprehend any truth. Limited, partial or conditional view points can lead to different interpretations of any truth. It is therefore important to respect the existance of other view points, while at the same time recognizing the fallibility of your own. Apparently the story of the blind men and the elephant is often used to explain this concept. This struck me as fascinating because only a few months back, I had used the same example to reach an almost identical philosophy! This philosophy may also help us understand the underlying meaning behind the millions of Gods that some religions accept - the acceptance of the existance of those millions of view points.