A ‘New’ Way of Seeing the World
Above all, the Western adversarial mode of thought has led us to view the environment as a resource to be infinitely plundered for our use, to be subdued and ‘conquered’ like an adversary, so that it will respond to our needs, rather than our living and working within its limits. The ecological consequences of this approach are catching up with us, and forcing us to look again at our relationship with nature, with our fellow human beings, and at our entire way of looking at the world.
This sounds like a description of a world that desperately needs permaculture. In fact, it comes from a book about the Jain religion.
Jains … display an advanced ecological consciousness, the sense of a world of interdependent parts, which reflect as underlying unity, rather than independent parts that largely sustain themselves
Originating in India, Jainism pre-dates Christianity by several hundred years, probably thousands of years, and has as its central tenet the principle of non-violence (ahimsa).
Recently, after a few chance meetings and email conversations with people who have devoted more time to its study than I, the links between Jainism, environmentalism, social issues and animal welfare have become obvious. Further reading has annealed my intuition that Jainism embodies an understanding that is a necessary requisite for our current situation – as well as for our longer-term survival on this earth. It is not, however, The Answer: to a Jain, life on earth is only a stage in the progress of all things towards moksha, or enlightenment. But in the meantime… would Jain ideas help us found a new set of principles – abstracted from religion, more fundamental than prescriptive – to help us come to terms with and improve our situation, and change our behaviour on acquiring a new perspective?
One might see Jain central principle of ‘doing no harm’ (ahimsa) as the perfect definition of sustainability, for if we do no harm the world remains in a fit state for future generations. There are plenty of links between permaculture and the fundamentals of Jainism: permaculture works with nature rather than in opposition to it (compare with the blanket application of agrochemicals, monocultures, exploitation of pollinators such as the routine transportation of 
many thousands of hives across America to follow growth stages of different crops). And permaculture recognises the interconnectedness of different species and the importance of habitat diversity. Jains see a ‘life force’ not only in animals and plants but also in the inanimate elements of our landscape: all are worthy of protection. Permaculture holds that looking after soil biota by avoiding disturbance and the use of agrochemicals, the earth will provide food for our sustenance.
Some Jains will avoid eating root vegetables and bulbs (eg alliums) because tearing them from the ground is not ahimsa (but rather ‘himsa’). Fortunately, agroforestry, sharing permacultural principles, provides far more edibles in the form of nuts, seeds and fruits – the collection of which should not damage the parent plant. Permacultural methods work towards leaving the earth in the same or in an improved state. Being sustainable by definition, these techniques show compassion for future generations as well as the health of this one.
If we are not quite ready to embrace the Jain mendicant’s ultimate aim of total detachment from the world – practising austerities through many cycles of birth, death, rebirth and eventual escape from samsara, or worldly concerns – then at least the goal of reducing harm is open to those with a conscience. A simple way to reduce harm to other species and lessen our impact on the planet is to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet. Factory farming, unsustainable on several levels, could not be part of a permacultural system: farm animals generate pollution – effluent, in food processing, leather production, packaging, preparation and disposal of meat products and wasted food. With a decline in farmed animals there would be a reduction in the land needed to grow crops for them to eat. An improvement in the nation’s health is a likely consequence of a reduction in animal products and an increase in vegetables and fruit in the diet. The small step of a change in diet would have considerable benefits both in the material world and, for the Jains and others who accept the concept, karmically.
Jainism, in its search for truth beyond the material world, accepts both the rational and intuitive; it embraces a pluralism that is not widely accepted in the West, where science would scarcely admit to being informed by woolly, New Age or ‘hippy’ ideas. Scientific doctrine imposes limitations whereas intuitive avenues and alternative perspectives offer new opportunities to develop knowledge. ‘Permaculture Magazine’, to its credit, and to draw a parallel, includes articles that appeal to both the right and left sides of its readers’ brains. For example, the results of scientific trials to maximise rice production and reduce CO2 by growing without flooding paddy fields are publicised alongside advertisements for courses on biodynamics – the practises of which many people would possibly consider a little mystical. By acknowledging that there are different paths, Jains do not fall into the trap of dogmatism, superiority, exclusivity and isolation which can encourage fundamentalism – the defence of which, even if it is only in thought or words, is a form of violence and therefore himsa.
The Jains view an individual’s path to enlightenment as a path all are free to take. By whatever route and at whatever point in our lives we come to permaculture, we are opening our minds to different ways of thinking and working. We have come to an awareness of the effect of our actions on our environment and all living things within it. Whether we chose to call ourselves Jains or not, we are taking a Jain path.