Destructive Emotions: Jain Perspectives

Destructive Emotions: Jain Perspectives represents the culmination of Professor Mardia's three decades of research into Kaṣāya, the Jain concept of the passions (or destructive emotions), which play a crucial role in the soul's accumulation of karmic matter, thereby perpetuating the cycle of life, death and rebirth, according to the Jain tradition.

In a manner reminiscent of The Scientific Foundations of Jainism, which distilled the essence of Jain belief into an axiomatic formulation that has come to be known as the Four Noble Truths of Jainism, Professor Mardia draws upon original scriptural sources and presents a comprehensive survey of the vast literature on Kaṣāya - filling a significant gap in the modern research and follows it with a summary and synthesis in the form of the Four Principles of Kaṣāya Doctrine, offering a transformative roadmap to liberation from destructive emotions (Kaṣāya=Anger, Pride, Deceit, Greed).

About the Author:

KANTI V. MARDIA, OBE is Senior Research Professor at University of Leeds and Visiting Professor at University of Oxford. He is the founder of the Yorkshire Jain Foundation and Jain Noble Truths Association. His prior publications include The Scientific Foundations of Jainism, Living Jainism: An Ethical Science (with Aidan Rankin), and the booklet Jain Thoughts and Prayers. In addition to his contributions to Jain scholarship, his distinguished career in statistics is marked by the Guy Medal in Silver (Royal Statistical Society), the Wilks Memorial Medal (American Statistical Association), and a Lifetime Achievement Award (International Indian Statistical Association). He is also the recipient of the Mahatma Gandhi Medal of Honour (NRI Institute) and the OneJAIN Life Achievement Award (Jain All-Party Parliamentary Group). He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2023 New Year Honours.

Mardia's emphasis in Jain scholarship has been to present 'Jainism' not as an -ism, but as the science of 'Jainness' (Jainattva, or the Jain spirit), while finding ways to make the ancient Jain Dharma more accessible to younger generations of Jains and the wider public alike.

Review's:

"Prof. Mardia has now taken on the difficult subject of kasaya, with a comprehensive treatment that is both the first of its kind in English and a major milestone in any modern language... This account is very relevant to modern psychology and his connection with this subject to Jain psychology is path breaking." - Dr. Acārya Śri Vijaya Nandighoşasūriji

"I have no doubt that this work will make an important contribution towards understanding the nature of our passions and overcoming our attractions and aversions to various objects of the senses. Mardia should be commended for his dedicated efforts in presenting a challenging subject in a manner that will hold his readers' interest." - Dr. Kristi Wiley