Personal Profile of Dr. Subhash Jain
BSc, MB, BS, MD, MCP(UK), FRCP(C),FRCPsych(UK),FRCP(Glasgow)
London Health Sciences Centre - Victoria Campus
7Th Floor, 375 South Street
London, Ontario, CANADA N6A 4G5
Tel: (519) 667-6702
Fax: (519) 667-6539

Dr. Subhash Jain was the director of residency, and former chairman and professor of Psychiatry at Memorial University of Newfoundland St.John’s (NEL) before joining university of Western Ontario as professor of Psychiatry and senior clinical leadership position.

“Dr. Subhash Jain is currently professor of Psychiatry at University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, and a Consultant Psychiatrist at London Health Science Centre. He has held positions of Physician Leader and Assistant Director of postgraduate medical education in Psychiatry.

An elected fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, U.K., a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and Glasgow, U.K., fellow of the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology, fellow of the College of International Neuropsychoparmacology, and fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, London, U.K, Dr. Jain is engaged in post graduate medical teaching, research, academic and clinical service activities. He has also taken an active part in various community activities as well as sat on various provincial and national committees and been a member of many associations.

Whereas he is professionally involved in treating affective disorder and other psychiatric conditions, he supports spiritual and philosophical values as guides for living. Dr. Jain strongly advocates that "values" are the guidelines for people in performing actions, in conducting business and in transactions with others.

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Synopsis of the Talk

TOPIC: "Know Your U.V. Index — Practical Application in our Daily Life"

Values are the guidelines for people in performing actions, in conducting business and in transactions with others.

Described as a “universal value index” in our day-to-day living, these values are universal, immortal, and irreversible and cannot be challenged in any course of law. The values are foundations of our character building and principal centered living U V index, which is our compass, guides us in day-to-day functioning.

The purpose is to bring about a quiet and content, simple, non-demanding non-projecting, mind free from dislikes and likes. A value is said to be assimilated when it is followed naturally.

The expression of life is just the expression of one’s well-assimilated value structure. An assimilated personal value requires no choice on one’s past. For the person with assimilated value, life becomes simple. No conflicts cloud the mind.

Values are necessary to prepare the mind for knowledge.

What is a value?

Value indicates the regard for a thing, situation, or attitude. The appropriate values, which prepare the mind, are certain universal ethical attitudes. In Sanskrit an ethical value can be defined as dharma. My norm for what is ‘proper’ behavior or a ‘good’ attitude is based on the way I wish other to treat or view me. What I expect or want from others become my standard for dharma, right behavior; what I do not want others to do is adharma, wrong behavior.

A value is a value for us only when we see the value of the value as valuable to me. We are not able to follow values such as truthfulness, non-injury, etc in our life only because we have not recognized the subtle gains that come to us by following values. We must recognize the worth of the values and then alone would it be possible to implement them in our life.

We must examine the gains and losses in following a value in our life and that requires a deeper understanding of the purpose of life. We must examine our present pattern of thinking; examine the criteria that we employ in evaluation of the worth of a value. Conflicts are born in our mind because we have not assimilated the moral, ethical and the spiritual values parceled out to us by the elders and the orthodox, without the logical and pragmatic understanding which is required in following them. It provided an invaluable insight into the workings of the human mind, the logical basis for the necessity for values and also the way for their implementation.

Five verses from Chapter XIII of Bhagavad Gita where Lord Krishna teaches Arjuna the twenty values that a seeker must implement in his life to prepare for the goal of highest fulfillment. This only shows that the values such as Amanitvam (absence of pride), adambhitvam (absence of pretentiousness), Ahimsa (non-injury), etc have the potentials of leading us to the highest goal of perfection in our life.

It will help in understanding life and resolving the conflicts in the mind and thereby, gain a greater share of peace and happiness in life.

In the 13th Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, there are a few verses which deal with what we may call “ values.” The Gita calls these values jnanam, which means knowledge. However, jnanam, used in this sense as values , is not that knowledge of self. Instead, in this use, jnanam stands for the collection of qualities of the mind in the presence of which (in relative measure) knowledge of self can take place – and in the substantial absence of which, self-knowledge does not take place, no matter how adequate is the teacher or how authentic is the teaching.

‘Jnanam’ can be defined as a state of mind, which reflects certain universal values and ethical attitudes. Discovery and assimilation of the values themselves constitute preparation of the mind. Values alone prepare the mind all else is secondary. Therefore, the Gita raises the appropriate values to the status of knowledge, terming them juanam, a word that means knowledge. However, the jnanam, of values and the knowledge that is Self-knowledge. However, the jnanam, of values and the knowledge that is Self-knowledge must not be confused. They are not the same thing. The jnanam; of values is preparation for the gaining of Self-knowledge. It is not that when the mind enjoys the appropriate values, knowledge of Self occurs, but that it then can occur, without appropriate values it cannot occur:

Appropriate values present, Self-knowledge may or may not be present;
Appropriate values present, Self-knowledge can be gained;
Appropriate values absent, Self-knowledge cannot be gained.

The expression of my life is just the expression of my well-assimilated value structure. What I do is but an expression of what is valuable to me. Other people’s values I follow from time to time when it is convenient; but, if these values of others have not been assimilated by me, they are simply obligatory values and do not reflect my value structure. They are more a source of conflict than a norm for behavior and are always susceptible to compromise. Only assimilated values are my personal values Assimilated values reflect what is valuable to me. An assimilated personal value requires no choice on my part. When I want certain unassimilated values to become part of my value structure, then I must exercise deliberation in following them until I am connived of their value to me then their observation will become spontaneous for me. For the expression of a value to become spontaneous for me, I must see its value in my personal life.

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