Non-possession (aparigraha (Sanskrit: अपरिग्रह)) is a philosophy that holds that no one or anything possesses anything
ln Jainism, aparigraha is the virtue of non-possessiveness, non-grasping or non-greediness
Aparigrah is the opposite of parigrah, and refers to keeping the desire for possessions to what is necessary or important, depending on one’s life stage and context
The precept of aparigraha is a self-restraint (temperance) from the type of greed and avarice where one’s own material gain or happiness comes by hurting, killing or destroying other human beings, life forms or nature
Aparigraha is related to and in part a motivator of dāna (proper charity), both from giver’s and receiver’s perspective
Non-possession is one of the principles of Satyagraha, a philosophical system based on various religious and philosophical traditions originating in India and Asia Minor, and put into practice by Mahatma Gandhi as part of his nonviolent resistance
This particular iteration of aparigraha is distinct because it is a component of Gandhi’s active non-violent resistance to social problems permeating India
As such, its conception is tempered with western law
Non-possession is, by definition, concerned with defining the concept of possession
Non-possession does not deny the existence of the concept of possession
Gandhi intertwined non-possession and voluntary poverty in application, but living according to the guidelines of non-possession is not the same as living in poverty
In practice, the principle of taking what one needs (rather than less than or more than), is essential to the viability of non-possession/ aparigraha, therefore, an essential component
Like possession, humans (and other animals, and entities) deviate from this because of social conditioning
This practice is only a principle when one is not aware of or does not acknowledge all events which have either direct or indirect impact on oneself
Awareness and acknowledgment occurs without specific effort when an entity develops
a broadened awareness of all events which have a direct or indirect impact on the individual entity; the ability to process this information, (see relationships, derive meaning); the ability to translate the conclusion of the above into actions
The action of taking enough to continue working but not more than one needs, is a generalized description of one of those actions
Understanding that no one or anything possesses anything is a specific condition which occurs when one can derive meaning and see the relationships between more events from different perspectives