Jainism: An Overview of an Indian Religion
Jainism considers the universe as eternally existing and therefore uncreated. Time is considered in terms of cycles. One full cycle consists of two periods that each last 600 million years. One of these periods is considered a time of ascent in which knowledge and human behavior improves. The other period is a time of descent, in which those things decline. During each cycle, it is believed that 24 jinas will appear.
Because Jainism does not believe in a creator God, the jinas are not themselves considered gods, though they are worshipped. In Jainism God is considered to be a conglomeration into one single soul made up of all the jinas and other liberated souls. Karma, in which the actions of the present play upon the conditions of the future, is an important aspect of Jainism. The Jains veer from Hindus and Buddhists, however, in their view that karma isn’t an immaterial force, but rather infinitesimal particles of matter that permeate the universe and stream into the soul of individuals. One way to look at karma in this way is by comparing it to a virus and, in fact, these karma particles are believed capable of causing a sickness in the soul.
The soul is untainted in its pure state, nothing but knowledge and happiness. But this purity is corrupted in human beings by karma. Therefore, the ultimate aim of Jain spirituality is both to halt the inflow of the karma particles and to void those that already exist. This is done primarily by overcoming negative emotions such as anger, deceit, greed, pride and passion.
The overriding ethical principle of Jainism is the rejection of violence. This tops the Five Virtues of Jainism:
1)Non-violence
2)Truthfulness
3)Non-stealing
4)Chastity
5)Rejection of attachment to material possession
Non-violence is so essential to the Jain philosophy that it was through the influence of a Jain layman that the great Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi became dedicated to practicing it in his rebellion against British imperialism. But non-violence, or ahimsa, goes beyond merely turning the other cheek to one’s enemy. Ahimsa encompasses the avoidance of causing harm to any creature at all. That being noted, it probably comes as no surprise to find that followers of Jainism are vegetarians. In fact, they are strict vegetarians: in addition to forbidding the consumption of eggs, they also abstain from alcohol because of the active ingredients involved in the process of fermentation.
Self-discipline, obviously, is a major concern to Jains. Even lay Jains-those who do not belong to strict monastic orders-practice discipline through such things as ritual, fasting and meditation. The Jain rituals usually include symbolic offerings and are often very elaborate ceremonies. There are several different types of Jain fasts that range from complete abstention of all food and water to merely limiting a favorite food to eating and drinking only at certain hours of the day.
Although a minority religion in India, it has spread to many other parts of the world and a growing interest in it has been observed. Interestingly, like Hinduism and Buddhism, Jainism has a very holy symbol whose shape brings forth a very unfortunate connotation for those who live in the West. Known as the fylfot symbol, it is used to represent the four levels of life available to the reincarnated being:
1)Underworld: the home of hellish creatures
2)Earthly world: home of humans, plants and animals
3)Celestial Realm: home of heavenly beings
4)The Realm of Liberated Souls
What does the fylfot look like? A swastika.
