Basics of Jainism
1 What is Jainism?
Jains
Jains are the followers of Jinas
Jina means victors
Jinas are the victors over their inner passions (Kashäyas)
which are Anger (Krodha), Ego (Mäna), Deceit (Mäyä), and Greed (Lobha)
Jinas are also called Tirthankars or Arihantas, and they
are Gods in the human forms.
Tirthankar
Tirthankars establish the four-fold order of Jain
congregation, which are Sädhus, Sädhvis, Shrävaks, and Shrävikäs.
There are 24 Tirthankars in every ascending and descending
time cycle.
Jains follow the teachings of Tirthankars
Tirthankars are
·
Self Enlightened And Enlighteners
·
Super Most Illuminators
·
Conqueror Of Inner Enemies
·
Revealers Of True Path
·
Liberated And Liberators
·
Constitutors Of Religious Order
Shri Mahävir Swami is 24th Tirthankar in this time.
Concept of God in Jainism
Every soul in its purest form is called Siddha and is a
God. Arihantas are God in the human form.
Every soul is equal and is capable of becoming God.
The way to become a God is to get rid of all Karma by
removing anger, ego, deceit and greed from our self.
Every soul creates its own destiny.
Jains do not believe in God as a creator, destroyer or preserver
of the universe.
Jain God
·
God is not a Creator, Preserver or Destroyer of
the Universe
·
God is a pure consciousness or perfected soul
without any karma attached to it
·
Human being after attaining absolute knowledge
is known as Arihanta
·
Arihanta who establishes four-fold order is
known as Tirthankar
·
Liberated Souls are Jain Gods, who are only
knower and Observer but not Doer
·
At liberation the soul remains finite, lives in
Moksha forever, and never loses its identity
·
Every Soul is Eternal, Individual, and has a
potential to become Liberated or God
Religion
“Any activity of thought, speech or action that helps us
get rid of our vices/inner enemies such as anger, ego, deceit and greed is a
Jain religious activity”.
Ahimsä (Non-Violence)
Ahimsä, or non-violence, is a very broad subject. Jains believe that all life forms have a
soul, and all souls are basically equal and should be treated with
respect. This teaches us universal love
and compassion towards all living beings.
Violence can be committed in three ways – thoughts, words and actions.
Violent actions are obviously harmful to both, the doer and
the receiver.
Violent words leave permanent scars in the heart and the
mind of the other
As thoughts are the root cause of words and actions,
violent thoughts that may or may not result in violent actions are considered
bad because they do the most damage to your soul.
Vegetarianism is just an expression of this belief of
compassion for all living beings
Anekäntaväda (Non-Absolutism)
Understanding truth from various standpoints is
Anekäntaväda. Considering our limited
scope of arriving at complete truth, Jainism presents the theory that truth is
relative to the viewpoint from which it is known. All knowledge is multi-sided and true only
from a limited perspective. Once we
acquire this attitude, we will always be tolerant of others’ viewpoints and
willing to learn from it. Accepting
partial truth in each one-sided view we can lead a life of partnership and
participation, a life of friendliness and harmony.
Aparigraha (Non-attachment/Non-possessiveness)
Possession of
material things is external possession.
Attachment to
material things as well as attachment to people is internal possession.
Both can lead to
anger, ego, deceit and greed.
Hence, attachment is the cause of all our problems. The practice of non-attachment leads to
equanimity in our lives, which is necessary for the liberation of our soul.
Karma Theory (Law of Cause & Effect)
The soul is like a
magnet.
Karma is like iron
particles.
Our Kashäya
(anger, greed, deceit and ego) attract these karma particles to the soul which
get bound to the soul.
Due to this continuous accumulation of Karma, the soul has
to pass through the cycles of birth and death.
Our goal is to get rid of all previously attracted
particles and stop attracting new particles like demagnetization.
We do this through knowledge, equanimity, tolerance,
penance, self-control, forgiveness, repentance, reverence, compassion, service,
meditation and renunciation.
Texts/Scriptures
The Jain scriptures called “Ägams” are based on the
teachings of Mahävir-swämi. They are
composed in Ardha-Mägadhi Präkrit language, the common language during the time
of Mahävir-swämi.
There are many other works by noted Ächäryas, Upädhyäys,
Sädhus, Sädhvis, and scholars throughout history, which go into the details of
every aspect of life.
3 Jain Temple
A Jain temple is a beautiful, quiet and peaceful place to
reflect upon our nature and soul Jain temple is a place of worship designed for
worshipper to experience immense peace and serenity. The idols of Tirthankars and the temple’s
environment promote introspection, and bring home the feeling that God resides
within one’s own soul. Therefore, each
person can follow a path of purification of the inner self, devoid of anger,
ego, deceit, and greed. Many Jains
visit a temple regularly while others visit an Upäshraya or Sthänak for
meditation. Upäshraya is also a
residence of Sädhus and Sädhvis.
We should go to a temple in clean, simple clothes. We should not wear pearls, silk, fur and
leather as they are obtained by killing oysters, worms and animals. Before entering the temple, we must take off
our shoes.
When we enter the temple we say Nissihi , meaning ‘to leave
behind’. This means that by mind, speech
and action we are leaving all our worldly relations outside the temple, which
in turn results in leaving our vices or ‘Kashäyas’ which are anger, ego, deceit
and greed.
We must not eat, drink or chew anything in the temple, nor
should we run-around, shout, talk to others, or socialize in the temple.
A donation box in a temple promotes anonymous giving.
4 Idol (Murti)
The idol (murt) represents the qualities of a Tirthankar
but not the physical body. Hence, the
idols of all Tirthankars are similar.
Each Tirthankar has a unique emblem or symbol (Länchhan) that
distinguishes the idol from the idols of other Tirthankars. This symbol is found on the base of each
idol.
An idol of a Jina either sitting in lotus posture or
standing straight, illustrates a form of deepest meditation. The face and eyes shower us with compassion
and inspire calmness within us.
If one looks at an idol, the länchhan (emblem or symbol) is
very clearly visible at the base of the idol identifying the respective
Tirthankar, for example, an emblem of bull indicates that it is the idol of
Ädinäth or Rishabhadev, the first Tirthankar.
Usually an idol is carved from marble or cast from metal.
In Shvetämbar sect, the idols of Tirthankars are
beautifully decorated with the eyes.
In Digambar sect, the idols of Tirthankars are in their
natural undecorated form with their eyes semi-closed in meditation.
