FOR BEGINNERS
INTRODUCTION
Jainism begins with a
serious concern for the human soul in its relationship with the
laws governing existence in the universe,with other living
beings, and to its own
future state in eternity. First and
foremost, it is a religion of the heart: the golden
rule is
Ahimsa or nonviolence in all parts of a person-- mental,verbal,
and physical.
Jains have deep compassion for all forms of
life
Jainism offers a quiet, overwhelmingly serious
way of life, a cultural insistence on
compassion, a society
of ethics that has dramatically changed the world and will
continue to effect change. Jainism is an ecologically
responsible way of life which is
nonviolent in thought,
action, and deed.
Jina
and the Soul
The "Jains"
are the followers of the Jinas. "Jina" literally means
"Conqueror." He
who has conquered love and hate,
pleasure and pain, attachment and aversion, and
has thereby
freed `his' soul from the karmas obscuring knowledge,
perception,
truth, and ability, is a Jina. The Jains refer
to the Jina as God.
Origins of
Jainism
Originating on
the Indian subcontinent, Jainism -- or, more properly, the Jain
Dharma -- is one of the oldest religions of its homeland and
indeed of the world.
Jainism has prehistoric origins dating
before 3000 BC, and before the beginning of
Indo-Aryan
culture.
Jain religion is unique in that, during its
existence of over 5000 years, it has never
compromised on
the concept of nonviolence either in principle or practice. It
upholds nonviolence as the supreme religion (Ahimsa Paramo
Dharmah) and has
insisted upon its observance in thought,
word, and deed at the individual as well as
social levels.
The holy text Tattvartha Sutra sums it up in the phrase
"Parasparopagraho
Jivanam" (all life is mutually supportive). Jain religion
presents a
truly enlightened perspective of equality of
souls, irrespective of differing physical
forms, ranging
from human beings to animals and microscopic living organisms.
Humans, alone among living beings, are endowed with all the six
senses of seeing,
hearing, tasting smelling, touching, and
thinking; thus humans are expected to act
responsibly
towards all life by being compassionate, egoless,fearless,
forgiving, and
rational.
The
Jain Code of Conduct
In
short, the code of conduct is made up of the following five
vows, and all of their
logical conclusions: Ahimsa, Satya
(truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Aparigraha
(non-possessiveness), and Brahmacharya (chastity). Jain religion
focuses much
attention on Aparigraha, non-possessiveness
towards material things through
self-control, self-imposed
penance, abstinence from over-indulgence, voluntary
curtailment of one's needs, and the consequent subsiding of the
aggressive urge.
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is a way of life for a Jain, taking its
origin in the concept of
compassion for living beings, Jiva
Daya. The practice of vegetarianism is seen as an
instrument for the practice of nonviolence and peaceful,
cooperative coexistence.
Jains are strict vegetarians,
consuming only one-sensed beings, primarily from the
plant
kingdom. While the Jain diet does, of course, involve harm to
plants, it is
regarded as a means of survival which
involves the bare minimum amount of
violence towards living
beings. (Many forms of plant material, including roots and
certain fruits, are also excluded from the Jain diet due to the
greater number of
living beings they contain owing to the
environment in which they develop.)
FOR MORE JAIN INFO:
http://www.angelfire.com/co/jainism/
World Religions at Mount Union College