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			JAIN BBS EMAIL BULLETIN 
			  Date: Mon, 16 May 94
			  World Religions Series
			Compiled by Pravin K. Shah

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Part of a series of Glimpses of World Religions. This series provides 
information on the major religions of the world using the same format.
Religions reviewed in this series are: Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism  and Budhism.
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Jainism

Founded:
Jainism is one of the oldest living religion.  It has no begining.  It
predates recorded history as per references indicated in Hindu
religious scripture. In ancient times it was known by many names such
as Saman tradition, or the religion of Nirgantha or Jina.

Founder:
About 2500 yeas ago Lord Mahavir (Vardhaman), the twenty fourth and
the last Tirthankara of this era revived the same philosophy preached
by his predecessor Lord Parshva-nath in India.  He expanded the code of
conducts. The present Jain scriptures reflect only his preaching.

Major Scriptures:
Lord Mahavir's preaching is complied orally by his disciples in the
Jain Agam Sutras which consist of many texts.

   25 Agam Sutras as per Digambar Jain sect
   45 Agam Sutras as per Swetambar Murtipujak Jain sect
   32 Agam Sutras as per Swetambar Sthanakvasi/ Terapanthi Jain sect

The Agam Sutras teach great reverence for all forms of life, strict
codes of vegetarianism, asceticism, nonviolence, and opposition to
war.  The existing Agam Sutras are accepted as authentic preaching of
Lord Mahavir by the Swetambar sect but the Digmbar sect does not
accept them as authentic.  Digambars follow two main texts (Shatkhand
Agam and Kasay Pahud) and four Anuyogs (consist of more than 20 books)
written by great Acharyas (scholars) during 100 to 800 A.D.

Sects:
There are two major sects:
   Digambar (sky-clad) sect
   Swetambar (white cloth) sect

The Digambar monks wear no cloths, while Swetambar monks wear white
cloths.  Fundamentally, however, the views of both sects on ethics and
philosophy are identical.

The Swetambar sect is divided into three sub sects.

   Swetambar Murtipujak sect (idol worship)
   Swetambar Sthanakvasi sect (no idol worship)
   Swetambar Terapanthi sect (no idol worship and different
     interpretation of some principles)

Adherents:
About six million almost exclusively in India.
There are small but significant and growing Jain communities in several 
parts of the world including United Kingdom, USA, Canada, and East Africa.

Goals :
The primary goal of Jainism is to become a perfected soul, known as
Siddha, parmatama, or God.  The perfected soul possesses pure
consciousness, perfect knowledge, power, bliss, and omniscience.  This
state is attained when all layers of karma, which are viewed as
substance, are removed causing the soul to rise to the ceiling of the
universe, known as Moksha.  The soul abides forever in solitary
bliss in Moksha.  Moksha is defined in Jainism as liberation,
self-unity, solitaire, an endless calm, freedom from action and
desire, and freedom from birth, death, and rebirth.  When it is
reached, a human has fulfilled his destiny as God.  Every living being
has a potential to become God.  For the Jains there is no creator
God, and therefore no communion with Him.

Path of Attainment:
Right perception (Samyak Darshan), right knowledge (Samyak Jnan), and
right conduct (Samyak Charitra) together lead to liberation.  Right
perception creates an awareness of reality or truth, right knowledge
impels the person to proper action, and proper conduct leads him to
the attainment of total freedom.  They must coexist in a person if
one is to make any progress on the path of liberation.

The soul passes through various stages of spiritual development,
called "gunasthanas," which are progressive manifestations of the
soul's innate faculties of perception, knowledge, and conduct.
Jainism places great stress on nonviolence (ahimsa), multiplicity of
views, asceticism, penance, yoga, and monasticism, as the means of
attainment of liberation.

Synopsis:
Jainism strives for the realization of the highest perfection of man,
which in its original purity is free from all pain and the bondage of
birth and death.  The term Jain is derived from the Sanskrit Jina, or
"conqueror" and implies conquest over the bondage of attachment and
aversion.  Jainism does not consider it necessary to recognize a God
or any being higher than the perfect human.

Each living being (soul) is beginningless and endless, and eternally
individual.  It classes souls into three broad categories:  those that
are not yet evolved, those in the process of evolution, and those that
are liberated, free from birth and rebirth.  Soul attains better
births according to the amount of karmas they are able to eliminate
during life.  Between births souls dwell in heaven, hell, humans,
animals, birds, fish, vegetables etc.  It's supreme ideal is
nonviolence (ahimsa), equal kindness, and reverence for all forms of
life in speech, thought, and action.  Above all it is a religion of
love and compassion to all living beings.

The vows taken by the Jain monks are more severe.  They eventually
involve elements of ASCETICISM:  fasting, peripatetic begging,
learning to endure bodily discomfort, and various internal austerities
constituting a Jain variety of YOGA.  Jainism is unique in allowing
the very spiritually advanced person to hasten their own death by
certain practices (principally fasting) and under specified
circumstances.

Beliefs:
The spiritual lineage of the twenty four Tirthankaras ("Ford Finders") of
whom the ascetic sage Mahavira was the last.  They should be revered and
worshipped above all else.

God is neither a Creator, Father, or Friend.  Such human conceptions are
limited.  All that may be said of Him is:  He is. In other words He is
a pure consciousness or a perfected soul without any karma attached to
it.

The ultimate goal of every living being is eternal release from
Samsara, the "wheel of birth and death", which is known as liberation.

Each human's soul is eternal and individual and that each must conquer
himself (his desire) by his own efforts in order to attain liberation
(Moksha).

The Agam Sutras and Siddhantas are the sacred scriptures that guide
moral and spiritual life to ultimately attain liberation.

The path of liberation is to follow right perception, right knowledge,
and right conduct.  It can not be achieved without following the
proper ascetic discipline and strict religious observance.

The principle governing the successions of life is karma.  Our
actions, both good and bad, bind us, and one can get rid of karmas by
proper knowledge of the nine fundamental truths (nine Tattvas), self
purification, penance, austerity, and meditation.

The sacredness of all life, that one must cease injuring sentient
creatures, large and small, and that even unintentional killing
bondages karma.  Nonviolence is to be followed in action, thought, and
speech and is the highest religion.
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complied by Pravin K. Shah, Cary NC  919-469-0956
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