for Jain Monks

129 Pages·2011·8.9 MB·English

Revised Edition: 2016
ISBN 978-1-283-49987-3
© All rights reserved.
Published by:
University Publications
48 West 48 Street, Suite 1116,
New York, NY 10036, United States
Email: [email protected]
Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Introduction to Jainism
Chapter 2 - Anekantavada
Chapter 3 - Karma in Jainism
Chapter 4 - Jain Meditation
Chapter 5 - Jain Cosmology
Chapter 6 - Jain Rituals and Festivals
Chapter 7 - Jain Vegetarianism & Fasting in Jainism
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Chapter 8 - Jain Symbols and Jain Monasticism
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Chapter- 1
Introduction to Jainism

Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living
beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul
towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner
enemies and achieved the state of supreme being is called Jina (Conqueror or Victor).
Jainism is also referred to as Shraman (self-reliant) Dharma or the religion of Nirgantha
(who does not have attachments and aversions) by ancient texts. Jainism is commonly
referred to as Jain Dharma in Hindi and Samanam in Tamil.
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Jainism, which its followers consider to have always existed, has prehistoric origins
dating before 3000 BC, and before the beginning of Indo-Aryan culture. Organized
Jainism is believed by historians to have arisen between the ninth and the sixth centuries
BCE. Some have speculated that the religion may have its roots in much earlier times,
reflecting native spirituality prior to the Indo-Aryan migration into India. In the modern
world, it is a small but influential religious minority with as many as 4.2 million
followers in India, and successful growing immigrant communities in North America,
Western Europe, the Far East, Australia and elsewhere.
Jains have successfully sustained this longstanding religion to the present day and have
significantly influenced and contributed to ethical, political and economic spheres in
India. Jains have an ancient tradition of scholarship and have the highest degree of
literacy in India; Jain libraries are the oldest in the country. Tamil Jains and Kannada
Jains who are native to their regions, residing in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka respectively
early since 1st century BCE, are distinguishable in some of their routines and practices
from North Indian Jains, but the core philosophies and belief systems are the same for
both cultures.
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Core beliefs
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Lord Mahavir
• Every living being has a soul.
• Every soul is potentially divine, with innate qualities of infinite knowledge,
perception, power, and bliss (masked by its karmas).
• Regard every living being as you do yourself, harming no one and being kind to
all living beings.
• Every soul is born as a heavenly being, human, sub-human or hellish being
according to its own karmas.
• Every soul is the architect of its own life, here or hereafter.
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• When a soul is freed from karmas, it becomes free and attains divine cons-
ciousness, experiencing infinite knowledge, perception, power, and bliss.
• Right Faith (right vision), Right Knowledge and Right Conduct (triple gems of
Jainism) provide the way to this realization. There is no supreme divine creator,
owner, preserver or destroyer. The universe is self-regulated and every soul has
the potential to achieve divine consciousness (siddha) through its own efforts.
• Navakar Mantra is the fundamental prayer in Jainism and can be recited at any
time of the day. Praying by reciting this mantra, the devotee bows in respect to
liberated souls still in human form (Arihantas), fully liberated souls (Siddhas),
spiritual leaders (Acharyas), teachers (Upadyayas) and all the monks (sarva
sadhus). By saluting them saying "namo namaha", Jains receive inspiration from
them to follow their path to achieve true bliss and total freedom from the karmas
binding their souls. In this main prayer, Jains do not ask for any favours or
material benefits. This mantra serves as a simple gesture of deep respect towards
beings who are more spiritually advanced. The mantra also reminds followers of
the ultimate goal of reaching nirvana or moksha.
• Non-violence (to be in soul consciousness rather than body consciousness) is the
foundation of right view, the condition of right knowledge and the kernel of right
conduct. It leads to a state of being unattached to worldly things and being
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nonjudgmental and non-violent; this includes compassion and forgiveness in
thoughts, words and actions toward all living beings and respecting views of
others (non-absolutism).
• Jainism stresses on the importance of controlling the senses including the mind, as
they can drag one far away from true nature of the soul.
• Limit possessions and lead a life that is useful to yourself and others. Owning an
object by itself is not possessiveness; however attachment to an object is. Non-
possessiveness is the balancing of needs and desires while staying detached from
our possessions.
• Enjoy the company of the holy and better qualified, be merciful to afflicted souls
and tolerate the perversely inclined.
• Four things are difficult for a soul to attain: 1. human birth, 2. knowledge of the
laws governing the souls, 3. absolute conviction in the philosophy of non-violence
and 4. practicing it in every day life activities.
• It is therefore important not to waste human life in evil ways. Rather, strive to rise
on the ladder of spiritual evolution.
• The goal of Jainism is liberation of the soul from the negative effects of
unenlightened thoughts, speech and action. This goal is achieved through
clearance of karmic obstructions by following the triple gems of Jainism.
• Jains worship the icons of Jinas, Arihants and Tirthankars, who have conquered
the inner passions and attained divine consciousness, and study the scriptures of
these liberated beings.
• Jainism acknowledges the existence of powerful heavenly souls (Yaksha and
Yakshini) that look after the well beings of Tirthankarars. Usually, they are found
in pair around the icons of Jinas as male (yaksha) and female (yakshini) guardian
deities. Even though they have supernatural powers, these deities are also souls
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wandering through the cycles of births and deaths just like most other souls. Over
time, people started worshiping these deities as well.
Principles and other beliefs
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Five Mahavratas of Jain ascetics
Jainism encourages spiritual development through cultivation of one's own personal
wisdom and reliance on self-control (by means of, vrata= vow). Right perception, Right
knowledge and Right conduct (triple gems of Jainism) provide the path for attaining
liberation (moksha) from the cycles of birth and death (samsara). When the soul sheds its
karmic bonds completely, it attains divine consciousness. The goal of Jainism is to realize
this soul's true nature. Jainism prescribes a path of non-violence to progress the soul to
this ultimate goal. Those who have attained moksha are called siddha (liberated souls),
and those who are attached to the world through their karma are called samsarin
(mundane souls). Every soul has to follow the path, as explained by the jinas (victors)
and revived by Tirthankaras, to attain the complete liberation.
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Jains believe that to attain enlightenment and ultimately liberation, one must practice the
following ethical principles (major vows) in thought, speech and action. The degree to
which these principles are practiced is different for householders and monks. They are:
• Non-violence (Ahimsa) – to cause no harm to living beings. This is the funda-
mental vow from which all other vows stem. It involves minimizing intentional
and unintentional harm to any other living creature. "Non-violence", is sometimes
interpreted as not killing, but the concept goes far beyond that. It includes not
harming or insulting other living beings, either directly, or indirectly through
others. There can be even no room for thought to injure others, and no speech that
influences others to inflict harm. It also includes respecting the views of others
(non-absolutism and acceptance of multiple views).
• Truthfulness (Satya) – to always speak the truth in a harmless manner. A person
who speaks the truth becomes trustworthy like a mother, venerable like a
preceptor and dear to everyone like a kinsman. Given that non-violence has
priority, all other principles yield to it, whenever there is a conflict. For example,
if speaking truth will lead to violence, it is perfectly ethical to be silent.
• Non-stealing (Asteya) – to not take anything that is not willingly given. Asteya,
"non-stealing", is the strict adherence to one's own possessions, without desire to
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take another's. One should remain satisfied by whatever is earned through honest
labour. Any attempt to squeeze material wealth from others and/or exploit the
weak is considered theft. Some of the guidelines for this principle are:
(1) Always give people fair value for labor or product.
(2) Never take things which are not offered.
(3) Never take things that are placed, dropped or forgotten by others
(4) Never purchase cheaper things if the price is the result of improper method (e.g.
pyramid scheme, illegal business, stolen goods, etc.)
• Celibacy (Brahmacharya) – to control the senses including mind from
indulgence. The basic intent of this vow is to conquer passion and to prevent the
waste of energy. In this vow, the house holder must not have a sensual
relationship with anybody other than one's own spouse. Jain monks and nuns
should practice complete abstinence from sex.
• Non-possession or Non-materialism (Aparigraha) – to detach from people,
places, and material things. Ownership of an object itself is not possessiveness;
however attachment to an object is possessiveness. For householders, non-
possession is owning without attachment, because the notion of possession is
illusory. The reality of life is that change is constant; thus, objects owned by
someone today will be property of someone else in future. The householder is
encouraged to discharge his or her duties to related people and objects as a
trustee, without excessive attachment or aversion. For monks and nuns, non-
possession is complete renunciation of property and relations including home and
family.
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Jains hold that our universe and its laws of nature are eternal, without beginning or end.
However, it constantly undergoes cyclical changes. Our universe is occupied by both
living beings ("Jīva") and non-living objects ("Ajīva"). The samsarin (worldly or
mundane) soul incarnates in various life forms during its journey over time. Human, sub-
human (animal, insect, plant, etc.), super-human (heavenly being), and hell-being are the
four macro forms of the samsari souls. A living being's thoughts, expressions and actions
executed with intents of attachments and aversions, give rise to accumulation of karma.
And these influxes of karma in turn contribute to determine our future circumstances that
are both rewarding and punishing. Jain scholars have explained in depth on methods and
techniques that will clear the past karmas accumulated as well as stopping the flow of
fresh karmas.
A major characteristic of Jain belief is the emphasis on the consequences of not only
physical but also mental behaviours. One's unconquered mind with anger, pride (ego),
deceit, greed and uncontrolled sense organs are the powerful enemies of humans. Anger
spoils good relations, pride destroys humility, deceit destroys peace and greed destroys
everything. Jainism recommends conquering anger by forgiveness, pride (ego) by
humility, deceit by straight-forwardness and greed by contentment.
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The principle of non-violence seeks to minimize karmas which limit the capabilities of
the soul. Jainism views every soul as worthy of respect because it has the potential to
become Siddha (Param-atma – "highest soul"). Because all living beings possess a soul,
great care and awareness is essential in one's actions. Jainism emphasizes the equality of
all life, advocating harmlessness towards all, whether the creatures are great or small.
This policy extends even to microscopic organisms. Jainism acknowledges that every
person has different capabilities and capacities to practice and therefore accepts different
levels of compliance for ascetics and householders. The "great vows" (mahavrata) are
prescribed for monks and "limited vows" (anuvrata) are prescribed for householders. In
other words, the house-holders are encouraged to practice the five cardinal principles of
non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy and non-possessiveness with their
current practical limitations while the monks have to observe them very strictly. With
consistent practice, it will be possible to overcome the limitations gradually, accelerating
the spiritual progress.
Emphasis on non-violence in thought and practice
Jains hold the above five major vows at the center of their lives. These vows cannot be
fully implemented without the acceptance of a philosophy of non-absolutism.
Anekantavada (multiple points of view), is a foundation of Jain philosophy. This
philosophy allows the Jains to accept the truth in other philosophies from their
perspective and thus inculcating a tolerance for other viewpoints. Jain scholars have
devised methods to view both physical objects and abstract ideas from different
perspectives systematically. This is the application of non-violence in the sphere of
thought. It is a Jain philosophical standpoint just as there is the Advaitic standpoint of
Sankara and the standpoint of the Middle Path of the Buddhists. This search to view
things from different angles, leads to understanding and toleration of different and even
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conflicting views. When this happens prejudices subside and a tendency to accommodate
increases. The theory of Anekanta is therefore a unique experiment of non-violence at the
root.
A derivation of this principle is the doctrine of Syadvada that highlights every model
relative to its view point. It is a matter of our daily experience that the same object which
gives pleasure to us under certain circumstances becomes boring under different
situations. Nonetheless relative truth is undoubtedly useful as it is a stepping stone to the
ultimate realization and understanding of reality. The theory of Syadvada is based on the
premise that every proposition is only relatively true. It all depends on the particular
aspect from which we approach that proposition. Jains therefore developed logic that
encompasses sevenfold predication so as to assist in the construction of proper judgment
about any proposition.
Syadvada provides Jains with a systematic methodology to explore the real nature of
reality and consider the problem in a non-violent way from different perspectives. This
process ensures that each statement is expressed from seven different conditional and
relative viewpoints or propositions, and thus it is known as theory of conditioned
predication. These seven propositions are described as follows:
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• 1.Syād-asti — "in some ways it is"
• 2.Syād-nāsti — "in some ways it is not"
• 3.Syād-asti-nāsti — "in some ways it is and it is not"
• 4.Syād-asti-avaktavya — "in some ways it is and it is indescribable"
• 5.Syād-nāsti-avaktavya — "in some ways it is not and it is indescribable"
• 6.Syād-asti-nāsti-avaktavya — "in some ways it is, it is not and it is
indescribable"
• 7.Syād-avaktavya — "in some ways it is indescribable"
For example, a tree could be stationary with respect to an observer on earth; however it
will be viewed as moving along with planet Earth for an observer in space.
Jains are usually very welcoming and friendly toward other faiths and often help with
interfaith functions. Several non-Jain temples in India are administered by Jains. A
palpable presence in Indian culture, Jains have contributed to Indian philosophy, art,
architecture, science, and to Mohandas Gandhi's politics, which led to the mainly non-
violent movement for Indian independence. Though Mohandas Gandhi stated clearly in
his Autobiography that his mother was a Vaishnava, Jain monks visited his home
regularly. He spent considerable time under the tutelage of Jain monks, learning the
philosophies of non-violence and doing good always.
Karma theory
Karma in Jainism conveys a totally different meaning than commonly understood in the
Hindu philosophy and western civilization. It is not the so called inaccessible force that
controls the fate of living beings in inexplicable ways. It does not simply mean "deed",
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