Essay On Jainism

Jainism; an ancient religion from India that shows individuals that the way to liberation and bliss is to live lives of harmlessness and renunciation. Jains believe that all things have a living soul. The quintessence of Jainism is concern for the welfare of every being in the universe and the health of the universe itself. All souls are equal and must be treated with respect and compassion. Jains are strict vegetarians and live like minimalists, avoiding as much waste as possible. Jains seek to attain ultimate liberation - which means escaping the continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth with the intent of the immortal soul living forever in a state of bliss. Once an individual has eliminated all karma from the soul, liberation is obtained.

The texts containing the teachings of Mahavira are called the Agamas. Jainism has no priests. Its professional religious people are monks and nuns, who lead strict and ascetic lives. Most Jains live in India, and according to the 2001 Census of India “there are around 4.2 million living Jains living in India”(Jain Texts 1). Jains are divided into two major sects; the Digambara (meaning "sky clad") sect and the Svetambara (meaning "white clad") sect.

According to Religion Compass by Jeffery Long, “The three guiding principles of Jainism, the 'three jewels', are right belief, right knowledge and right conduct”. The most important belief of Jainism is non-violence (ahimsa). This is one of the 5 mahavratas or “5 great vows”. The other mahavratas are non-attachment to possessions, not lying, not stealing, and sexual

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia explains that,

“Mahavira's disciples compiled his words into texts or sutras, and memorised them to pass on to future generations. The texts had to be memorised since Jain monks and nuns were not allowed to possess religious books as part of their vow of non-acquisition, nor were they allowed to write. Jain theology developed after Mahavira through the teachings of particularly learned monks - these teachings too, had to be memorised - and so the amount that the monks had to remember steadily increased. Unfortunately many of the original teachings of Mahavira have been lost.”

As expected, over the many centuries, texts were forgotten, and some were misremembered. The confusion and uncertainty of the original texts caused much distress to the Jains.the. One of the most important differences between the two groups in Jainism deals with the famine of 350 BCE. A famine killed off many Jain monks, and with them the memory of many Jain texts. Svetambara sect believes that the majority of these texts survived where the Digambara believe all the Agamas were lost. This means that Jain texts different representation for the two groups of Jains. Composedly, there were many discussions about which texts were authentic, and different sub-sects still argue over it. Jain monks and nuns are now permitted to possess religious books, so the Jain scriptures