Research Paper On Jainism

Jainism As culturally diverse as our planet is, overtime a handful of religions proved to be more prominent throughout the nations, such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and a few others. In correlation with other religions gaining more attention and followers, some Religions have been fading away with time or have already been forgotten completely. Different aspects of and key factors to a religion offer a deeper insight into the human mind and founding principles of a society. Jainism is a less commonly talked about religion but every bit as complex and interesting as the more worldly known systems of belief. A piece of information that some might find slightly unorthodox is that there is no one historical founder for the religion

A Tirthankara was a teacher whose purpose was to lead the way for others; they all lived at various times throughout history. These teachers of their faith passed down rules to conform to and their wisdom generation after generation. In the article “Jainism” by The Encyclopedia Britannica, The authors state that there is evidence of the 23rd Tirthankara, Parshiva who lived 250 years before the final and 24th Tirthankara, Mahavira. The fundamental beliefs of this religion are easy to comprehend, and there not as many rules to live by in comparison to other forms of worship. Jainism incorporates the deepest respect for all living things into this religion, therefore many Jains are vegan. The five main rules of this religion are: no violence, no lying, no stealing, no possessions and chastity. The first 4 requirements were established by the 23rd

Other places where Jainism particularly happens to be more popular are the US, Kenya and the UK in that order. According to “Countries With The Largest Jain Populations” by Amber Pariona, Jainism now has roughly between 6 and 7 million followers spread out worldwide. If you think about how this religion began and where it did, it appears this religion has been growing since it’s firm establishment near the time period of the last two Tirthankaras. While Jainism did manage to spread past the boundaries of India and is now a somewhat universal religion, speaking of religion in modern times, jainism did see a decline as Hinduism became more prevalent. The expectations of the leaders within Jainism were to follow the 5 rules and fulfill their purpose of leaving behind a path for others to learn from and follow. Their role was crucial to the very development of this religion, they themselves carried what was needed for progression. As for roles of men and women within the religion, some find it’s very similar to modern day views and stigma within other cultures of Asian and Indian descent. To begin with, only men were Tirthankaras, which already projects a bold statement. Similar to other religions/ cultures, women are seen as unequal to men. Even Nuns answer to Monks. According to “Religions - Jainism: Jain Sects.” by BBC, The controversies within Jainism relate to