What is Jainism & do Jains believe in atheism?

1. What is Jainism?

Jainism is a religion of Indian origin. The name Jainism emerged around 2500 years ago by the 24th tirthankar, Lord Mahavir. The word Jainism is derived from the Sanskrit verb “Jina” meaning to conquer. One has to conquer the ascetic battle to attain the status of Jina. Ascetic means not allowing yourself worldly pleasure. One needs to remain free of social bindings and live an extraordinary life of a saint. A person who can relieve his/her soul from different worldly vices and makes the soul free of bondages can become Jina. The vices are lust, anger, greed, infatuation, intoxication and jealousy and the bondages are the outcome of these vices.

Only a few most illustrious individuals could attain enlightenment and reached the stage of Jina. The followers of Jina are known as Jain. In India, Jains hold the status of a minority community with more than 5 million people. Outside India, Jains are residing almost in every country all over the world, with a larger population in United State, Europe and Canada.

Jain religion has a strong historical background. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of 24 tirthankars who were born in India during different historical periods. All of them spent their lives as monks and taught the various aspects of life in the form of religion.  The Jinas can become tirthankar only after attaining Keval jnan (omniscience). Description of tirthankars is found in all the ancient cultures and civilizations existent today in different parts of the world. It is the tirthankars who are the supreme preachers of Jain religion.

Jain philosophy is based on the concept of pilgrimage from an ordinary human being to tirthankar through the practice of grueling self- emancipation.  Jains do not believe in God. They have accepted all the tirthankars as the living embodiment of divine eminence. Hence, they worship tirthankars only. In contrast, all other religions prevalent in and outside India are based on the life and teachings of holy persons known to be the messenger of God. 

The three main pillars of Jainism are ahimsa (non-violence), anekantavada (non-absolutism) and aparigraha (non-possessiveness). Jain monks after positioning themselves in the sublime state of soul consciousness, take five main vows: ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (not stealing), brahmacharya (chastity) and aparigraha (non-possessiveness).

Jain philosophy believes in the concept of soul (atma). It distinguishes the body and mind from soul. The soul is bound with karma. The continuous process of life cycles from birth till death and again a new life is the outcome of karma. One can get out of these life cycles only when the soul becomes free from karmic bondages. To free the soul from the burden of our good and bad deeds, one needs to practice various religious steps to suppress the passion and bodily senses. The religion teaches a path to gain spiritual purity and enlightenment. Most important vow is non-violence or ahimsa to all living creatures. One needs to practice truthfulness and brahmacharya and avoid possessions and stealing. The ultimate goal of Jainism is about liberation of soul from endless cycle of birth and death and attain a stage, known as moksha. Moksha can be achieved only when the soul becomes free of all worldly bondages. At this stage, the soul will become light enough to move towards the eternal space. Here the soul will perhaps lose its power to form a new life. Moksha can be achieved only after following various religious steps. This is not possible in one birth and one needs to cross several life cycles where in each and every cycle, one needs to keep his/her soul pure from any worldly vices. Only tirthankars can reach the stage of moksha.

According to Jain theory, to attain the stage of keval jnan or become a tirthankar is not possible in one birth. It is claimed that Mahavir was born 26 times before and on his 27th birth, he became tirthankar. Similar stories are mentioned about other 23 tirthankars mentioned in the Kalpasutra.

2.      Do Jains believe in atheism?

Yes, Jains do believe in atheism. For them, there is no creator God. The founder of Jainism, Mahavir, is a human-God. The religion preached by Mahavir completely stands apart from any other religion existent in this world. The Jain religion teaches the pathway for human to attain the stature of God. The Soul is in perpetual evolution towards Perfection, Enlightenment and Liberation. Following such process, many human beings have achieved the status of prophets, monks etc. in the past, and many will follow their path in the days to come.

 

 


Comments

  1. Ratna Lalwani16 July 2023 at 09:13

    Thanks a lot. Please let others know about this site

    ReplyDelete

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