Essential Concepts and Beliefs of Jainism

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Essential Concepts and Beliefs of Jainism

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by Jayaram VI adore so greatly the principles of the Jain religion, that I would

like to be reborn in Jain community - George Bernard Shaw.In the ancient world, the Jain tradition was known as the Sramanatradition. The sramanas were ascetics, who led pure and austerelives, without possessions, wandering from place to place andsubjecting themselves to rigorous austerities and self-discipline.They focused on renouncing the causes of sin and suffering toachieve liberation from pain and the cycle of births and deaths.Through the teachings of Parsvanatha and Mahavira, the last two ofthe 24 tirthankaras, the tradition grew into an organized religion,attracting a sizeable following in various parts of the Indian

subcontinent. To those who are familiar with Hinduism, the beliefsand concepts of Jainism sound familiar, making one wonder whetherthere was any connection between the two in some remote past. Thereis an argument that Jainism was a popular ascetic tradition of India

with its roots in prehistoric times, whose beliefs regarding soul,nature of existence, liberation, austerities, time, karma andincarnation of souls found their way into Hinduism directly orindirectly and enriched it greatly with a strong spiritual andphilosophical base. In this article we will discuss some of theimportant concepts and core beliefs of Jainism, by knowing which wewill gain a fair understanding of how it differs from Hinduism.Three Tier Universe

Jains acknowledge a three tier universe, consisting of an upper,middle and the lower worlds. The universe is eternal andindestructible. It has no creator and it is indestructible. Fromtime to time some aspects of it however may undergo changes. Theupper world is known as siddhasila, inhabited by eternally free andpure souls, who remain permanently in a state of pure bliss andpeace. The middle world is inhabited by embodied beings such ashumans, plants, animals and beings with inert bodies (inanimateobjects), subject to the law of karma. The lower world is inhabitedby beings, passing through various stages of punishments for the sin

they incurred upon earth. They return to our world of embodied souls

when their punishment is complete. Jains view the world in which welive to be full of misery and suffering and the souls that inhabitit are not free because they are attached to matter or substance and

vulnerable to the inflow of karmic matter. As the Akaranaga Sutradescribes, the living world of ours is afflicted, miserable,difficult to instruct, and without discrimination. In this worldfull of pain, the individual beings suffer by their different acts.Jiva and AjivaJainism views the whole universe in terms of two eternal,


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independent, indestructible and coexisting components, Jiva andAjiva, which are similar in some respects to the concept of Purushaand Prakriti of the Samkhya school. Jiva is interpreted differentlyas being, embodied soul and conscious soul. Ajiva is the lifelessinert matter having qualities (gunas) and atoms (paramanus). In abeing Jiva is the soul and Ajiva the physical body. Jiva is thedynamic aspect and ajiva the passive aspect. Jiva is the subject and

Ajiva the object. Jiva is the knower and the enjoyer, while Ajivais the known and the enjoyed, perceived by the Jiva through thesenses. The Jiva contains three types of consciousness: knowing,feeling and willing, while Ajiva being inert has no consciousness.For the embodied soul, Ajiva is the allurement, the trap. It comesin many shapes - love for the sense objects, attachment topossessions and material things, desire for sensual pleasures,identification with body and so on. For a Jiva, the Ajiva in whichit is caught is a burden, a baggage, which reduces the brilliance of

its consciousness and its ability to experience bliss, which is itstrue nature.According to Jain tenets, karma is a kind of Ajiva or inertsubstance, made of fine particles of matter, invisible to the nakedeye, but present every where in the universe. It is the bindingforce and the source of bondage and misery. As an embodied soul

engages in various actions, the karmic matter flows into its bodyand clings to it like an impurity, according to the nature of itsactions. The karmic substance is an impurity which leaves itsimprint upon the soul and according to its deeds. As a result thesoul loses its freedom as becomes bound to a vicious cycle ofactions and consequences or causes and effects. Unlike the Atman ofthe Upanishads, the soul of Jainism has plasticity and dimension. It

has the ability to expand or contract, according to the size andshape of the body in which it resides. In a womb it enters like asmall seed. But as the body begins to grow it also expandscorrespondingly to fit into its shape and size. At the end of itscurrent corporeal life, it contracts again into a seed and leaves

the body to begin a new journey in another body according to itskarma.The SoulsJainism envisions a universe filled with innumerable eternal soulsin varying degrees of perfection and purity. Soul is the basic unitof consciousness which makes all experience possible because it iscapable of perception and experience both in its mundane state andits pure state. Based on their level of perfection three types ofsouls are recognized. The Nityasuddhas are eternally pure andperfect. They are impervious to the inflow of karmic substance. TheMuktas are the liberated souls, who are freed from the cycle ofbirths and deaths and the ordeals of embodiment. They live in ablissful and transcendental state, indifferent to what is going on

in different worlds. As freed souls, living in a state of pureexistence, they possess ananta jnana (infinite knowledge), anantadarsana (infinite perception), ananta virya (infinite power) andananta sukha (infinite bliss). The thrid type of souls are baddhasalso known as sopadhi jivas. They are the bound souls, who areimperfect, subject to the cycle of births and deaths and karmaproduced by their own actions. Not all souls have the potential tobecome free. To become free a soul needs to have bhavyatva, aspecial quality that has to be activated by its karma to set theprocess of its liberation in motion. Some souls either do not


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possess this quality or can never activate it by their karma. Sothem remain bound for ever.Depending upon the number of senses they possess, the jivas aredivided into five categories, those having one, two, three, four and

five senses respectively. Plants have only one sense, the sense oftouch. The mammals have all the five senses. In between there twoare the jivas having two, three or four senses. Human beings, godsand higher beings possess an additional sixth sense, called manas or

mind, which gives them the ability to think and act rationally. Thenumber of senses is an important criteria in selecting right kind of

food for consumption to practice the principle of ahimsa or noninjury. Since it is not possible to consume food without indulgingin some form of violence of injury to living beings, it is better to

select plants which have only one sense. Eating food prepared bykilling animals having two or more senses would lead to greater sinand adverse karma.One of the distinguishing features of Jainism is its belief thatsouls exists both in animate and inanimate objects. The souls arefound every where, in every conceivable object, not only in men andanimals, but also in the plants, planets, stars, elements, oceans,

rivers, wood, metal and even a dew or a rain drop. The Jain believethat there are planetary souls, elementals souls, ethereal souls and

souls living beyond the reach of our senses in invisible and subtlematter. The condition of a soul depends upon the body it occupies.The consciousness of souls which reside in inanimate objects orelemental bodies remains in a latent state in contrast to soulsliving in more dynamic bodies. The condition of one soul per onebody also does not apply in Jainism. Some times a multitude of souls

may occupy one body as in case of some tuberous plants. Innumerablesouls may also exist together as a loosely held cluster occupyingvast stretches of space encompassing the whole world as one complex

organism. They are called nigodas, which act like a vast storehouses of souls. Suspended in the atmosphere, the nigodas keepfilling the empty spaces automatically, whenever they are leftvacant by the departing or liberated souls. Like the major aircurrents that crisscross our planet, the nigodasput greatresponsibility on us to act carefully lest we harm some soulsunknowingly.Dharma, Adharma, Space & TimeAjiva dravya or the inert matter is of two types, rupa (with form)and arupa (without form). They are further divided into dharma,adharma, space, time and pudgala. Of them only pudgala is matterwith form, which can be perceived through senses, and the rest areformless. Unlike in Hinduism and Buddhism, dharma, adharma, space

and time are not some abstract concepts or processes, but objectiveaspects of the universe, grouped under the category of substances(dravyas) in order to distinguish them from the soul, which is not a

substance. In Jainism dharma and adharma do not represent merit ordemerit or right and wrong. They are the motivating or moving forces

of the things in the universe. If space is what holds things like acontainer, dharma is what moves them and adharma is what brings them


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to rest within that container. All things, both animate andinanimate, occupy the space and are subject to movement (dharma) and

rest (adharma). Space, movement and rest are the three permanentrealities of the universe, within the field of our experience. Allactions of a Jiva are induced by the movements and rest of its body,

mind and senses, In other words, karma is induced by both dharma and

adharma. Dharma is what makes the inflow and out flow of karmicsubstance possible and adharma is what makes it stick to the jiva or

rest in it.Kala is another aspect of Ajiva dravya. It is unilateral and without

extension. It is a persistent continuation of successive movements,strung together from the past into the present as one endlesscontinuum. Kala is both absolute and relative. The absolute time,kala, is without a beginning and without an end, indivisible andformless. The relative time, samaya, has a beginning and an end. Ithas a form and it is divisible into seconds, minutes, hours, days,months, years and so on. Relative time caused by changes in themotion of things. It is also cyclical because it has an ebb and flow

in which the condition of souls fluctuate according to a predictablepattern. As in Hinduism, in Jainism also time is perceived as adestroyer because eventually in death as in liberation the body of a

jiva is temporarily destroyed.Pudgala and The Atomic TheoryPudgala is matter with form. It is what the bodies of jivas are made

of, or what the earth and the planets are made of. It has certainperceivable qualities, shapes or forms and properties. It is what is

perceived and experienced by the jivas through their senses. It is

subject to modifications, but eternal. It embodies energy and proneto motion (parispanda) and evolution (parinama). Everything in theuniverse, except the souls is made out of pudgala. In its gross form

it is grasped by the senses, but the senses cannot reach its subtle

forms. The karmic matter is a subtle pudgala that becomes attachedto the bodies of the souls because of their actions.Pudgula is made up of infinitesimally small atoms or paramanus,which are eternal, cannot be created and indestructible. The atomsare responsible for the qualities and nature of pudgala. Each atomhas some weight. The lighter atoms stay above and the weightier ones

below. Each atom occupies a certain point in space. The atoms alsopossess certain qualities such as taste, color, smell and texture.Atoms of the gross matter are much larger in size and occupy greater

area in space than atoms of the subtle matter. Things are producedby the combination of atoms of dissimilar nature, prone to mutualattraction. The movement of atoms in the space are caused by dharmaand adharma, which we have discussed before. Atoms have a tendencyto come together and form into aggregates (skandha) of differenttypes. Aggregates constitute one aspect of pudgala, the other being


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atoms. Our material universe is in fact a giant aggregation ofcountless atoms (mahaskandha), subject to change and transience made

possible by the aggregation and disintegration of atoms. The atomsare eternal. So is the universe. What undergoes change is thecombination of atoms or the aggregates. Atoms are homogenous, but by

developing certain qualities and grouping themselves into variouscombinations they manifest as numerous substances. Atoms have motion

and can travel swiftly from one part of the universe to another atinfinite speeds.KarmaAccording to Jainism Karma is a kind of matter (pudgalika) whichenters the body of a jiva according to the nature of its actions.The karmic matter is present in the whole universe and has atendency to modify the future of a jiva by entering into it andcreating effects of merits and demerits. The karmic substanceremains in the jiva till it is cleansed through neutralizingactions. By indulging in various actions and interacting with theexternal world, each jiva keeps on attracting the karmic substanceinto itself which leads to the development of a karmic body (karmana

sarira). This karmic body remains with the jiva through its variousreincarnations till the soul is completely liberated. Every actionperformed by a jiva leaves upon it an impression and forms the basis

for an action or event in its future. The karmic substance envelopsthe soul and camouflages its brilliance like a layer of black sootforming on the glass of a lamp. This happens in case of both mental

and physical actions. Bhavakarma is the substance that enters a jiva

through its mental actions and dravya karma through its physicalactions.On account of karma a jiva passes through five different types of

karmic conditions. The first one is the Audayika state. It is thenormal state in which karma does its regular work. The next one isAupamasika state, in which karma is not removed but neutralized and

prevented temporarily from producing its results. In the Ksaayikastate, the jiva is able to remove its karma completely so that itwill not produce any effects, resulting in its liberation. In theKsayopamasika state, which is the next one, a jiva find itself inall the three preceding states, that is some karma is present in its

normal state, some karma is neutralized temporarily and some karmais permanently removed. In the fifth state a jiva is completelyimmune to the effects of karma. This is the state of liberation. The

Ksayika and Aupamasika states are found in the holy men while theAupamasika state is normally found in pious and virtuous people whoperform good deeds.LiberationLiberation in Jainism actually means liberation of soul from matterincluding the karmic matter. For human beings it is freedom fromcycle of births and deaths and the impurity of karma. Karma is whatbinds the soul (jiva) to the matter (ajiva). Jainism recognizesseven tattvas or principles namely jiva, ajiva, asrava, bandha,


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samvara, niraja and moksha. A jiva (soul) becomes free from ajiva(matter or material body) through various stages to reach thehighest state of absolute liberation called moksha. Asrava is theflow of kamric substance into the body of jiva. Bandha is thebondage that binds the soul to the body, caused by wrong belief,non-renunciation, carelessness, passion and the vibration caused inthe soul by the actions of the body, mind and senses. Samvara isthat which prevents the inflow of karma completely. Niraja is thatwhich nuetralizes and eliminates all the previous sins and purifiesthe soul. Moksha is the state of complete liberation, to which soulcan reach to experience its highest and purest state of blissfulconsciousness. Jains take the concept of liberation to its extremewhen they ultimately subject their bodies to self destructionthrough fasting and other austerities to attain liberation. Suicideis an acknowledged short cut to liberation in Jainism. It isprescribed as an alternative to extreme asceticism when one isunable to overcome attachment and passions. A monk is also allowedto kill himself after twelve years of ascetic practices to attainnirvana.Suggested Further Reading

A Treatise On JainismAn Introduction to Jainism or Jain DharmaA Philosophical Approach to JainismThe philosophy of Jainism

The 24 Thirthankaras of JainismThe Kalpa Sutra Of BhadrabahuJainism And The Belief In God or Supreme SelfThe jivas or souls of JainismJainism and the theory of karmaJainism, the theory of stand points

Wednesday , September 21, 2011

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Essential Concepts and Beliefs of Jainism