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JAINISM

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JAINISM

 Is an ancient religion from India that teaches that the

way to liberation and bliss is to live lives of harmlessness
and renunciation.
 The followers of Jainism are called “Jains”.
 Has between four and five million followers with most
residing in India.
 Outside India, some of the largest Jain communities are
present in Canada, Europe, Kenya, 
the United Kingdom, Suriname, Fiji, and the 
United States.
JAINISM

 Started 6th Century in India.

 Derived from the word ‘jinas’ which means
conqueror.
 Main aim is to achieve liberation of Jiva (soul).
 Focuses on the battle between our true self and the
temptations we have surrounding us at all time.
JAINISM

 Is considered as the most peaceful religion in the

world.
 Jains believe that animals and plants, as well as
human beings, contain living souls. Each of these
souls is considered of equal value and should be
treated with respect and compassion.
 Jainism has no priests. Its professional religious
people are monks and nuns, who lead strict and
ascetic lives
JAINISM

 Jains believe in reincarnation and seek to attain

ultimate liberation - which means escaping the
continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth so that
the immortal soul lives for ever in a state of bliss.
 Liberation is achieved by eliminating all 
karma from the soul.
 Jainism is a religion of self-help.
 There are no gods or spiritual beings that will help
human beings.
JAINISM

 Mahavira is regarded as the

man who gave Jainism its
present-day form.
JAINISM

 The texts containing the

teachings of Mahavira are
called the Agamas.
JAINISM

 Jains are divided into two major sects; the

Digambara (meaning "sky clad") sect and the
Svetambara (meaning "white clad") sect.
JAINISM

 Digambara "sky-clad” is one of the two major 

schools of Jainism. The word Digambara (Sanskrit)
is a combination of two words: dig (directions)
and ambara (sky), referring to those whose
garments are of the element that fills the four
quarters of space. Digambara monks do not wear
any clothes. The monks carry picchi, a broom made
up of fallen peacock feathers (for clearing the place
before walking or sitting), kamandalu (a water
container made of wood), and shastra (scripture).
JAINISM

 The Svetambara is one
of the two main sects of 
Jainism. Svetambara
"white-clad" is a term
describing its ascetics'
practice of wearing white
clothes.
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BELIEFS

Jainism
DHARMA
Beliefs
DHARMA

 Jains aim to live in such a way that their jiva (soul)

doesn't get any more karma, and so that the karma
it already has is either eliminated or helped to
decay. They do this by following a disciplined life
path.
DHARMA

 Dharma (truth, teaching) that Mahavira advocated

was one of strict asceticism, renunciation and moral
cultivation. He instructed his followers to cultivate
the three jewels of:
 Right belief
 Right knowledge
 Right conduct
DHARMA

 Emerging from these three jewels and relating to

right conduct are the five abstinences, which are the
vows of:
 Ahimsa (non-violence)
 Satya (truthfulness)
 Asteya (not stealing)
 Aparigraha (non-acquisition/attachment)
 Brahmacarya (chaste living, physical abstinence)
DHARMA

 Mahavrata: the 5 great vows followed by Jain 

monks and nuns
 Anuvrata: the lesser vows followed by Jain lay
people. These are less strict version of the great
vows
KARMA
Beliefs
KARMA

 Karma is the mechanism that determines the quality

of life. The happiness of a being's present life is the
result of the moral quality of the actions of the being
in its previous life.
 A soul can only achieve liberation by getting rid of
all the karma attached to it.
KARMA IS A PHYSICAL SUBSTANCE

 Jains believe that karma is a physical substance that

is everywhere in the universe. Karma particles are
attracted to the jiva (soul) by the actions of that
jiva.
 Karma as floating dust which sticks to the soul, or as
types of atomic particle which are attracted to the
soul as a result of our actions, words and thoughts.
On their own, karma particles have no effect but
when they stick to a soul they affect the life of that
soul.
KARMA IS A PHYSICAL SUBSTANCE

 We attract karma particles when we do or think or

say things: we attract karma particles if we kill
something, we attract karma particles when we tell a
lie, we attract karma particles when we steal, etc.
AVOIDING OR REMOVING KARMA

 By behaving well - so no karma is attracted

 By having the right mental state - so that even if an
action attracts karma, the correct mental attitude of the
being means that karma either doesn't stick to that soul
or is discharged immediately

 Some karmas expire on their own after causing

suffering. Others karmas remain. The karma that has
built up on the soul can be removed by living life
according to the Jain vows.
MAIN CATEGORY OF KARMA

 Destructive
 Non-Destructive
DESTRUCTIVE KARMAS

 mohaniya-karma (delusory):deludes the jiva

 causes attachment to false beliefs
 prevents the jiva living a correct life
 jnana-avaraniya-karma (knowledge-obscuring):
 interferes with the jiva's intellect and senses
 prevents the jiva understanding the truth
 blocks the jiva's natural omniscience
DESTRUCTIVE KARMAS

 dars(h)an-avarniya-karma (perception-obscuring):
 interferes with perception through the senses
 antaraya-karma (obstructing):
 obstructs the energy of the jiva
 blocks the doing of good acts that the jiva wants to do
NON-DESTRUCTIVE KARMAS

 vedaniya-karma (feeling-producing):
 determines whether the jiva has pleasant or unpleasant
experiences
 nama-karma (physique-determining):
 determines the type of rebirth
 determines the physical characteristics of the new life
 determines the spiritual potential of the new life
NON-DESTRUCTIVE KARMAS

 ayu-karma (life-span-determining):
 determines the duration of a being's life (within the limits
of the species into which the jiva is reborn)
 gotra-karma (status-determining):
 determines the status of a being within its species
SOUL
Beliefs
SOUL

 The Jain word that comes closest to soul is jiva,

which means a conscious, living being. For Jains
body and soul are different things: the body is just
an inanimate container - the conscious being is the
jiva.
 After each bodily death, the jiva is reborn into a
different body to live another life, until it achieves
liberation. When a jiva is embodied, it exists
throughout that body and isn't found in any
particular bit of it.
Jains believe:

 the soul exists forever

 each soul is always independent
 the soul is responsible for what it does
 the soul experiences the consequences of its actions
 the soul can become liberated from the cycle of birth and death
 not all souls can be liberated - some souls are inherently incapable of achieving this

 the soul can evolve towards that liberation by following principles of

behaviour
INDIVIDUALITY

 Each jiva is an individual quite independent of other

jivas. This is different from one of the Hindu
 Vedanta schools of belief where each soul is part of
a single ultimate reality.
 Jains believe that there are an infinite number of
souls in the universe.
LIBERATED SOULS

 Some jivas have achieved liberation from the cycle of

samsara or reincarnation and are not reborn. They
are called siddhas.
 Liberated jivas don't have physical bodies; they
possess infinite knowledge, infinite vision, infinite
power, and infinite bliss - in effect they have become
perfect beings.
 This makes liberated jivas the beings most like gods
 in Jain belief, but they are very different from the
conventional idea of gods.
NON-LIBERATED SOULS

 Every jiva has the possibility of achieving liberation,

and thus of becoming a god, and each soul is
involved in a process of evolving towards that state.
CATEGORIES OF NON-LIBERATED SOULS

 Ekendriya - beings with one sense

 Jains include many things as jivas that non-Jains
regard as either inanimate or plants. They classify
these as immobile beings, with only one sense - the
sense of touch:
CATEGORIES OF NON-LIBERATED SOULS

 Earth-bodied: clay, sand, metal etc

 Water-bodied: fog, rain, ice etc
 Fire-bodied: fire, lightning etc
 Air-bodied: wind, gas etc
 Plant-bodied: trees, flowers, vegetables etc
CATEGORIES OF NON-LIBERATED SOULS

 Beindriya - beings with two senses

 These are very simple organisms that are thought to
have two senses - touch and taste. This category
includes things like worms and termites.
 Treindriya - beings with three senses
 These have the senses of touch, taste and smell.
This category includes insects like ants, beetles and
moths.
CATEGORIES OF NON-LIBERATED SOULS

 Chaurindriya - beings with four senses

 These have the senses of touch, taste, smell and
sight. This category includes wasps, locusts and
scorpions.
 Panchendriya - beings with five senses
 These have the senses of touch, taste, smell, sight
and hearing. There are four classes of these beings:
CATEGORIES OF NON-LIBERATED SOULS

 Infernal beings: souls living in hell. This form of jiva

experiences the greatest suffering.
 Higher animals: This includes all non-human animals
above insects.
 Human beings: This is the only form of jiva which is
able to obtain liberation directly.
 Heavenly beings: This form of jiva is the happiest.
THE UNIVERSE
Beliefs
THE UNIVERSE

 Jains believe that the universe we perceive really

exists and is not an illusion. It contains two classes
of thing: jivas - living souls, and ajivas -non-living
objects, which include everything else, including
space.
 Nothing in the universe is ever destroyed or created,
they simply change from one form to another.
 Jains dont believe that a certain god created the
world
THE UNIVERSE IN FIVE PARTS

 The supreme abode: The region where liberated

beings live for ever.
 The upper world: the region where celestial beings
live, but not for ever
 The middle world: the region where human beings
live this is the only part of the universe from which a
being can achieve enlightenment
THE UNIVERSE IN FIVE PARTS

 The lower world: this region consists of seven hells

where beings are tormented by demons and by each
other their torment does not last for ever
 The base: the region where the lowest forms of life
live.
THE UNIVERSE IN FIVE PARTS
GOD
Beliefs
BELIEF OF GOD

 Jains do not believe in a God or gods in the way that

many other religions do, but they do believe in divine
(or at least perfect) beings who are worthy of
devotion.
 Jains do not believe that any form of god is
necessary to keep the universe in existence, or that
any form of god has any power over the universe.
 Jains do not believe that there is a god who must be
obeyed.
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CUSTOMS

Jainism
FASTING
Customs
FASTING

 Fasting is very common in Jain spirituality.

 Although a Jain may take it upon him or herself to
fast at any time, most Jains will fast at special times
during the year, at festivals and holy days.
TYPES OF FAST

 Complete fasting: giving up food and water

completely for a period
 Partial fasting: eating less than you need to avoid
hunger
 Vruti Sankshepa: limiting the number of items of
food eaten
 Rasa Parityaga: giving up favourite foods
TYPES OF FAST

 Santhara/Fasting to Death- is a procedure in which

a Jain stops eating with the intention of preparing
for death.
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HOLY DAYS

Jainism
MAHAVIRA JAYANTI
HOLY DAYS
MAHAVIRA JAYANTI

 This festival celebrates

the day of Mahavira's
birth.
 Jains will gather in 
temples to hear readings
of the teachings of
Mahavira.
PARYUSHANA

HOLY DAYS
PARYUSHANA

 The word 'Paryushana' means 'to

stay in one place', which signifies
a time of reflection and
repentance for the Jain devotee.
Originally this was primarily a
monastic practice.
 This festival consists of eight
days of intensive fasting,
repentance and pujas (worship).
Often monks will be invited to
give teachings from the Jain
scriptures.
DIWALI

HOLY DAYS
DIWALI

 In Jainism it has special

significance, as on this day in 527
BCE (according to Svetambara
tradition) that Mahavira gave his
last teachings and attained
ultimate liberation.
 On Diwali parents will often give
sweets to their children, and
lamps are lit all over India. Some
very religious Jains will also fast
for the two days of Diwali,
following the example of
Mahavira.
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WORSHIP

Jainism
DAILY SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
WORSHIP
DAILY SPIRITUAL PRACTICES

 prayer
 honouring the tirthankaras (appears in the world to
teach the way to moksha, or liberation)
 paying respect to monks
 repenting for sins
 self-control through sitting meditation for 48 minutes
 going without something pleasurable
JAIN WORSHIP
WORSHIP
WORSHIP

 Jains don't worship to please gods, or in the hope of

getting something from gods in return. But
nevertheless, Jains do worship.
PURPOSE OF WORSHIP

 Jain worship provides the individual with a discipline

that helps them concentrate on the Jain ideals, and
cultivate detachment.
 The worshipper concentrates on the virtues of the
tirthankaras and other pure souls, in order to help
them follow their example.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!