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Introduction to Jainism
This highest deity is the jina;140 the jina is an object of veneration,141 the highest object of worship. 142 The jina deserves to be worshipped, because he is the conqueror of the world and provides the ideal, i.e., salvation from the cycle of births and deaths, which are characteristic of the world.143 Jainism also believes in innumerable gods, who are of various kinds and of various degrees of perfection.144 But these gods are not eternal.145
Like the Sāṁkhya School of Hindu philosophy, Jainism is dualistic. It believes in the existence of the jīva (soul) and the ajīva (non-soul). 146 According to Jainism, these two exhaust between them all that exists in the universe. 147 As a result of the contact between the jīva and the ajīva, i.e., the living and the non-living, energies are forged which lead to various experiences of life like birth and death.148 This process can be stopped and the energies already forged can be destroyed by following a path of descipline which can lead to salvation.149 This statement contains seven propositions, i.e., the seven tattvas or realities of Jainism.150 These seven propositions are as follows:151
1. There is the jīva or the living. 2. There is the ajīva or the non-living. 3. The jīva and the ajīva come into contact with each other. 4. This contact produces some energies.
140. ERE, II, p. 187; CUHI, I, p. 191. 141. Ibid., p. 187. 142. CUHI, I, p. 191. 143. Ibid. 144. ERE, II, p. 186. 145. Ibid. 146. CUHI, I, p. 224; JI, p. 4. 147. Ibid., p. 224. 148. Ibid. 149. Ibid. 150. Ibid.
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