Jain Journal 1993 01

SR No.: 520109
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 1993
Total Pages: 57
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 4 MB

Page 21

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JAIN JOURNAL
But is was the late professor Joseph Campbell who saw fit to conclude in his book, Oriental Mythology : The Masks of God (1962), " Jains, who, though today a sect small in number, were in the past both numerous and of great influence" (218). In this book he devotes a whole section to the Jaina world cycle, under the heading “The Road of Smoke" (pp. 218-234) and "The Road of Flame" (pp. 234 240).
Perhaps that's why some scholars are now arguing that Jainism be considered as a world religion (see Jaini, 1990).
Many popular books on world religion do not consider Jainism as a world religion despite its appeal as a life-style (religion) of the future.
One can thus say with some certainty that Jainism is not as wellknown outside India as are other Indian religions, particularly Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. That's why when a book of prayers was being compiled for use in Ontario schools by the Toronto Board of Education Jaina prayers were absent in the original draft. They were, however, included in the final draft. But parents in at least one district objected to the inclusion of Jaina prayers. They argued, such prayers will turn their children against eating meat.
Jainism is also denied due credit as the only religion advocating ahińsă in some books. For example, Professor Peter Brock fails to discuss the Jaina cultural value of ahiṁsā in his two volumes on Freedom from Violence : Sectarian Nonresistance from the Middle Ages to the Great War, and Nonsectarian Pacifism, 1814-1814 (both 1991). The later book, though, includes a section on Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent campaigns in South Africa.
However, when a reference to Jains or Jainism does find a place in some books, it is often inaccurate. For example, the definition of "Jain" entered in the World Book Information Finder (CD-ROM, 1991) defines a Jain "a member of a non-Brahmanic southeast Asian sect resembling Buddhism, and believing, like the Hindus, in transmigration of the soul, established in the 500's B. C."
Most students and scholars of Indian religions would know that Jainism is a religion of South Asia, not southeast Asia. Moreover Jainism is not a sect. Furthermore, though there are some similarities between Jaina and Buddhist ideals, Jainism does not resemble Buddhism, especially Buddhism of southeast Asia, China or Japan.