$JES 401 Jain Philosophy and Practice 2 Level 4 Book

Author(s): JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

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Arihanta
The word Arihanta is made up of two words: 1) Ari means enemies, and 2) Hant means destroyer. Therefore, Arihanta means a destroyer of enemies. The enemies referred to here are our internal; inner desires and passions. The passions include anger, ego, deceit, and greed. Until one eliminates these passions, the real nature of the soul is not realized or manifested. Arhat
Arhat means worthy of worship. One who is revered by all living beings of the three worlds (heaven, earth, and hell) is called Arhat. Tirthankar Tirthankar means one who lays down the spiritual order and explains the path of liberation to cross over the worldly sea of suffering.
Jina
Jina literally means "the Victor" or "the Liberator", one who has conquered the inner enemies of worldly passions such as anger, ego, deceit, greed, desire, and aversion by personal effort. Siddha All the kevalis are liberated upon exhausting rest of the physical karma and are called Siddha. Free from the physical body, they reside at the top of the universe in Siddha-loka for eternity, enjoying pure consciousness. All liberated souls even though identical in attributes, keep their individuality. The followers of Jina are called Jains. There are about 10 million Jains in the world.
Summary In summary, Jainism does not believe in a creator God, however this does not mean that Jainism is an atheistic religion. Jains believe in an infinite number of Gods or Jinas who are self-realized omniscient individuals who have attained liberation from birth, death, and suffering. The Arihantas, Tirthankars, or Jinas are not Gods in the sense of being the creators of the universe, but rather as those who have accomplished the ultimate goal of our existence which is liberation from suffering through personal efforts. In the past, these individuals were human beings like us. They were not supernatural immortal beings or an incarnation of an almighty God. Many such individuals existed in the past and many will achieve such a spiritual stage in the future. All human beings have the potential to reach such a spiritual stage. Jains do not believe that there is a supernatural power that gives favors to us if we please him. Jains rely a great deal on self-effort and self-initiative for both - their worldly requirements and their salvation or liberation. Jains believe that each living being is a master of his/her own destiny.
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