$JES 911 Essence of World Religions Reference Book

Author(s): Pravin K Shah
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

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Essence of World Religions
(Ahimsä) in thought, words, and action. The word inside the wheel is Ahimsä. It is the distilled essence of the religion. The Sanskrit wording underneath translates as 'living beings render service to one another" or Compassionate Living the very basis of our civilization.
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A digit of the Moon and Three Dots:
The three Dots represent the Jain trinity: Right Perception (Samyak Darshan), Right Knowledge (Samyak Jnän), and Right Conduct (Samyak Chäritra), together they lead to liberation. The digit of the Moon represents the region wherein the liberated souls reside.
Swastika (Fig 2):
The Swastika signifies the cycles of births and deaths due to karma in any of the four regions of the non liberated soul. The non liberated soul takes birth in heaven, human, animal, and hell and suffers. It reminds one that he should follow the true religion and be liberated to get out of this suffering.
OM (Fig 3):
Jain OM is made up of five letters a, a, aa, u, and m. The first letter "a" represents Arihant (living God), the second "a" represents Ashariri (Siddha or perfected being), the letters "aa" represent Ächärya (head of congregation), the letter "u" represents Upädhyaya (monk teacher), and the letter "m" represents Muni (Sädhu or monks). Hence Jain OM represents the salutation to five revered personalities of Jain religion. North American Jains (JAINA) have adopted OM instead of the Swastika as their symbol of the organization.
The overall symbol (Fig 2 and 3) means that the living beings of the three worlds suffer from the miseries of transmigratory existence and can have recourse to the path of dharma shown by the Tirthankars, thereby bringing about auspiciousness for themselves, and after obtaining perfection, will live forever in the world of liberated souls.
Holidays
The dates of Jain holidays are determined by a lunar calendar adjusted to the solar seasons. Typically, the community gathers for worship sometimes with drama, dance, and special sweets to mark events in the lives of the Tirthankars.
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