ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 02

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 209

1.2 Religion and Theology not Identical Side by side with the tendency of identifying religion with morality, there is witnessed another tendency of defining religion in theological terms, i. e. with reference to God, the creator of the universe. Since Jainism does not uphold the idea of God as the creator, sustainer and destroyer of the world, the above definition does not bring forth the characteristic feature of religion. If this definition of religion is adhered to, Jainism, Buddhism, Sāṁkhya, Yoga and Mimāṁsā are excluded without any justification. Now the question arises: What constitutes the universal core of religion? The question can be answered by considering the utterances of the saints and mystics all over the world, in all cultures, religions, places and ages. Pratt rightly concludes, "Religion is not so much theology as life it is to be lived rather than reasoned about"?
1.3 Religion as a Transcendental Mystical Experience Religion is a transcendental mystical experience, which is permanent, trans-subjective, blissful, intuitive, super sensuous, infinite, incommunicable and ineffable. It is the nonconceptual state of existence wherein all differentiations disappear. "To be emptied of all empirical contents is the universal character of that experience.3 "What is left is the pure ego, the self itself, seeing itself as reflected in itself. Brightman rightly remarks, "Mystical experience is immediate, but cannot be called immediate experience of God, it is rather an immediate experience of the self, which may be taken as a sign of the reality of God, provided philosophical thought finds this idea tenable.Thus the Jain view of religion lays stress on realizing the transcendental nature of the self, which the individual feels as his own. This shows that theology does not find favor with Jainism, so is the case with theological definition of religion.
After setting aside the sociological and theological definitions of religion let us now proceed to discuss the characteristic features of Jainism as a religion. The question now confronts us: What are the constitutive factors that endow Jain faith with religious fervor? In other
Religious Consciousness by Pratt. Page 7 (Macmillan, New York) Mysticism and Philosophy by Stace, Page 109 (Macmillan, New York) * Ibid. Philosophy of Religion by Brightman, Page 171 (Prentice Hall, New York)
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STUDY NOTES version 5.0