Introduction to Jainism

Author(s): Rudi Jansma, Sneh Rani Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 29

HISTORY AND TIRTHAMKARAS
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liberate themselves. Because each individual must accomplish that for himself. There is no god or savior who can do it for us; we can only do it through our own effort. Beings have the inherent power to liberate themselves, however big the karmic obstacles may be, with one exception. These extraordinary teachers, who show much similarity with the Buddhas of Buddhism, are called Tīrthamkaras (from tīrtha = passageway; sacred place (at the edge of a water) + kri = to do) in Jainism. It is interesting that one of the titles to which Buddha agreed during his life was “Tathāgata,” which means “he who has gone thus,” usually rendered as "he who has entered and crossed the water or river, left earthly existence behind and reached the other shore” - the symbol of liberation and spiritual life.
Cycles and teachers
Like Buddhism, Hinduism and modern Theosophy, Jainism teaches that history runs in progressive cycles: the same situation ever returns, but beings that go through these cycles have gone further in their development than last time. The cycles have, like circles, a “top” where we “abided” millions of years ago, where we will return after millions of years and where life consists of pure joy and unconcern. Along the downward half of the circle, which has been divided into six phases of more or less happy existence, we first entered a period which was less joyful, but hardly knew suffering - until suffering and darkness were born, found balance, and existence finally became dominated by darkness and suffering. At the lowest point of the cycle darkness and misery will rule alone. This is because the soul makes its necessary pilgrimage through the most spiritual as well as the most coarsely material zones of the universe's constitution to gain experience in all subdivisions of the manifested universe.
As we sink deeper and deeper into coarse matter, our insight into the spiritual nature of things becomes more unclear and fainter, and we start doing things which -