________________
Celebrating Jain Center of Houston Pratishtha Mahotsav 1995
Christian contemplative orders like the Carthusian monks or the Carmelite nuns rather than to that of the active Christian orders the members of which devote their lives to running schools or hospitals or to social work for the needy and distressed. Charitable service humanity is a virtue and duty of the Jain laity, but the mendicant is seen as a highly deserving object of charity, not as the author of charity himself.
The discipline of the Jain monastic life is in most ways harder and stricter than that of the Buddhist. Frequent fasting is enjoined, as well as other mortifications involving indifference to all bodily pains and discomfort. The practice of ahimsa, non-violence or harmlessness, is governed for the Jain monk or nun by meticulous regulations to reduce to the minimum the possibility of harm to the least of living creatures. The monk or nun must be ever-vigilant in walking, sitting, and indeed in every movement or action, to see that no minute creature will suffer. Whilst nonpossession is a normal rule of monasticism in all religions, the monks of the Digambara sect of Jainism practice this to the extreme, renouncing even the use of clothing (whence the word 'Digambara', meaning 'clothed in the sky'). A Svetambara (white-clothed") monk will dress in three pieces of white cloth and will have the minimum of changes of clothing. In addition he will possess a couple of pots for food and other uses, a walking staff and a soft brush (more like a small mop) to dislodge insects gently from his path. He may have a few other necessities such as books, writing materials, spectacles and the like. One other difference from the Buddhist monastic order is the far greater proportion and importance of Jain nuns. Although the writings on the discipline of the mendicants tend to be very largely male-oriented, nuns have always made up a high proportion of the mendicant order and take an active part in the religious instruction of the laity. In this, indeed, they may be compared with Christian nuns.
The daily routine of the monks and nuns is meticulously regulated. The first daily duty of the mendicant around sunrise is to examine his clothing and necessaries carefully to make sure that no small living beings are trapped or harmed. Afterwards he (or she) will go to the temple and, bowing before the holy images, perform an act of mental worship. (The elaborate rituals of bathing the images and making offerings to them are performed by the laity but not by monks or nuns). Frequently this will be followed by a lecture to the laity, for monks and nuns are the instructors and teachers in matters of religious doctrine. The word 'mendicant' means one who begs, and there are detailed rules regarding the daily tour to beg food. The Svetambara mendicant accepts food in a bowl, brings it back to the monastic hall (upasraya) or monastery, and eats after a ritual act of confession to his or her senior. A Digambara monk takes food in his hand and eats it on the spot, standing. It is, of course, regarded as a meritorious act for a householder to provide food for the mendicants.
The afternoon will be filled with a rest, a further examination of clothing and necessaries, a period of study, or perhaps lecturing to the laity. (There is no equivalent in Jain monasticism to those Christian orders of monks who support themselves by manual labor, indeed it very difficult to make comparisons between Jain and Christian Monasticism. Jain monks partake of some of the characteristics of those learned orders like the Dominicans, whilst resembling in other ways the hermit orders such as the Carthusians whose life is devoted to prayer and meditation. In their emphasis on the strictest poverty, and in their lack of permanent settlement in a fixed monastery they resemble, perhaps, the Franciscans.)
Although the mendicant order is seen as unitary, it has for very many centuries been divided into many stems or groups (gaccha, gana), traditionally 84 in number. These may take their names from original geographical location, from association with a particular caste, from their founders or from particular points of doctrine or ritual. The gaccha may be subdivided in different ways, most commonly into groups studying under particular teachers. References to these divisions of the mendicant order are found around the eighth and ninth, centuries AD and some of those existing today are undoubtedly very ancient. For example the Kharatara Gaccha, widespread in Gujarat and Rajasthan, is mentioned in an inscription of the late eleventh century AD. Some gaccha can trace the line of succession of their leaders back through quite a long history. The practice of solitary religious retreat is known in Jainism, but the Jain monk (or nun) is to be seen as a member of a group, attached to his or her) spiritual director or guru. Although study, scholarship and preaching are important activities in the mendicant order, the primary aim of the monk or nun is the purification of his or her own soul. To this end, all the austerities and monastic discipline are directed. In this, the Jain monastic life is closer to that of the great
In a country like India, where insect life proliferates, lights can be a danger to small living beings: for the avoidance of ahimsa(harm), monks and nuns use no lights, so they will retire to sleep early, taking care first to examine the resting place for any tiny creature which may suffer harm. These meticulous rules emphasize the fact that, whilst a certain amount of ahimsa is unavoidable for the lay person in ordinary daily life (though it will be avoided as far as possible), the monk or nun should take precautions far beyond those
"He who desires to see the living God face to face should not seek Him in the empty firmament of his mind, but in human love"
(Fyodor Dostoevsky)
Page 84 Jain Education Intemational For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
