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Mark Tully Probes Jainism
Sanskrit word: samvara (stopping of the influx). The influx of the karmic matter is going on continuously and it must result in bondage. The Jains believe that it is possible to stop this influx, as aspiration for emancipation (moksha) is innate to the soul. The soul's ability to seek the true nature of itself and to overcome the passions is never totally destroyed by the mass of karma that surrounds it. This innate power of the soul can be developed fully by renouncing all attachment to worldly possessions as well as to the passions, in short: by following the ascetic path of the Jinas.
Your religion is a small religion in total terms. Less than one percent even in the country of its origin, but an important one percent. Other religions are concerned about expanding more and more. Muslims and Christians think more people should become Muslims or Christians, because they believe that Islam or the Christian way is the right way to look for God. It seems to me that Jainism is remarkably content to be the small but important religion. The Jain community is indeed small and it is true that Jains do not engage in activities of conversion just to increase in numbers. In this the Jains, in common with Hindus, share a belief that one should let beings mature in their own way. What the Jains would want to do is to help non-Jains realise their own potentials in spiritual matters. Conversion is probably not the right word for this, for the Jains are content even when there is only a partial acceptance of their creed, such as of ahimsa, by a non-Jain. Take for example the case of the Mughal Emperor Akbar who decreed that there should be no killing of animals (amari) in his realm on certain days holy to the Jains, and even chose to be a vegetarian occasionally. (Indeed his son Jahangir, because of his addiction to hunting, used to frown upon Jains for
But these teachings are extremely ascetic, I think, and very hard for people to follow especially in the 20th century. There doesn't seem to be the concept of grace or help from God or anything like that in Jainism. How do you get over that? Indeed it is hard to follow the ascetic path. But the Jains have also laid out an easier path for the lay people. This is not yet widely known. Let me mention here a recent book called Jaina Yoga by R. Williams, an Oxford University publication (1963). Here the author has laid out an elaborate chart of the progressive stages through which a layperson practises samvara that leads to the life of an ascetic only towards the end of his active life as a householder. But even without following a formal discipline most Jains may be said to follow the minimum required of them: as for example, their practice of vegetarianism. Given the fact that human beings are not vegetarians by birth (as cows and sheep are), it could be said that the Jains have made a moral choice by adhering to a vegetarian diet out of kindness to the animals, because of the belief that they too have souls.
Raju Shah: Palitana Jain Temple, Gujarat, India
But you don't seem to have any help on that path. On any ascetic path people will slip up sometimes. In Christianity, for instance, we have the concept of forgiveness and God's grace. Do you not have that in Jainism? Well, Jains understand forgiveness in a different way. Karma that you have bound through willful actions must mature and give its result (say, as pain or pleasure, and then like a ripe fruit falling from a tree it must depart from the soul. This law of consequence is inexorable, it cannot simply be wished away. Accordingly, the Jains believe that karma cannot be forgiven by an external agency. The only way to remove the karmic burden forever is by knowing the true nature of reality, that is the self and the not-self, in short: the nature of the soul, its bondage and salvation. This knowledge is made possible by the grace of the teaching of the Jina. He has attained his own salvation but teaches the path to others out of selflessness - this itself is seen as grace. No doubt, there is a bit of magic attached to the idea of grace in theistic religions, getting relief free from an omnipotent Father capable of forgiving as well as punishing the soul. But even there, the soul will probably be endowed with the knowledge of the self and thus freed from sins.
The Jain tradition provides a gateway to
understanding the human soul
June - August 2001
Jain Spirit
19
Jain Education Intemational 2010_03
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