Jainism Eternal and Universal Path for Enlightenment

Author(s): Narendra Bhandari
Publisher: Research Institute of Scientific Secrets from Indian Oriental Scriptures Ahmedabad

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Preface
Amongst the various religions","faiths" or philosophical sects known to mankind, Jainism is not a "religion" or "faith" in the normal sense. It is actually a "path" enunciated by the Enlightened souls (Arihants) who were born ordinary persons and attained enlightenment by following this path. These Arihants belonged to any nation, religion, creed, class or society and therefore Jainism is not restricted to any particular group of people. In this sense it is universal. It is said that at any time there are millions of enlightened souls (Kevalis) in the universe. There may surely be other paths, with which Jainism has no conflict, but Jainism surely is one path for attaining enlightenment, enunciated by the Enlightened beings for those who seek enlightenment. It has well defined milestones (Guasth ins). They are fourteen in number (Chapter 5). Guasth -ns (stage) 1 and 2 are starting points and stage 14 is considered to be the ultimate goal of every living being. The procedure for completing this journey is the main goal of Jainism. One is born in various yonis (species) which should be treated only as a detour from this path to enlightenment and once, one is back from these loops as a human being on the main path, one can continue the pursuit of this goal.
Jainism has given equal importance to the understanding of the physical universe and individual's physical, mental and spiritual development. All these aspects are equally important for achieving the goal. Unlike some other oriental religions, it does not consider the world as an illusion, nor does it believe in a supreme "God”, the Creator. It claims that both, living and non-living are governed by certain laws and in this sense it claims itself to be quite scientific. It believes in the laws of Causality in spiritual as well as physical realms, as modern physics claims for the physical universe. There are, of course questions of fundamental import for both, those who believe in God and those who do not, that cannot be answered satisfactorily and are beyond logic. If God created every thing, who created God? The answer is that he is eternal, self created or swayambhu. The same questions arise for those who believe in nature or laws that