Science And Jain Philosophy

Author(s): Raksha J Shah, Abhijit Muni, Pooja Banthia
Publisher: International Conference on Science and Jain Philosophy

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PHILOSOPHY BEHIND SPIRITUALITY IN JAINISM
DR. SAMANI CHAITANYA PRAJNA cpragya108@gmail.com
Dr. Samani Chaitanya Prajna, Ph.D is a senior disciple of Acharya Mahashraman. She is a Professor and Head of the Department of Jainology and Comparative Religion & Philosophy of Jain Vishua Bharati Institute, Ladnun. She is also the Executive Director of Bhagawan Mahavira International Research Center, JVBI, Ladnun.
Your journey starts with your own self. Who am I, where am I?
This exploration leads to the investigation of various forms of life and cosmology. This heads to the next level of search-what is spiritual about this science?
As you look into that, there arises a further question: why diversity? If you explore all these questions, you know Jainism!!!
The present article is meant to explore philosophy and science behind the idea of spirituality in Jainism. Philosophy refers to intuitive andlogical knowledge obtained through spiritual awakening and reasoning. Science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge. This system uses observations and experimentations to describe and explain the natural phenomena. The idea of spirituality presented in this article is based on intuitive knowledge which is also verifiable to a certain extent by the observations and experimentation of science. It would be better to clear at the outset that the article is meant to give a blue print of the Jain idea of Spirituality rather than provide a detailed study about Jainism. Further details will be explored in the subsequent articles in this series.
The idea of spirituality in Jainism is based on the concept of the soul. Spiritual awakening. perfection, enlightenment and diuinity are the core components of spiritualism. Spiritual awakening is possible through self-awareness and the self-awareness is possible through knowledge of the true self. Thus, inquiry into the nature of our true self is the foundation of spiritual excellence or divine consciousness in Jainism. The philosophy and science working behind the idea of spirituality in Jainism starts with the inquiry of the true self and ends with the realization of the true self.
The inquiry of the true self starts with the queries, 'who am I?' 'Where I am coming from? 'Where Will I go after I die?'and so on. In the view of Bhagawan Mahavir, the answers to these queries can be obtained clearly and distinctly if one is able to look into his/her past lives. The experience of the past lives opens many secrets of our existence in this world. The secrets can be seen as four watches. The four watches have taken the place of fundamental doctrines of Jain philosophy and science working behind the idea of spirituality. The four doctrines are:
Atmavad: The Doctrine of Soul Lokavad: The Doctrine of Cosmos Karmavad: The Doctrine of Karma Kriyavad: The Doctrine of Action
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