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Spiritual Foundation of Jainism
Indian religious quest has two main stream- Vedic (Brahmanic) and Śramaņic. Among the world's living religion, Jainism and Buddhism belong to the Sramanic trend of Indian culture. There were some other Śramanic religions also, but they either like Ajivakas disappeared in the course of time or like Sāṁkhya-yoga became part and parcel of great Hindu religion. These Śramanic traditions are spiritualistic and stereological in their very nature.
Religions are consist of two aspects-ritualistic and spiritualistic. The Vedic religion is ritualistic, while the śramanic tradition in general is spiritualistic. Spiritualistic religions are those, which give more stress on self realisation than rituals. The word Adhyātma,' the Sanskrit equivalent of spirituality derived from adhitātmā, implies the superiority and sublimity of Ātmā, the soul force. The realisation of the self i.e. Ātma is the sole aim of spiritualistic religions. In the oldest Jaina text Ācārānga we find the word such as 'Ajjhathavisohi', which cannotes the inner purity of self, spiritualism is nothing but the realisation of self in its complete purity. Purification of self is the sole aim of Jainism. According to Jainism the realisation of physical amenities or creature comforts is not the ultimate aim of our life. There are some higher ideals of life which are over and above the mere biological and economic needs of life; spirituality consists in releasing these higher values of life.
Jainism lays special emphasis on the renunciation of creature comforts and emancipation from worldly existence i.e. the cycle of birth and death. It may be accepted without any contradiction that these very ideals of renunciation and emancipations have been cultivated by the Sramaņas. Asceticism is the fundamental concept of
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