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14 : Sramaņa, Vol 62, No. 1 January-March 2011
Jaina religious and philosophical doctrines. Ahiṁsā (non-violence) is first and foremost related to soteriology and the karmic influx onto the individual's soul, hence it is typically formulated in the negative. Many scriptures, canonical and post-canonical, are viewed as containing the absolute truth and they are not to be doubted. Such doubt would violate the proscribed right faith (samyak-darśana) that one should seek in one's practice. These scriptures are to be taken literally. Statements in these scriptures are to be discovered or verified by science, not the other way around.
Modernized Jainism is more this-worldly (laukika) in its focus. It seeks to formulate ethics for the everyday life of lay Jains and typically manifests itself in, for example, seminars on business ethics. Its propagators are often well educated within secular institutions. Anekāntavāda is understood to be a way of appreciating the opinions of others and general diversity. It is the opposite of being dogmatic and can even be used to relativize the Jaina doctrine in relation to other doctrines. Ahimsā is presented as a rational ethics related to economy, ecology, health and general politics. Here ahimsā is more about helping others, hence it is formulated positively. Modernized Jainismo is inclined to extract certain parts of the scriptures while ignoring other. Such parts are found to be in harmony with modern science; those that fly in the face of it can be overlooked, understood symbolically or seen in their historical contexts, the latter typically involving arguments about Hindu-influence or general degeneration due to the spokes of time. In Modernized Jainism, scriptural statements are not all true by necessity and some of them can be discarded.
I believe the combination of these two streams of Jainism to be felt as unproblematic and mutually fulfilling in the Jaina community. When we turn to cosmography however, the two can hardly be united at all. The Jaina cosmography, as described in Jaina scriptures, cannot be combined with the Copernican model of the universe. Not unlike how the Catholic Church would not accept that the earth was round, there are still Jains that staunchly defend their view of the universe and titles such as 'Is the Earth round?', 'Did
