The Jain 1988 07

Author(s): Natubhai Shah
Publisher: UK Jain Samaj Europe

Page 50

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The daily routine of the monks and nuns is meticulously regulated. The first daily duty of the mendicant around sunrise is to examine his clothing and necessaries carefully to make sure that no small living beings are trapped or harmed. Afterwards he (or she will go to the temple and, bowing before the holy images, perform an act of mental worship. (The elaborate rituals of bathing the images and making offerings to them are performed by the laity but not by monks or nuns). Frequently this will be followed by a lecture to the laity, for monks and nuns are the instructors and teachers in matters of religious doctrine. The word 'mendicant' means one who begs, and there are detailed rules regarding the daily tour to beg food. The Svetambara mendicant accepts food in a bowl, brings it back to the monastic hall (upasraya) or monastery, and eats after a ritual act of confession to his or her senior. A Digambara monk takes food in his hand and eats it on the spot, standing. It is, of course, regarded as a meritorious act for a householder to provide food for the mendicants. The afternoon will be filled with a rest, a further examination of clothing and necessaries a period of study, or perhaps lecturing to the laity. (There is no equivalent in Jain monasticism to those Christian orders of monks who support themselves by manual labour, indeed it very difficult to make comparisons between Jain and Christian monasticism Jain monks partake of some of the characteristics of those learned orders like the Dominicans, whilst resembling in other ways the hermit orders such as the Carthusians whose life is devoted to prayer and meditation. In their emphasis on the strictest poverty, and in their lack of permanent settlement in a fixed monastery they resemble, perhaps, the Franciscans.) In a country like India, where insect life proliferates lights can be a danger to small living beings: for the avoidance of ahimsa
(harm) monks and nuns use no lights, so they will retire to sleep early, taking care first to examine the resting place for any tiny creature which may suffer harm. These meticulous rules emphasise the fact that, whilst a certain amount of ahimsa is unavoidable for the lay person in ordinary daily life (though it will be avoided as far as possible), the monk or nun should take precautions far beyond those possible to the laity. This constant watchfulness does not only result in the protection of life but also has its effects in the spiritual developement of the individual mendicant. During the rainy season (chaturmas) the mendicant will stay in one place so that the harm to the burgeoning life of this time, which might be occasioned by the monk or nun travelling around, is minimised. Towns and villages seek mendicants who are particularly respected for their piety and teaching to stay with them during chaturmas and give religious instruction. At other times of the year the monks and nuns travel in groups from one place to another (so that they do not get attached to a particular location) always on foot, for the use of any form of transport is forbidden. (For this reason Jain monks, unlike the Buddhists have not been able to spread their faith oversea). The greater danger of harm to small creatures resulting from the use of wheeled vehicles is the main reason for this prohibition.
The rigours of the mendicant life means that relatively few people enter it. This is particularly true of the Digambaras: the total number of Digambara monks had fallen a few years ago to around 150. Hence some of the religious functions which in the Svetambara sect are carried out by monks, are undertaken among the Digambaras by religious 'ministers' (the word 'priests' would not be accurate) called bhattarakas. Nowadays, of course, with much greater opportunities for education for the laity, there are many distinguished lay scholars of Jain religion and practices, but the tradition of monastic scho
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