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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES
WHAT IS JAINISM ? TAINISM is a science, and not a code of arbitrary rules and capricious
commandments. It does not claim to derive its authority from any non-human source, but is, science-like, founded on the knowledge of those Great Ones who have attained perfection with its aid. Scientific validity can be claimed neither by dogmatism nor mysticism; and it is unnecessary to add that nothing but science or scientific thought can be relied upon to produce immediate, certain and unvarying results.
To understand Jainism, it is first of all necessary to understand the nature of Religion which people vaguely talk about, and which is still more vaguely preached to them from the pulpits of the numerous creeds which are flourishing in our midst in this age.
Briefly put, Religion is the path of liberation from the suffering and pain which is the lot of beings in samsara (transmigration). All living beings --men, animals, and the like-only seek happiness in all things and pursuits; there is no one who does not hanker after eternal life and blissfulness in some form or other. Religion claims to be the science which enables the soul to realise the immortality and bliss for which it is hankering. Most of the religions of the world, however, have only dogma and myth to offer, in place of the scientific thought, which alone can satisfy the demands of reason, and from which alone can flow the desired good, under all circumstances. Jainism differs from all other religions, in so far as it is a perfectly accurate, definite and exact science, free from misty and mystic ritual, unholy superstition and fear-engendering devotion. It does not ask its devotee to accept its teaching on the authority of anything other than Reason, and invites all to understand the nature of the subject before pinning their faith on it.
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