|
Jainism has some 5 million adherents and it claims to offer the way to the highest spiritual liberation, through individual efforts. Gandhian thought owes much to Jainism, especially to the teaching on non-violence and non-possession.
It has the ancient Indian sign of the swastika (SUV = good, as ti = being). This is said to represent the four possible levels of rebirth; divine, human, netherworld, and animal. A human is a soul closely enmeshed in matter from which it must free itself by its own efforts to gain salvation. Time is imagined as an eternally revolving wheel with an upwards and downwards course - at present we are living in a declining phase. Anyone can attain the truth provided that the path of the Jinas is followed, although many births and deaths may have to be undergone. Right faith can only arise when karma is eliminated. So all efforts are directed towards this.
|
What Is The Goal Of Jainism?
