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Jainism........................................... .............................................
Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma (A A), is a religion of Indian origin dating back at least as far as the 9Th century BC. A Jain is a follower of Jinas ("conquerors"), human beings who have rediscovered the drama, become fully liberated and taught the spiritual path for the benefit of beings. Jains follow the teachings of 24 special Jinas who are known as Tirthankaras ('ford-makers', those who have discovered and shown the way to salvation). The 24Th and most recent Tirthankar is Lord Mahavira who lived from 599 to 527 BCE according to traditional history. The 23rd Tirthankar of Jains, Lord Parsvanatha is now recognised as a historical person, who lived during 872 to 772 BC.Jaina tradition is unanimous in making Rishabha, as the First Tirthankar.
A major characteristic of Jain belief is the emphasis on the consequences of physical and mental behavior.Because Jains believe that all living beings possess a soul, great care and awareness is required in going about one's business in the world. Jainism is a religion in which all life is considered worthy of respect and it emphasizes this equality of all life, advocating the protection of the smallest creatures. Jainism encourages spiritual independence (in the sense of relying on and cultivating one's own personal wisdom) and self-control (????, vratae) considered vital for spiritual development. The goal, as with other Indian religions, is moksha: realization of the soul's true nature, a condition of omniscience (Kevala Jnana or Keval Gyana).
Jains are a small, influential religious minority with at least 4.2 million followers in modern India,and more in growing immigrant communities in the United States, Western Europe, the Far East including Australia and elsewhere.Jains sustain the ancient Shraman (?????) or ascetic religion and have significantly influenced other religious, ethical, political and economic spheres in India for over two millennia.
Jains have an ancient tradition of scholarship and have the highest degree of literacy in India.Jain libraries are India's oldest.
Main points............................................ ....................
* Every living being has a soul.
* Every soul is potentially divine with innate infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite power, and infinite bliss.
* Therefore, regard every living being as yourself and harm no one. In other words, have benevolence for all living beings.
* Every soul is born as a celestial, human, sub-human or hellish being according to its own karmas.
* Every soul is the architect of its own life, here or hereafter.
* When a soul is freed from karmas, it becomes god-consciousness (infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite power, and infinite bliss) and liberated.
* Right View, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct (triple gems of Jainism) provide the way to this realisation.
* Non-violence (Ahimsa) is the basis of right View, the condition of right Knowledge and the kernel of right Conduct.
* Control your senses.
* Limit your possessions and lead a pure life, useful to yourself and others. Owning an object by itself is not possessiveness; however attachment to it is possessiveness.
* Enjoy the company of the holy and better qualified, be merciful to the afflicted and tolerant of the perverse.
* Four things are difficult to attain by a soul: human birth, knowledge of the law, faith in it and the pursuit of the right path.
* It is important not to waste human life in evil ways. Instead, strive to rise on the ladder of spiritual evolution.
History........................................... .......................................
Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankara (ford maker) is the earliest Jain leader who can be reliably dated.
According to scholars he probably lived in the 9th Century BCE.
Kalinga (Modern Orissa) was home to many Jains in the past. Rishabh, the first Tirthankar, was revered and worshipped in the ancient city Pithunda. This was destroyed by Mahapadma Nanda when he conquered Kalinga and brought the statue of Rishabhanatha to his capital in Magadh. Rishabhanatha is revered as the 'Kalinga Jina'. Ashoka's invasion and his Buddhist policy also subjugated Jains greatly in Kalinga. However, in the 1st century BCE Emperor Kharvela conquered Magadha and brought Rishabhnath's statue back and installed it in Udaygiri, near his capital, Shishupalgadh. The Khandagiri and Udaygiri caves near Bhubaneswar are the only surviving stone Jain monuments in Orissa. Earlier buildings were made of wood and were destroyed.
Deciphering of the Brahmi script, India's oldest script, believed to have been created by the first Tirthankara Rishabhanatha, by James Prinsep in 1788 enabled the reading of ancient inscriptions in India and established the antiquity of Jainism. Discovering Jain manuscripts, continues and has added significantly to retracing Jain history. Jain archaeological findings are often from Maurya, Sunga, Kishan, Gupta, Kalachuries, Rashtrakut, Chalukya, Chandel and Rajput and later periods. Several western and Indian scholars have contributed to the reconstruction of Jain history. Western historians like B?hler, Jacobi, and Indian scholars like Iravatham Mahadevan, worked on Tamil Brahmi inscriptions.
Geographical spread and influence................................
Jainism has been a major cultural, philosophical, social and political force since the dawn of civilization in Asia, and its ancient influence has been noted in other religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism.
This pervasive influence of Jain culture and philosophy in ancient Bihar possibly gave rise to Buddhism. The Buddhists have always maintained that during the time of Buddha and Mahavira, Jainism was already an ancient, deeply entrenched faith and culture there. For connections between Buddhism and Jainism see Buddhism and Jainism. Over several thousand years, Jain influence on Hindu philosophy and religion has been considerable, while Hindu influence on Jain rituals may be observed in certain Jain sects.
For instance, the concept of puja is Jain. The Vedic Religion prescribed yajnas and havanas for pleasing god. Puja is a specifically Jain concept, arising from the Tamil words, "pu" (flower) and "ja" (offering).
With 10 to 12 million followers, Jainism is among the smallest of the major world religions, but in India its influence is much more than these numbers would suggest. Jains live throughout India; Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat have the largest Jain population among Indian states. Karnataka, Bundelkhand and Madhya Pradesh have relatively large Jain populations. There is a large following in Punjab, especially in Ludhiana and Patiala, and there used to be many Jains in Lahore (Punjab's historic capital) and other cities before the Partition of 1947, after which many fled to India. There are many Jain communities in different parts of India and around the world. They may speak local languages or follow different rituals but essentially follow the same principles.
Outside India, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) have large Jain communities. Jainism is presently a strong faith in the United States and several Jain temples have been built there. American Jainism accommodates all the sects. Smaller Jain communities exist in Nepal, South Africa, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Fiji, and Suriname. In Belgium the very successful Indian diamond community, almost all of which are Jain are also establishing a temple to strengthen Jain values in and across Western Europe.
Jain philosophy........................................ ..............................
Jain philosophy (Sanskrit: Jain darsana; ??? ?????) deals extensively with the problems of metaphysics, reality, cosmology, ontology, epistemology and divinity. Jainism is essentially a transtheistic religion of ancient Indian.It is a continuation of the ancient ?rama?a tradition which co-existed with the Vedic tradition since ancient times. The distinguishing features of Jain philosophy are its belief on independent existence of soul and matter, neither denial nor acceptance of a creative and omnipotent God, an eternal,and hence uncreated universe, a strong emphasis on non-violence, on relativity and multiple facets of truth, and morality and ethics based on liberation of souls. Jain philosophy explains the rationale of being and existence, the nature of the Universe and its constituents, the nature of bondage and the means to achieve liberation.It is described as ascetic because of its strong emphasis on self-control, austerities and renunciation and called a model of philosophical liberalism for its insistence that truth is relative and multifaceted and for its willingness to accommodate all possible view-points of rival philosophies. It has been compared to Western concepts of subjectivism and moral relativism. Jainism strongly upholds the individual nature of soul and personal responsibility for one's decisions; and that self-reliance and individual efforts alone are responsible for one's liberation. In this matter, it is similar to individualism and Objectivism.
In Jainism, truth or reality is perceived differently depending on different points of view, and that no single point of view is the complete truth.Jain doctrine states that, an object has infinite modes of existence and qualities and, as such, cannot be completely perceived in all its aspects and manifestations, due to inherent human limitations. Only Kevalins - the omniscient beings - can totally comprehend objects and that others can knowing only a part. Consequ
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Summarize the founding of Jainism.?
