Living Jainism

An Ethical Science

By Kanti V. Mardia, Aidan D. Rankin

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

Copyright © 2013 Kanti V. Mardia and Aidan D. Rankin
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-78099-912-8

Contents

Foreword, by David Frawley, PhD……………………………………..1Acknowledgements…………………………………………………..5Special Note………………………………………………………6Introduction………………………………………………………7Chapter 1: Jains, Jainism and ‘Jainness’……………………………..Chapter 2: Jain Logic………………………………………………Chapter 3: Truth 1: The Jiva and Karmic Matter………………………..Chapter 4: Truth 2: The Jain Hierarchy of Life………………………..Chapter 5: Truth 3: Cycles of Birth, Death and Rebirth…………………Chapter 6: Truth 4A: Practical Karmic Fusion………………………….Chapter 7: Truth 4B: Extreme Absorption of Karmons…………………….Chapter 8: Truth 4C: The Path to Self-Conquest………………………..Chapter 9: The Purification Prescription……………………………..Epilogue: Why Jain Science?…………………………………………155Appendix 1: A Brief Life of Mahavira…………………………………162Appendix 2: Comparative Views……………………………………….167Notes…………………………………………………………….176Further Reading……………………………………………………182Jain Glossary……………………………………………………..186Index…………………………………………………………….193

CHAPTER 1

Jains, Jainism and ‘Jainness’

Spiritual Victors

The first line of the most important Jain prayer is NamoArihantanam, a simple phrase that means: ‘I pay my profoundrespect to any living person who has conquered his or her innerenemies (or his or her lower nature).’

This is not a prayer in the sense in which the term is understoodin most of the world’s religious traditions. Instead, it is aninvocation of human beings like us, past and present, who haveattained the highest level of spiritual development through theuse of both reason and intuition. At the same time, this prayer isa reminder of human possibility. Each one of us has the potentialto conquer the self, to rise above our ‘lower nature’ and itsillusions and arrive at our ‘true nature’ or inner self. Such possibilitiesare open to all, entirely irrespective of the religion, casteor social status of the individual.

The path of the Jain is based on reasoned thought and itspractical application to everyday life. It is about knowledge andunderstanding rather than mere acceptance of inheriteddoctrines. Above all, Jainism is centered upon each individual’scapacity to think, learn and discover, and then to apply thatknowledge to personal conduct, priorities and values, andrelationships with others (not just humans). Therefore Jainspiritual practice encompasses the disciplines of psychology andphilosophy as well as the methods of the scientist. The prayer’Namo Arihantanam’ expresses a profound belief in humancreativity, integrity and intelligence, reminding us that Jainism isa humanistic philosophy as well as a spiritual system thattranscends ordinary human concerns.

Jainism itself is a term derived from the word Jina in theancient Indian language of Arda-Magadhi. This language iscontemporaneous with and related to Sanskrit and so wascommon parlance in parts of India some 2500 years ago. At thetime, many of the outward forms of Jain belief practice familiar tous today were taking shape, although the tradition is far moreancient than that. The word Jina (or Jin) in Arda-Magadhi means’the person who is a spiritual victor’, in other words one who hasconquered his or her self. Jainism is now taken to mean thereligion followed by Jains, in other words those who seek to worktowards self-conquest or spiritual victory.

The traditional greeting used by Jains is Jai Jinendra, whichmeans ‘Honor to the Supreme Jina’. This is a reverential acknowledgementof the success of those who have achieved a high levelof scientific knowledge and spiritual understanding, and soinspire others to lead better lives. Equally, it is a ‘democratic’acknowledgement that each of us carries the potential for self-conquestand the pursuit of knowledge. The dual implication of’Jai Jinendra’ tells us much about the nature of Jain teachings andwhat it is to be a Jain.

Much has already been written about the ism in Jainism, inother words the body of doctrines and practices of the Jains, theJain ideology as it has evolved over many centuries and undermany different political and social conditions. This book alsocontains many descriptions and analyses of Jain teachings. Inparticular, it looks at the ways in which Jain doctrines andinsights often correspond – and at some other times contrast – withthe secular approaches of modern sciences such as physicsand cosmology. However, rather than taking as our starting pointthe systematized ideology – the ism – of the Jains, we havechosen to focus on the sensibility, the way of looking at the worldthat goes with being a Jain.

We have chosen this approach because we believe that the Jainway of thinking has distinctive qualities with significance beyondJainism as a cultural tradition. The methods used by Jains tosearch for truth present a radical challenge to ‘mainstream’patterns of thought today, as do their underlying attitudestowards knowledge, intuition, the nature of power and the placeof humanity on Earth and within the cosmos. Simultaneously,the Jain approach to life accords with a remarkable number ofthe most pressing modern concerns, whether they are collectiveor individual, global or local.

In addressing the growing ecological crisis – and the intellectualas much as environmental challenge it presents – or inmaking sense of the human conflicts in our interconnected yetobstinately divided world, the Jain sensibility offers us guidanceof subtle power and depth. For the individual seeker ofknowledge, the Jain attitude towards truth can help negotiate apathway among a bewildering array of competing viewpoints. Inthis way, pluralism can become a source of integration andstrength, at both personal and social levels, rather than an agentof fragmentation and conflict as it is all too often today.

The Jain way of formulating ideas also sits well with themethods and practices of cutting-edge science. In their increasedemphasis on the critical role of minute particles and microorganisms,today’s physicists and ecologists can be said to becatching up with centuries of Jain awareness. Concepts such asdark matter or even parallel universes have long been within therange of Jain consciousness. The sense that all life forms and allparts of the cosmos are linked and mutually dependent is thedefining characteristic of the Jain world view. It is not so muchan ‘idea’ as the intuitive leap from which the entire Jain quest forknowledge and spiritual attainment stems. In a world wherematerialistic notions of progress now seem uncertain oruntenable, Jain thought offers a powerful critique and an alternativevision of progress. This has been arrived at through analternative way of reasoning that matches the present complexitiesof science, society and the human psyche.

For Jains, the thought or intention behind an act can be atleast as important as the act itself. In the same way, the thoughtprocess from which Jain doctrines have arisen can be at least asimportant as those doctrines. For the purposes of this book, weshall understand this sensibility as ‘Jain-ness’. Jainness gives riseto and evolves along with the body of knowledge, understandingand teachings known as Jain-ism. While many of our argumentsand ideas are shaped by Jainism as a body of knowledge, ourunderlying wish is to convey an understanding of Jainness, theprocess of thinking like a Jain, because this could have a universalapplication and validity. Indeed it is possible that we are experiencinga ‘Jain moment’, as on a global level established ‘truths’face unprecedented challenges and at the same time there is afrantic search for certainty and continuity. Parallel to this, a vastexpansion of human knowledge is matched by a growing senseof what we do not know and the forces we cannot control.

Jainness is concerned with reconciling continuity and change,possibility and limitation. It offers the opportunity for spiritualliberation through self-knowledge, while accepting the mentaland physical limits of the human form, the so-called ‘mortal coil’.More than that, it provides a welcome and much-neededcorrective to the dogmatic and absolutist systems of ‘knowledge'(be they religious or secular, scientific or political) in which somany obvious cracks are appearing today. Rather than assertingor seeking to impose its own ‘truth’, Jainism asks us to lookinside ourselves, find our own and continuously question it.Jainness is the disposition or frame of mind that enables us tobegin this process.

Origins of Jainism and Jainness

Loosely speaking, Jainism was founded by human spiritualguides known as Tirthankaras. This word means ford-makers,path-finders: those who point the way through or the way ahead.Tirthankaras are, therefore, the people who show us the true wayacross the troubled ocean of life, the leaders on a spiritual path.They lead by example and wise counsel. They unlock knowledgeby training our (and their own) minds to think in ways that pointtowards spiritual awareness and a sense of the real self.

In all, there were twenty-four Tirthankaras. The first of thesewas Rishava, an ancient lawgiver who, according to one Jain text,lived ‘many thousands of years’ ago. This implies that he livedbefore reliable recorded histories began and so he can be seen asa semi-mythological figure, somewhat like Lycurgus for theancient Spartans. Rishava is recognized by some Hindus as amanifestation of the divinity Shiva – an illustration of thecomplex relationship between the Jain path and the Vedic orHindu tradition, to which we shall later refer. It seems thatRishava as lawgiver was able to fashion out of several nomadiccommunities a settled, pacific society, based on the cultivation ofgrain, with cities, currency, trade and a common legal system.Those familiar with the Jewish or Christian traditions might findparallels with the figure of Moses.

Rishava appears eventually to have abandoned political powerand material possessions in favor of the life of austerity andwandering. He came to identify material and worldly concernswith spiritual bondage, which Jains have come to think of askarmic bondage. In this, he set a precedent for other Tirthankarasand established the pattern of thought and the priorities familiarto Jains ever since. That is to say, he favored civilization, justiceand knowledge over barbarism, chaos and ignorance. However,he also sought out a spiritual path beyond both the pre-consciousstate of ignorance and the artifices of a sophisticated urban society.The former precluded enlightenment or rational thought. Thelatter provided insidious distractions and delusions of grandeurthat became powerful obstacles to spiritual advancement.

This insight gives rise to a new interpretation of power, whichis not based on controlling and subjugating others, acquiringmaterial ‘things’ or claiming a monopoly of truth. In contrast tothe conventional, outward vision of power, it is an inward vision,consciously repudiating the trappings of status and embracinghumility. Yet it is also a more supple, flexible and enduring formof power that outlasts states, politicians and the wealthy. Such aninterpretation of power matches the understanding of ‘conquest’implicit in the term ‘Spiritual Victor’. The struggle is for controlof the territories within rather than geographical expansion orpersonal gain, as we usually understand conquest. Thesecounter-cultural definitions of power and conquest are linked toan inclusive definition of wisdom as the open-minded pursuit ofwisdom and insight into the workings of the universe and ourplace within it. Rational thought, meditation and the conquest ofsuperficial desires can give us a sense of proportion. They bringus closer to an understanding of what is truly important in life, inplace of the material cravings and ambitions that so easily bindus. This sense of equanimity is central to Jainness.

The spiritual discipline of Rishva was followed by twenty-onesuccessive Tirthankaras until, in the age of the 23rdTirthankara, Parshva, the tradition that we now call ‘Jainism’began to appear in a form recognizable to us today. Parshvais also the first of the Tirthankaras whose historical existenceas a human being can be verified reliably. He is generallyheld to have lived around 2800 years ago (traditionally dated872-772 BCE). The philosophy and logic of modern Jainismemerged in a systematized form at the time of the 24thTirthankara, Mahavira, who was born in 559 BCE and whosenirvana (full enlightenment) took place in 527 BCE. Mahavirameans ‘Great Hero’, a name symbolic of spiritual victorythrough non-violence and the refusal of conventional power orwealth. He was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha (563-483BCE), the overlap being thirty-six years, but there is no evidencethat they ever met. It is also worth noting that the Buddha wasin the process of enlightenment at the time when Mahavira wasat the peak of his career (for a more detailed account ofMahavira’s life, see Appendix 1).

Even today, it is still not unusual for these two great spiritualteachers to be confused and conflated. It is sometimes claimed(against all available evidence) that Buddha and Mahavira wereone and the same, or that Jainism is really a subset of Buddhism,which is far better known outside Indic civilization. There aremany differences, both obvious and subtle, between the twophilosophies, as well as areas of common ground, but suchcomparisons lie outside the scope of this study. In iconography, asimple distinction can be made by clothes: Mahavira is usuallynaked, whereas the Buddha is usually clothed! Icons of Parshvaand other Tirthankaras are also frequently found in Jain homesand places of assembly.

To bring the dates of Mahavira and Gautama Buddha into awestern perspective, we may note that Aristotle was born in 384BCE and Jesus Christ around 4 BCE. India officially celebratedthe 2500th anniversary of Mahavira’s nirvana between 13thNovember 1974 and 4th November 1975. One of the strongestadmirers of the Jain religion was Mahatma Gandhi, whosethoughts and actions were greatly influenced by certain Jains, inparticular Raychandbhai (Raychandbhai Mehta, also known asShrimad Rajchandra). Gandhi was inspired by Jain doctrines ofnon-violence, respect for life, ecological responsibility and thevalue of each individual. He applied these teachings to hisstrategy of Satyagraha (‘truth-struggle’) and non-violent resistanceto British colonial rule. They also helped him shape hiseconomic philosophy of swadeshi: self-sufficiency through cooperativesand local production for local need. While embracingmany Jain ideas, Gandhi remained a devout Hindu and indeedcredits his Jain guides with increasing his understanding of whatHinduism was really about. The evolution of Gandhi’s thought issurely one of the clearest illustrations of how Jainness works.

Mahavira is often erroneously referred to as the ‘founder’ ofJainism. In reality, he sculpted a new form from material that hadalready been long in existence. Jainism has evolved out of themost ancient Indic spiritual teachings, which are in turn aspectsof the earliest human consciousness of the universe. Living as aJain implies awareness of Dharma, which is at once a natural lawgoverning the workings of the universe and an ethical systemshowing us how we should live. Spiritual practice and thepursuit of knowledge bring us into closer alignment withDharma.

Some Characteristics of Jainism

The most important principle of Jainism is that of non-violence inthought and deed towards fellow human beings and all otherforms of life, including the smallest. Thus most Jains arevegetarians. Even honey and alcohol are avoided because theyare believed to contain microscopic life. In the West, vegetarianismcarries the connotation of a restrictive and puritanical diet,but in the case of the Jains, nothing can be further from the truth.Their food sources are carefully selected to minimize harm toliving systems, but the results are rich and varied. In Gujarat,where Jain cultural influence is historically strong, theoverwhelming majority of the population follow a vegetariandiet, noted for its gentleness and subtlety, and influenced by Jaintastes. This is another example of the ‘soft power’ of Jainness.

Jains therefore appreciate that even the smallest of organismshave life, including those that are invisible to the naked eye. Eachlife form has value and purpose, both as an individual and as aspecies or type. Each plays its part in the natural order and eachis part of the cycle of spiritual (as well as physical) evolution.Jains recognize that even the most seemingly ‘primitive’ forms oflife can profoundly affect nature’s fragile equilibrium. Climatescientists today are becoming more aware of the importance ofplankton in the ecology of the ocean and its consequent effects onglobal temperature patterns. This type of insight accords entirelywith the Jain perspective.
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