Jainism and Creation - Term Paper Example

Jainism and Creation The Jainas argue that there is no supernatural God in existence and they are against gods in general, as well as the creative capabilities of God (Jain 10). To prove that God did not create the world, they presented various arguments, which were mainly against the Naiyayika and their arguments that God, an intelligent being, created the world and that the world was the effect of nature. According to the Jainas, this argument cannot be accepted because if God created the world, his presence before creation is questionable, while if as argued God was transcendent at the time of creation and required no support, his presence now is also put into question (Van Voorst 33). In addition, there is no one being that has the power and skill to create the world. The Jainas contend that, if God were truly omnipresent and omniscient as claimed by the Naiyayika, then he would have to be everywhere and would require adsorbing himself to everything. Everything would have to be adsorbed to into his own self also, which would not leave anything to exist outside of him. His omniscient nature would also make him have the ability to experience hell since he would know everything and the knowledge he would have would be a direct experience. Therefore, his omnipresent and omniscient presence is put into question. The Jainas also contend that, a spiritual God would not have the ability to create material things because he had no raw material to do this. This argument posits that claiming the raw material rose naturally was to err because this would mean that the whole world might as well have created itself and come to be naturally in a similar way (Van Voorst 134). From this argument, the Jainas seem to contend that understanding the world as being the cause of an effect is difficult since if effect is taken to mean the world is made of parts, even space would, in this case, have to be regarded as having been an effect of God’s creation. If this effect were to mean that something that did not exist before being the result of a cause with coherence, it is not possible to talk of the world as being the effect of the creative ability of God because all atoms have been there since the beginning. In addition, if it means that God created things that are liable to being changed over time, then it should be argued that God was and still is liable to being changed. God would also need a creator who would create him and that creator would need another creator to create him and on and on. From the Jainas argument, such kind of creation would cause infinite regress. Finally, the Jainas contend that if God was complete and perfect prior to creating the world, the will to create the world would never have arisen in him, and if he were not perfect, he would not have the ability to create the world anymore than a potter would (Van Voorst 134). The view of God as an all-embracing and formless also renders him unable to create the world because he would have no desire to form or create anything. The Jainas contend that if God would have to be imperfect because he would have to possess the intelligence of humans. If this was not the case and God’s intelligence was only similar to that of humans, he would still have to possess a body because all intelligent beings in the world have bodies. Embodied intelligence is necessary if God should have the ability to produce a will. God would also not have gained any advantage from creating the universe since he is perfect as well (Van Voorst 134). According to the Jaina, it is unnecessary to assume a first-cause or a creator because there must also be a being who led to the first cause. For the Jainas, it is more probable and logical to assume that the world has always existed and that it has gone through many changes (Jain 45). Nature and not a deity or God drives these changes, which also led to the Jainas not having any stories to explain creation. The world and everything that is in it, including motion principles, time, soul, space, and matter always were in existence. Universal natural laws are the ones that govern these worldly actions and constituents, and it is not possible for any being with intelligence to have used nothing to create matter. The world, according to the Jainas, consists of souls or forces of life and objects without life (Jain 45). In addition, each living being’s soul is uncreated and unique, having been in existence since the beginning of time. According to Jainism, the world was not created and consists of six substances that have been in existence since the beginning. The living substances also referred to as the Jiva exists separately from the body in which it resides, and these Jiva exist as a reality (Jain 47). The soul is characterized by perception, knowledge, and consciousness and, although the soul goes through death and birth, this does not mean that is created or destroyed. The disappearance of a person’s state of possessing a soul and the appearance of another soul can be explained as being referent to decay and origin. These two states, rather than involving creation and destruction, are simply different modes of the same thing (Jain 48). The non-living substances, also referred to as Ajiva, were also present since the beginning of the world. Matter or pudgala consists of ultimate particles, karmic materials, energy, gas, liquid, and solid (Jain 48). The ultimate particles refer to matter’s fundamental building blocks. One of matter’s quality is that it cannot be destroyed and it is permanent, combining its various states and changing the same but not changing in quality. Therefore, the non-living matter that makes up the world cannot be destroyed and, as such, it cannot be created. Medium of motion and rest are also part of the non-living substances and Jainism holds that they are different and pervade the world. According to Jainism, motion is impossible without rest and rest is not possible without motion. Therefore, motion is not created but is a product of rest and vice versa. Space is another aspect of non-living matter, and it accommodates principles of time, rest, motion, matter, and living souls. Also referred to as Akasa, space is infinite, all pervading, and consists of infinite points in space that cannot be created due to their infinite nature. Finally, time according to Jainism makes up a true entity with all modifications, changes, and activities being achieved in the world in time (Jain 49). Not all these constituents in the world are created, and they impact the world through their dynamism and interaction with one another. Works Cited Jain, Arun. K. Faith & Philosophy of Jainism, Delhi, India: Kalpaz Publications, 2009. Print. Van Voorst, Robert. E. Anthology of World Scriptures, Australia: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. Print. Read More