Jainism as a Religion from the Pre-history of India - Essay Example

Jainism Jainism is a religion, which originally rose from the pre-history of India and as d by Geographer Megasthenes (a.c 350-290 B.C.E) is that the Jains lived in the forests feeding on leaves and wild fruits and deter themselves from wines and the enjoyment of love in both men and women. Jainism is believed to have existed since the eighth century B.C.E making Jainism one of the world’s oldest religions. The founder of the Jainism religion is known as Rshibha or Adinath. There is also one statue of his son Bahubali in the sacred pilgramege town of Scravanabelgola in Karnakta, South India. Approximately during the 300B.C.E a great famine struck India making the Jain community split into where some of the members decided to migrate to the south, others to the west while the rest decided to endure in the same location without moving. Jainism which now has a very great influence in India is guided by some principles like been non violent in order not to harm their souls, education and compassion among others In Jainism, there are some rituals and traditions which have to be performed, and they are integrated as daily actions of the Jainism religion and is the daily worship/puja or the special worship/puja. In the daily worship, they worship idols with eightfold offering. The first puja is the water. Jains believe that the water represents the ocean and everyone passes through an ocean of birth, life, death and hardships. So according to puja for one to be able to cross this ocean he/she has to be honest, truthful, lovely, and have compassion for one another. The other one is Chandan, which represents knowledge (Jnan), so one should have knowledge on soul, karma and one another’s relationship and is often taken as the main path to attain Jainism liberation. The other one is a flower, which represents beauty regardless of religion, race or color; therefore, the Jains should live like flowers to all people. The fourth one is Dhub, which symbolizes aesthetic life, and it expected for the Jains to live like nuns giving their entire lives to the liberation. Fifthly, there is a candle whose flame symbolizes pure consciousness or free of bondage and the Jains should conduct themselves well to avoid karma. Rice is the other fold offering which symbolizes last birth; therefore a Jain should put effort to live a life such that it’s ones last lives and one should not expect to be reborn again. The seventh is Naivedya symbolizing sweet food states that one should avoid tasty foods and instead just take essential food. The last one is a frit, which symbolizes liberation so Jains should live a non worldly life with no attachments to worldly affairs and attachments in order to be liberated. The second ritual is a special worship which includes the Snatra Puja which symbolizes bathing of Tithankars by Devas which is performed on birthday celebrations, during the opening of a new business and housewarmings. The second is Panch Kalyanak puja which commemorates the five great events of the Tirhkanars life, and it is performed in any good event like conception, birth, renunciation omniscience and Moksha. The third one is the Antaray Karma Puja which has eight poojas that are very much likely to the daily pujas. Jains are people who do not destroy living creatures this means that they are non violent people as long as all living creatures are concerned. So due to this belief they do not take meat, poultry, fish, eggs or even milk and any other dairy products. Jainism religion also does not eat root vegetables such as potatoes, onions and carrots. The Jains do not also take yeast thereby also yeast products like bread are also prohibited among the Jains. Due to this the Jains are left with the option of foods like Fruits, nuts, seeds, yeast-free bread, tofu, soya beans, legumes, butter and lenticels among others. The most popular culinary methods of preparing Jain meals are frying, boiling, baking and slow-cooking (Stephen Billingham). The other thing is that Jains prefer to take their meals before sunset so they have to ensure that dinner is served on time. The common meals amoung the Jains are Dahi Poha, fruit salad and boiled rice. Then main thing to note is that Jains don’t take root vegetables but they can take the vegetables themselves. Jains have no a particular attire unlike other religions like the Muslims. In fact the nuns and monks of the Jain religion who are considered the religious leaders donate their clothes and basically wear no shoes. They are also prohibited from cooking due to the harm which may be incurred during the chopping of firewood, the process of collecting or even cooking because fire is always dangerous. As Chapple Jiva states that food is given to the nuns and monks by genuine followers and not just the lay followers of the religion. For the nuns and monks having sexual intercourse with a person of opposite gender is highly prohibited so one should contain himself/herself to serve the Jain religion. Once one has decided to become a nun or monk he/she must shave to avoid lice in their hair and this is done regularly. Monk in the diagabra religion gives all their clothes as donations and remains naked for the rest of their life. This is done to save the cotton which would have been used to mend their clothes and the insects which could be trapped in their clothes. The nuns and monks has no possession whatsoever even a bowl to receive donations (Chapple Jiva, 2011). According to Chapple, the nuns and monks must adhere to the five rules which are care in walking, care in speaking to others, care in accepting things from others, care in picking and putting down things and the care in performing excretory functions. In Jainism, the purpose they worship and pray is to reduce thoughts and feelings of ill-fated, intense attachment and encourage pure thoughts (Stm. Alka Jain ,Guna, M.P, India, 2007). In construction of worshiping places, the Jains include images of VEETARAAG JIN-the worthy. During the worship of VEETARAAG JIN the follower are expected to leave behind their worldly love and be like the object of worship. In the Jain worship there are three aspects which are the devotee, the object of worship and procedure of worship. According to Jain Acharyas there are two main kinds of worship which include realistic worship (NICHCHAYA) and experimental worship (VYAVAHAAR) (Stm. Alka Jain ,Guna, M.P, India, 2007). In realistic worship there is no distinct difference between the worshiper and the object of worship while in experimental worship there is the assumption based on the object of worship, Acharya Amitagati, in AMITAGATI SHRAAVAKAACHAAR, and Acharya Vasunandi, in VASUNANDI SHRAAVAKAACHAAR. At the end of worship there is a supreme offering known as ARGHYA meaning extremely precious. After the offering according to Stm. Alka Jain and Guna the jains recites a combination of the eight fold offering items which include water, sandalwood, rice, flowers, rich food, lamp, incense and fruit. So in general in Jain worship one does not expect to get any material gain like employment but he/she seeks to purify his/her thoughts and get freed from worldly attachments. Works Cited Hansa and Vinod Sutaria Cleveland, OH, Jain Ritual and Ceremonies, Harvard University. Retrieved from http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/affiliates/jainism/workshop/Sutaria%20Jain%20Rituals.pdf Christopher Key Chapple, Jainism, life and Enviromental ethics, Loyola Marymount University. Retrieved from http://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/storage/Chapple_Jiva.pdf Stm. Alka Jain, Guna. Worship of the worthy: Based on Jain Texts. India, 2007.Retrieved from http://www.jainstudy.org/1.07-AlkaJain.pdf Read More