Final Post: Jainism

My final post will be examining the rituals and practices of Jainists. First an overview of their beliefs, is not intended as 'essentializing' their religion, for people who do not know much about Jains, I think it is important to give some basic teachings:
While some consider Jains a sect of Hinduism, it can't really be considered that since they have their own literature, rituals and spiritual leaders, not to mention very different beliefs. They have 5 principals that help them lead their lives. They are Non-Violence, Non-Stealing, Non-Possession, Truth and Celibacy. Non-Violence means that Jains will not hurt any living thing, as best as they can manage. They don't eat meat and most animal products. Also, they will not eat root vegetables such as potatoes, onions and garlic, because harvesting them would hurt the plants. Often Jains will also wear masks over their mouths to keep from ingesting microorganisms. The reason they do this because they believe all living things have a soul and are therefore divine. This concept of non-violence also includes harmful thoughts. Non-Stealing is a bit obvious- they don't take things that are not willingly given. Non-Possession is goal of all Jains to lose all their attachments on earth- one of the videos will explore this more. Truth is once again, quite simple- to tell the truth in a harmless manner (I don't know where white lies come into play here). The Celibacy rule only strictly applies to monks and nuns. Lay-people need only be in a monogamous relationship.
The first video relates to the non-possessive way of living, a particular ritual called sallekhana(here's a link to the Jain's explanation http://www.jainworld.com/education/seniors/senles15.htm, or the act of killing oneself by ceasing to eat, drink and speak. Also, there's a weird intro thing- disregard it.
NOTE- this video may be a bit disturbing, especially if you have a hard time dealing with death.



A few things to understand and notice from the video:

1:38--the first time we see the monks it is quite obvious that they don't wear clothes. This is because they are reducing their attachments to worldly goods, and clothes are included in that. Some sects of Jainism wear all white to symbolize purity. This is a theme we have seen a lot in other religions- the desire for purity and cleanliness is shown through their garb.

3:29--We see women wearing clothing at this point which is an interesting part of a sect of Jainism, and is a divide between the two largest sects. One sect believes that since women must wear clothes, they cannot achieve enlightenment in this life, they can only hope to be reincarnated as a man. The other believes that women can end the cycle of birth-death-reborn (or at least thats how I understood the difference).

4:12--The Abhisheka is a ritual performed by Jains, Buddhists and Hindus in which water is poured over a deity to honor it.

4:30--This is a very interesting part of the video for me. The monk is performing Sallekhana in order to rid himself of all possessiveness on earth yet clings to his feather duster (used to sweep insects away so the Jain does not step on them) and rosary. After contemplating the duplicity of these actions I have come up with a possible reason. While the feather duster and rosary may be items, they represent more than what they are. So the monk may not be clinging to the items, merely the religious significance they give to him?

I think it's also interesting to note how happy the person writing the subtitles sounds. They use explanation points when the monk is 60 seconds away from dieing. This person is obviously a Jain, since they believe the monk is breaking the rebirth cycle- their ultimate goal.

Here are some general symbols of Jainism:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyderabad/128197261/

-The hand means to stop, or to think before you act, especially about violence.

-The swastika represents the cycle of birth-death-rebirth. The three dots above the swastika represent the three jewels of Jainism: Samyak Darshan (Right Faith), Samyak Jnan (Right Knowledge), and Samyak Charitra (Right Conduct). We should have all three: right knowledge, right faith, and right conduct together, then only can we achieve the liberation. The right knowledge means having the knowledge that soul and body are separate and that the soul, not the body attains the salvation. The right faith means one must have faith in what is told by Jinas, who were omniscient. The right conduct means that our actions should be void of attachment and hatred.

-The half circle with the dot above everything represents where the liberated souls go to when they break the cycle of reincarnation.

Here is another video on how a Jain interprets the non-violent way of living.



What I find interesting about this video, is that the man is saying that even thinking non-violent thoughts is going against the passive doctrine set by Jains. It reminds me of the rules made for Sellekhana. A person may not think about their friends or relatives at death, think about a reward, wish for a speedier death or even wish to prolong death. It's very interesting how Jains must think in accordance with their beliefs. It's something that occurs in most religions, but I don't think is necessarily talked about as much. It's like the Jains are saying that Actions speak the same as words (or thoughts), not more.

These are just a few things that I find interesting about Jainism. It is one of the oldest religions in India (the founder being a contemporary of the Buddha), so it has a rich history and a multitude of culturally significant traditions.