ZADAN ~ Mind

Jain Dharma

"Soul is my god. Renunciation is my prayer. Amity is my devotion. Self restraint is my strength. Non-violence is my religion."

~Acharya Mahaprajna

Rig Veda

To understand Jainism perhaps the best place to start is with it's divergence.

Somewhere around 2000 BCE the Aryans brought principles of Indo-Iranian religions into India. Everywhere that these beliefs spread to they adapted them to local customs and beliefs, and in India the roots of Vedic religion began to form.

Near 1,500 BCE some regions began to solidify traditions and rituals and the texts called the Vedas began to be written, the oldest one is the Rig Veda.

As Vedic religion progressed it began specify rituals for cultural cohesion, religious salvation, social order, social conduct, classes of priests and collections of mythologies revolving around Deities and the roots of the caste system.

Shramanas

Eventually an informal tradition began to develop, where individuals would drop out of the caste system, out of society and leave the life of a "house holder", they are now called Shramanas.

They were at variance with the cultural and religious authorities of the Vedic Period. They did not believe in an omnipotent God, they did not believe in the authority of the Vedas, they denied that rituals could provide purification and they rejected the caste system.

They believed that the world was "Samsara", meaning that everything in the world is subject to cycles of being born and dying and that this was the root of suffering. The believed that no religious or cultural traditions could free you from the suffering of Samsara, but that liberation from suffering was available to be achieved by anyone apart from social roles.

Ultimately, they believed that individuals are responsible for their own deeds, so they began to teach by leaving cultural roles, renouncing possessions and promoting ideas such as non-violence (ahimsa).

Karma, which roughly means "action" was linked to rebirth and the transmigration of the soul. "Karma" has different meanings in different Indian Shramanic traditions.

Teachers began to spread across the country, teaching their version of liberation, forms of meditation, yoga, and other ways that they believed the mind could be freed. These individuals and groups even began to gain influence even on the Vedic tradition that they had broken from (such as The Upanishads and the philosophy of Vedanta).

The Jains

The Shramanas referred to the truths of the natural world as "dharma", which means 'truth' or 'natural order' or 'principle'. One of the prominent movements became known as Jain Dharma.

The Jains believed that everything was alive, and as such, every being had a soul, and there was one underlying soul in all things. They took non-violence even further and taught that one should treat every being as themselves, and that no harm should be done. They were minimalists with eating, and ate pure vegetarian or vegan food.

Because of this they emphasized Karma as being the immediate results of ones own mental and physical behavior, and that you must act with awareness of the world and that in addition to the seen results there were also unseen ones. When a soul became free of Karmas it gained perception of the infinite. The center of their conduct revolved around the Three Gems of Jain Dharma:

Correct Perception

Correct Wisdom

Correct Conduct

And they have a 5 part ethic for monks, nun's and lay followers:

1. Ahimsa (non-violence)

2. Truth

3. Non-stealing

4. Celibacy or marriage

5. Non-attachment to possessions

Today, Jains continue their traditions which include several forms of meditation to transcend daily concerns and perceive the changeless reality that underlies the changing reality. Many of the original meditation techniques have been forgotten, but some new ones have arisen to take their place. They involve perceiving the body as it is, controlling and perceiving the breath and contemplation. They use these to further personal transformation, for physical health, and aim to cleanse themselves at the deepest level of existence.

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