“Religion is morally neutral like, say, a knife. When you use it to cut sandwiches, then a knife is a good thing; but if you use it to stick in someone’s guts, then… (Brewer, 2006, p. 1)”
Ethical disagreements within a religious culture sometimes become sharp enough to cut it into pieces. Hindu Vedic rituals required animal sacrifice, which Jains considered immoral (Molloy, p. 193). Instead of having blood on their hands, Jains preferred to practice a peaceful coexistence with all living beings. Thus, the Jain symbol of the right-hand reminds people to stop and think about the right course of action. Written in the palm of this symbol is the word “ahimsa” or non-violence (Daryapurkar, 2008, p. 1). Jains instead focus their energies on the struggle within. In fact, the name Jain comes from the Sanskrit word “Jina” or conqueror (Molloy, p. 195). Like Hindus, Jains live a life geared toward moksha; however, they have refined the process into their own unique way of avoiding karma and “conquering” the soul. Although Jainism is a religion that views itself as timeless, the most prominent and influential figure among the twenty-four Tirthankaras was Mahavira and lived approximately between 599 to 468 B.C.E. (Molloy, p. 194). It is interesting to note that although Mary Fisher and Lee Bailey offer the translation of the word, “Tirthankaras” as “bridgebuilder (p.94)”, Michael Molloy uses the term “ford finder (p. 194)” to suggest that this way is not a dry one. Jains esteem Mahavira’s exemplary behavior to be the quintessence of conquering the soul and much of the respect they receive today stems from immersing their minds in his ideologies.
To conquer the soul, the Jain must first understand its nature. Over the centuri...
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...3, 2011, from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jake-brewer/desmond-tutu-and-the-reli_b_21961.html
Daryapurkar, V. (2008, March 16). Jain Symbol. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from Jainism Global Resource Center: http://www.jainworld.com/education/jainsymbol.htm
Elst, K. (2001, November 02). Are Jains Hindus? Retrieved October 24, 2011, from The Koenraad Elst Site: http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/books/wiah/ch7.htm
Fisher, M. P., & Bailey, L. W. (2008). An Anthology of Living Religions. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Lalwani, S. (2011, October 04). Jainism Beliefs. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from Pujas.com: http://www.pujas.com/Jainism-basicbelief1.html
Molloy, M. (2008). Experiencing The World's Religions. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Reference.com. (n.d.). Karma. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from Reference.com: http://www.reference.com/browse/karma
Jain and Jain renouncers are very dedicated to the practice of ahimsa, or nonviolence. They are very aware of their world around them and what will happen to their karma if they harm any walks life. Jains try to eventually purge any negative karma they might have accumulated over their lifetime. Through this dedication to nonviolence, Jains work tirelessly to make sure that their intentional actions will not bring harm to anything or anyone. Many objects and traditions are connected to objects that can be found in their environment. Jains coexist with the world and wish to be a part of it and not leave a mark on it. Through their practice of ahimsa, Jains have formed a unique relationship and lifestyle practice with the world around them.
Annemaire de Waal Malefijt, “Religion and Culture An Introduction to Anthropology of Religion” The United States of America 1989
Melton, J. G., & Baumann, M. (2010). Religions of the world: A comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practices (2nd ed., Vol. 1). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
24 Amore, Roy C. and Julia Ching. The Buddhist Tradition. In Willard G. Oxtoby, Ed. World Religions: Eastern Traditions. P. 221
1.) Intro: I decided to focus my Religious Ethnography on a friend whom I recently have become close with. Adhita Sahai is my friend’s name, which she later told me her first name meant “scholar.” I choose to observe and interview Adhita, after she invited me to her home after hearing about my assignment. I was very humbled that she was open to this, because not only was it a great opportunity for this paper, but it also helped me get to know Adhita better. I took a rather general approach to the religious questions that I proposed to the Sahai family because I didn’t want to push to deep, I could tell Hinduism is extremely important to this family. Because this family does not attend a religious site where they worship, I instead listened to how they do this at home as a family instead.
Fisher, M.P., Bailey, L.W., "An Anthology of Living Religions", (2000). Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
Smith, Huston. World’s Religions: A Guide to our Wisdom Traditions. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1994.
Hitchens, Christopher. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. New York: Twelve, 2007. Print.
Oxtoby, Willard G., and Alan F. Segal. A Concise Introduction to World Religions. Oxford, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2007.
...ld note that all three religions, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, have been the dominant, prevailing religious trends in India for many centuries, and they clearly reflect the culture, history, and spirituality of the country. All three of these religions effectively reflect the views of believers on life, death and honorable conduct. Nonetheless, despite the fact that they are very much related with each other, each has some distinct features distinguishing it from all others, and contributes to the understanding of the religious background in India both at the beginning of the new era of humanity, and in the contemporary period of time.
Fisher, Mary Pat (2002). Living Religions, Fifth Edition Prentice-Hall, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
I will now examine what it means to be religious with a critical enquiry into Buddhism, Hinduism and
Hopfe, L. M., & Woodward, M. R. (2007). Religions of the World (10th ed.) New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Thus, I thought that trying out the Jain diet for my project would prove to be an interesting yet challenging experience to take part in so that I can gain a little bit of insight into what life as a Jain might be like. Additionally, the man in the well parable also resonated with me. Even though the man has fallen down a well and will probably be attacked by the snakes or swallowed by the python, he is still focused on the honey dripping from the bees. This made me think deeply about how illogical it is for a person to be so caught up with the trivial aspects of life when there are far more serious issues at hand, like impending death in the case of the