Research Paper On Jainism

Hello,

The religions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism were all ancient religions that came out of India.

I found the Jainism religion interesting as I hadn’t heard of that one before. It was interesting to note that the Jainism did not believe in the caste system and allowed women to pursue the holy life. They also believe in nonviolence and asceticism (abstinence and self-denial), these traits help obtain moksha. Moksha is the release from death and is based of karma – the balance of good and bad a person does during their life. After death, if a person did not have enough good karma, they would return to another worldly life (reincarnation). I also find it interesting how they did not follow the caste system and were also the most

literate of the Indian people – owing to their use of their wealth for scholarship and libraries – some of the oldest libraries on the country (Verrill, n.d.).

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama who after a journey of enlightenment, renamed himself Buddha.

I find it interesting that in order to be enlightened, he had to abandon his wife and family. I wonder what all the “back story” is to that? His Four Noble Truths focus on acknowledging that sorrow and suffering are something everyone goes through, that those emotions can come from greed, escape is made by giving up the desires, and then once you give up the desire you reach perfect peace and enlightenment you reach nirvana. Buddhism is open to all castes – they do not believe in the caste system, and nirvana is attainable by all – men and women (Verrill,

n.d.).

Hinduism came from a blend of beliefs throughout the Indus Valley, and also from Aryans who invaded the country. Hindus have n numerous religious texts including the Vedas – hymns, prayers rituals and wisdom, Upanishads – commentaries and explanations of the Vedas, and two epic poems. They follow the caste system, and if one achieves good karma, they will be reborn into a higher caste. I found it interesting that one of the beliefs – Maya, is of this world, and that this world is about pain and suffering and it is an illusion. If one dies and has bad karma, they return in a lower caste or even as an insect. The ultimate goal of reincarnation is to eventually reach reunification with Brahman – the great soul (Verrill, n.d.).

Whether or not the leaders were great sages or not is a tough question for me to answer.

Buddha is seen as a great sage, but he had to abandon his family to do so, I would like to read more into that. If one of his beliefs was to not hurt anyone – how did he reconcile that with his actions. Jainism seems to incorporate earthly success (they were frequently merchants) with helping others (scholarship and libraries), this to me seems more tangible way to help others. I also like how Jainism believes that everyone can achieve enlightenment and conquering self-demons/inner enemies is the way to achieve the state of supreme being. I know a lot of people follow Buddhism and Hindu, but after reading about these religions, I feel the most equality based and realistic is Jainism. Hinduism caste system is a difficult concept to understand. I know it is outlawed in modern India, but the old ways have had a tough time changing. Like all religions, I feel that there is good and not so good in all of them, and I really can’t say without further study if their founders were great or not (Verrill,

n.d.).

I have the same indecision about the writers of the religions. A lot of religions, including Christianity, have been written and re-written over time, so it really doesn’t influence my thoughts of the teachings. One of the aspect of religions is having faith that the written “word” is in fact the word of your savior, rulers and God(s).