Jain Philosophy (2) 01 – Jain Concept of God and Universe

Jain Philosophy (2) 01 – Jain Concept of God and Universe

Jain Concept of God

The subcontinent of India, a cradle of civilization, is also the birthplace of three great religious traditions of the world: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The Jain religion and its philosophy being one of the oldest, predating recorded history as referenced in Hindu scriptures, has become one of the essential spiritual traditions of the South Asian religious fabric. It is an original system, quite distinct and independent from other systems and philosophical traditions of India. Jainism is a religion of purely human origin.  In ancient times, it was known by many names such as the Shraman (ascetic) tradition, the religion of Nirgrantha (one who has removed all bondages in life), or the religion of Jina.  It is propagated by Self_realized individuals who have attained perfect knowledge, omniscience, and self_control by personal effort. They have been liberated from the bondage of attachment and aversion (karma), and of worldly existence, and ending the cycles of life and death. These individuals are popularly viewed as Gods in Jainism. They are also recognized by various names as Kevali, Arihanta, Arhat, Tirthankar, Jina, and Siddha. All these words depict various qualities of Jain God.

Kevali

When an individual destroys all the defiling karma attached to his soul, he attains the full manifestation of absolute knowledge, Keval_jnän.  That soul is regarded having become the supreme Soul and is known as Kevali (Omniscient).  A true Omniscient lives in realization of infinite knowledge, perception, vigor and bliss.  Among Kevali, some souls through their preaching, show the path of liberation to the humanity.  They are called Tirthankars and they establish four_fold Jain order called Sangha comprising of monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen.

The Omniscient who are not Tirthankar, spend rest of their life in bliss and attain liberation when rests of the physical karma are exhausted.

Arihanta

The word Arihanta is made up of two words: 1) Ari means enemies, and 2) Hant means destroyer.  Therefore, Arihanta means a destroyer of enemies.  The enemies referred to here are internal; inner desires and passions.  The passions include anger, ego, deceit, and greed. Until one eliminates these passions, the real nature of the soul is not realized or manifested.

Arhat

Arhat means worthy of worship.  One who is revered by the living beings of the three worlds is called Arhat.

Tirthankar

Tirthankar means one who lays down the spiritual order and explains the path of liberation to cross over the worldly sea of suffering.

Jina

Jina literally means “the Victor” or “the Liberator”, one who has conquered the inner enemies of worldly passions such as anger, ego, deceit, greed, desire, and aversion by personal effort.

Siddha

All the Kevalis are liberated upon exhausting rests of the physical karma and are called Siddha. Free from the physical body, they reside at the top of the universe in Siddha_loka for eternity, enjoying pure consciousness.  All liberated souls even though identical in attributes, keep their individuality.

The followers of Jina are called Jains. There are about 10 million Jains in the world. Jains believe that from eternity, the soul is bound by karma and is ignorant of its true nature. It is due to karma that the soul migrates from one life cycle to another, continues to attract new karma, and binds with new karma. The ultimate goal for the soul is to be liberated by getting rid of all Karmas.

The soul is bound by Karmas because of attachment and aversion. Therefore, the path of liberating the soul from attachment and aversion constitutes the fundamental philosophy of Jainism.  Jainism addresses the path of liberation in a rational way. It states that the proper Knowledge of reality, when combined with Right Faith and Right Conduct leads the worldly soul to liberation (Nirvana or Moksha).  In this way, one can break the continual binding process of karma to the soul and be liberated from karma.

When a living being becomes free from attachment and aversion, destroys all his/her Karma He/she attains perfect knowledge, perception, power, and bliss. He/she becomes omniscient and omnipotent.

Jainism believe that time is a basic element and is cyclic.  Each time cycle has two half cycles, Utsarpini (progressive) and Avasarpini (regressive).  Each half cycle is further divided into six eras. There have been infinite time cycles in the past (time without beginning) and there will be infinite time cycles (without any end) in the future.  At present, we are in the fifth era of Avasarpini half cycle.

In each half cycle, 24 Tirthankars or Jinas are borne in our region. Bhagawän Mahävir was the last Tirthankar who lived about 2600 years ago and Bhagawän Rishabha was the first Tirthankar who lived millions of years ago.

Lord Mahävir or Vardhamän (599 BC to 527 BC), the twenty_fourth and the last Tirthankar of this era, expounded the Jain philosophy preached by his predecessor Tirthankar Pärshvanäth (about 950BC to 850 BC). Lord Mahävir expanded the code of conduct and introduced daily observances for his followers.  He felt that such changes were essential for proper spiritual advancement at that time.  Thus, Mahävir, like other Tirthankars was more of a reformer of an existing religious order rather than the founder of a new faith. The present Jain scriptures are a compilation of Lord Mahävir’s teachings.

Thus, the Jain religion is eternal but various Tirthankars have continually modified its code of conduct and practice based on time, place, people’s capability and circumstances of the era.  In summary, Jainism does not believe in a creator God, however this does not mean that Jainism is an atheistic religion. Jains believe in an infinite number of Gods or Jinas who are self_realized omniscient individuals who have attained liberation from birth, death, and suffering.

The Arihantas, Tirthankars, Jinas are not Gods in the sense of being the creators of the universe, but rather as those who have accomplished the ultimate goal of liberation from suffering through personal efforts. In the past, these individuals were human beings like us. They were not supernatural immortal beings or an incarnation of an almighty God. Many such individuals existed in the past and many will achieve such a spiritual stage in the future. All human beings have the potential to reach such a spiritual stage.

Jains do not believe that there is a supernatural power that does favors to us if we please him. Jains rely a great deal on self_effort and self_initiative for both – their worldly requirements and their salvation or liberation. Jains believe that each living being is a master of his/her own destiny.

Jain Concept of Universe

Many religions in the world try to answer the questions like, who created the universe, what is the age of the universe, is it ageless, what is the universe made of, how the cosmos is structured, what is the fate of the universe and so on.

If we assume that God created the universe then question occurs that who created the Creator. Hence the logic breaks. Ultimately, one answers that God is self existed and He is eternal. Jains believe that instead of saying God is self existed, universe is self existed and eternal.

Jain theory states that the entire universe functions according to its own cosmic laws and it is self_regulated. Jainism states that the universe is without a beginning or an end, and is everlasting and eternal. Six fundamental entities (known as Dravya or Substances) constitute the universe.  Although all entities are eternal, they continuously undergo countless changes, but in that process no new elements are created nor the existing elements are destroyed but every element continuously change their forms.  In these transformations, nothing is lost or destroyed. Previous forms give way to new ones without losing their own inherent qualities.

Fundamental Tenets of Jainism

Ahimsa (non_violence), Anekäntaväda (multiplicity of views) and Aparigraha

(non_possessiveness) are the cardinal principles of Jainism.

Jain principle and practice of Ahimsa (non_violence) is extended not only towards human beings but also towards all living beings. Ahimsa also refers to the abolition of acts of violence from the hearts and minds of human being.  In a positive sense, it entails universal friendliness, universal forgiveness, and universal fearlessness.

Jainism does not accept one_sided views.  The complete truth cannot be explained by one viewpoint.  One_sided views, in general, represent only partial truth. To know the complete truth, all angles and aspects of a given situation or substance needs to be analyzed and considered. This approach is known as “Anekäntaväda” (multiplicity of views and theory of relativity).

Non_possessiveness (Aparigraha) is freedom from attachment to worldly things. Possessions and attachment to possessions strengthen the hold of passions on one’s self and leads to vices, that hurts others and one’s own self.

Without Aparigraha, one cannot practice complete Ahimsa. If one refrains from Parigraha (possessiveness), he/she will be able to refrain from Himsä. Similarly, without proper understanding and application of Anekäntaväda, one cannot be completely nonviolent because Anekäntaväda can stop the violence of thoughts and speech. Therefore, Anekäntaväda is the rationale for Ahimsa. Jainism is also defined as Ahimsa, Sanyam ( restraint of senses, mind etc) and Tapa (penance to shed the past Karmas).