Jainism

Background

The tradition of Jainism gets its name from great spiritual masters called Jinas, meaning “conquerors.” They have taught that life, in all its myriad expressions (human, animal, insect, plant, water, earth, air, and fire), possesses an eternal quality that is noble and worthy of respect. Each eternal quality embodied in persons, animals, and things is called a jiva, a perfect entity endowed with a capacity for omniscience and bliss. But in its worldliness, it remains in a state of suffering. Jainism shows the way to self-realization, an idyllic state envisioned as a total and final release for the jiva weary from the world.

The path to liberation is that of unconditional nonviolence. Any encroachment on the life of another is a form of violence for Jains. Cruelty and killing of any sort is violence, but so too is desire, lust, and greed. Any kind of activity in the world amounts to an imposition on another life, and harming others draws in destructive karma, harming the self. Nonviolence for the renouncers of the early sect was tantamount to worldly withdrawal, since existence itself was condemned for its violence. The ideal life is one lived in a state of vigilance, no word spoken or gesture made without consideration of the impact it might have on the multitude of co-dwellers of this world—the living beings, many of which are invisible, that occupy the world with us. One eats only to sustain the human form only so long as it serves the purpose of liberation; if it becomes an encumbrance, then abandoning it is the proper action. Jain nonviolence, as it was originally expressed, was motivated by a sense of radical alienation from the world and a desire to transcend it. It was also motivated by a sense of camaraderie with other life forms, which too are in the condition of alienation.

But Jainism so defined could never have existed as more than a tiny sect. Instead, from the start, the fledgling sect accommodated itself to the realities of the world and to those who were attracted by the tradition but unwilling or unable to commit to it wholly. Historical record reveals the early existence of a “fourfold community” (caturvidyas-angha) made up of monks, nuns, laymen, and lay-women, among which the laity far outnumbered the renouncers. The overwhelming dominance of lay or “householder” Jains has always been the norm, though their practice is modeled after, and therefore derivative of, the path of renunciation.

This needs to be qualified, since lay Jainism is much more than an imitation of renouncer Jainism; while it valorizes the path of renunciation above [Page 608]all else, it is in no way sheepish about its worldly accommodations. For instance, in the early centuries of Jainism's recorded history, Jains forged alliances with governing dynasties, securing the royal patronage that enabled the tradition to prosper. And from an early period, Jains became established as highly successful trading communities, a characteristic that they still retain today. Jainism's doctrine of nonviolence, though rooted in a world-renouncing impetus, has done nothing to hinder its this-worldly successes. Instead, lay Jains have always been able to interpret the rigorously ascetic message of the Jinas in such a way as to make it a dynamic, culturally sophisticated, artistically rich, and meaningful tradition.

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