The Remarkable Philosophy of Jainism

One of the most remarkable creations of Indian civilization is the philosophy and religion of Jainism.

The Jain community in India today is an esoteric group of no more than about 4 million, yet wielding considerable influence despite its small numbers and with a literacy rate of over 90 % for both males and females. They are also a prosperous and united community. Unlike Buddhism which spread to Afghanistan, Central Asia, China, Japan and South East Asia, Jainism remained confined among small sections of India’s population without feeling the need to proselytize its teachings beyond its congregation. Their largest presence is in the state of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Their ascetic traditions are however ingrained in Indian culture and their customs and way of life are  well-known. The orders of Jain monks and nuns are ubiquitous and most Indians are familiar with their curious traditions.

Jain monks and disciples

Gandhi’s Non-Violence is a tenet that finds its origins in Jain philosophy and patterns of behaviour. Their monks and nuns are at pains not to cause harm even to bacteria through the practice of wearing masks on their mouths so that their breathing may not inadvertently cause the death of microorganisms. Their practice of sweeping the floor before taking the next step is to avoid stepping on an unwary insect. Indeed Non-Violence or Ahimsa is practiced to such an extreme as to encompass even the inanimate world. A monk must abjure violent movements so as not to disturb the equilibrium even of atoms. For the same reason he must not snap his fingers, squeeze objects  or vigourously fan the air. If he should fall from a boat he should drift gently with the current rather than make for the shore with violent flailing strokes so as not to disturb the atoms of water. Nor should he briskly dry himself but allow the moisture to evaporate. Insects and bugs that annoy him must be allowed their freedom and not be brushed away and never killed. The principle axiom of Non-Violence and non-killing of any life form has its corollary in the universal observance by monks and the lay order of strict vegetarianism for all Jains. The vegetarianism is of an extreme kind in that even root vegetables ( onion, garlic, ginger, carrot, potato etc) are all prohibited because they may harbour organisms under the earth.

Diksha: the ordainment of a Nun

The Jain practice of seeking periodical forgiveness from all acquaintances through sending letters and cards is another example of the extreme Non-Violence observed. The practice of renunciation by Jain householders is also legendary. Forsaking family, wealth, home and individual identity to join the ranks of monks and nuns is not uncommon. Often one is invited to such ceremonies. Even young men and women adorn themselves as brides and grooms only to renounce every vestige of ownership, personality and family links, much as when Christian nuns are dressed as brides to wed Christ. Rich businessmen give away their wealth to charity and join the orders of monks penniless. Extreme renunciation involving giving up food and water in an eventual suicide is also practiced by some elderly Jains who wish to forsake all physical bondage for ultimate salvation. This starvation unto death (Santhara) is practiced despite being against the law. Indians are more than familiar with these esoteric and curious practices of the Jains.

Mahavir

The Tirthankars

Vardhaman Mahavir, a contemporary of the Buddha is considered the founder of Jainism – like the Buddha, he was also a prince who renounced the world as a youth, not to attain a novel enlightenment but to follow a pre-existing religious discipline to attain to the state of a Tirthankar ( a maker of the river crossing) provided for in that ancient discipline. The concept of a Tirthankar allows for an individual to go beyond the material physical state and even beyond the ethereal and heavenly realms into a supernal zone at the peak of the Universe, into a kind of splendid isolation of total release and salvation. Mahavir according to the Jains was not therefore the founder but the last of 24 such super humans who achieved that pristine state of release and bliss.

Vardhaman Mahavir’s enlightenment

This would indicate an antiquity going well beyond the first millennium B.C. Historically, Mahavir, a contemporary of the Buddha, died in 526 B.C. Parasvanath the Tirthankar before Mahavir would have lived in the 8th or 9th century B.C. though there are no historical records to prove it. If some allowance is given to at least some of the remaining 22 Tithankars as being not purely mythological, it would take the Jain religion even further into remote antiquity.

According to some occidental scholars, particularly Heinrich Zimmer, the Jain religion therefore is perhaps the oldest religion of India and must pre-date the Vedic and Brahmanical Hindu traditions. Zimmer asserts that Jainism was an indigenous faith already existing before the Aryan invasions into India which took place between 2000 and 1000 B.C. and therefore pre-dating the Vedas which emerged around 1500 – 800 B.C., followed by the Upanishads. Jainism was therefore pre-Aryan and non-Vedic. Jainism denies the authority of the Vedas and the orthodox traditions of Hinduism, though Hindus generally regard the Jains to fall within the broad definition of Hindu. According to Zimmer Jainism belongs to the body of indigenous Indian thought reflected in the philosophies of Sankya, Yoga and Buddhism which are the other non-Vedic Indian systems. It would appear that their indigenous Indian thought re asserted itself after the Aryan invasions and succeeded eventually in integrating its thought to produce a synthesis in the Bhagavad Gita, becoming the foundation of modern Hindu thought.

Jain Cosmic Man

Jain cosmology conceives of the universe in the shape of an anthropomorphic Cosmic Man not unlike Emanuel Swedenborg’s Christian notion of God as a giant human form as expressed in his visions. Jainism like Buddhism does not speak of God. It does not allow for a moment in creation or for that matter a creator. The universe has always existed without a beginning or without an apocalyptic end. Brahmanism on the other hand speaks of cycles of creation and dissolution (Pralaya). Yet it is not atheistic, rather as Zimmer asserts it is transtheistical.

Tirthhankar

The Tirthankara is portrayed as a life denying monolith whose posture (Mudra) of Kayotsanga indicates inner absorption and dismissal of the body as reflected in his limp limbs on either side of the hips. They display no individuality, no personal mask, in a state of mystic calm and anonymous serenity and perfect isolation, aloof, nude ( no vestige of ego) and majestic and beyond any earthly solicitude.

The Jain conception of the Universe as a Cosmic Man is neither spirit nor matter but both together – Spiritual matter or materialized spirit. This unit contains souls (Jive) and Karmic matter ( A-Jiva). The pure and pristine souls are overwhelmed by the Karmic matter and engulfed and infiltrated by it. Any violence pollutes the crystal soul by colouring it in dark shades of matter. Any action whatsoever provokes an influx of Karmic matter into the soul, brighter shades for good deeds, darker hues for evil. Release from the bondage of matter is achieved by shutting off action of any kind, particularly violence against others, above all non-killing of any being – that can produce the very darkest colouring. Thus the seeds of further Karma have to be denied lest their fruit ripen to produce further Karmas in the form of suffering and physical experiences – gradually with the denial, the colors of all shades dissipate and disappear and the crystalline originality of the soul force is restored in all its purity. The heat of asceticism burns up all pleasures and pains and the Karmic seeds already present finally extinguish.

The Jiva (soul) and the Ajiva (matter) are distinct within the body of the Cosmic Man. The Jain concept is a kind of Materialistic Dualism of the two. The Jiva here is not the same as the Atman of Brahmanical Hinduism. Whereas the Atman is a manifestation of Brahman, the Universal Essence, and therefore has divine essence, the Jaina Jiva though eternal and unborn is not divine even though in its original state it has a perfect clarity. There is no divinity in the Jiva because there is no original God as creator or super spirit, embracing His creation. The Jiva is not any divinity , it is just itself. Neither does the Jiva upon liberation from Karmic bondage merge with any Universal Essence from which it emerged like in the case of Hinduism’s Atman. It does not merge upon liberation but merely ascends to the highest realms, the apex of the cranium of the Cosmic Man, there to abide with other liberated Jivas as separate entities. At that apex of the Cosmic Man reside the 24 Tirthankaras in their splendid isolation. As against this Materialistic Dualism of the Jain concept, the Brahmanical concept is that of the unity of matter and spirit, two sides of the same coin of Brahman (rather than a Cosmic Man) which constitutes the Monism of Hindu thought.

Brahmanism and Jainism however share the concept of the soul with the above major differences. They also share the concept of entrapment and entanglement of the soul by Karmic matter as a shroud or the mask of personality. Reincarnation is also a common theme in Jain, Buddhist and Hindu theology. If we regard Jainism as the original or aboriginal Indian faith (Zimmer) then it would appear that it bequeathed the concepts of Karma, the soul and reincarnation both to Buddhism and Hinduism. In fact reference to reincarnation only appears in the later Upanishads. The early Vedic Age makes no clear reference to it. It is only in the first millennium B.C. that transmigration became fused into Brahmanism, thereafter becoming a central doctrine of classical Hindu philosophy.

The Jain Cosmic Man comprises the whole Universe; the highest celestial regions where the Tirthankars reside, the lower celestial regions of the Indras (gods), the girdle where the Jiva assumes the mask of humans and as we proceed downwards, the masks of beasts, microorganisms and even the mask of the  atoms of inanimate matter, each as a shroud covering the Jiva or soul in the ongoing process of evolution or devolution.

The Jiva gets coloured by Karmic influx and only when all doors block out the Karmic ingress through abstaining from action, asceticism and penance that the Jiva begins to lose by burning off the colorization dispelling the effects of Karma and attaining to its original clarity. The adept shuns all temporal masks, sub-human, human or celestial – resisting the temptation to become even a god in the higher realms of the cosmic body by shunning even good deeds which are associated with good Karma – he allows no fetters whatsoever, no garb of elements, plants, animal, human or superhuman. In the Cosmic Man the Jivas are like the cells in a body, even the meanest atom has the capability to raise itself to the next realm of being.

The Jiva’s engulfment and colouring by Karmic matter is in the nature of a mask of personality. In Latin persona means the mask over the face of an actor through which he plays his part rather than the real nature of the actor. According to Christian philosophy the soul assumes a mask of personality which then stamps the wearer for ever, becoming fused with his essence. Thus Dante in his Divine comedy on his journey beyond the grave tours the spheres of hell, purgatory and heaven, meeting souls clearly identifiable with their personalities during life. Souls in Indian heavens and hells however do not retain the personalities from their lives. The mask which the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain souls wear during life are particular to the role they are playing in that life alone. The soul as actor remains anonymous. the aim of life is to get rid of the mask to get to the true nature of the wearer. At death the mask is set aside and during rebirth a fresh mask is donned.The final release involves casting away all masks and emerging pristine and untainted by Karmic consequence and defilement.

Ascent of the Jiva

The released Jiva ascends like a buoyant bubble to the dome of the universe, no longer restricted by Karmic gravity. He then enters the highest realms where there are no more any Karmic masks to wear. This highest sphere is ” whiter than milk and pearls, more brilliant than gold and crystal and has the shape of a celestial umbrella” (Jain scriptures). The Jiva now no longer dies with one personality nor does it get born with another because reincarnation has ceased. He joins other Jivas to reside in the cranium of the Cosmic Man, forever in an immaculate state of bliss. The Hindu Atman on the other hand does not merely cast off its last mask of personality but loses its separate identity as well in a final merger with the Absolute, like a drop falling into the ocean. The Jain Jivas who have won liberation are aware of the ultimate truth and while being omniscient with infinite knowledge are indifferent, unfeeling, unresponsive and in a state of ultimate bliss beyond earthly cares and concerns.

Blissful Tirthankar

These liberated souls are in a state of total isolation. this is unlike the Hindu Brahman whose supreme divinity Vishnu incarnates periodically with compassion through a portion of his divine essence as Avatar to redeem the world or in the Buddhist case as a Bodhisattva for the amelioration of human suffering. The Tirthankara does not engage in such a descent. He remains cut off in a state of sublime unattached bliss (Kevalam). As we observed earlier worship of the Tirthankars is not undertaken to invoke their presence but merely to become inspired to the highest good which they have achieved beyond the joys and sorrows of the physical and even the celestial worlds.

The ideals of Non-violence (Ahimsa),non-killing and the consequent strict vegetarianism emerging from the Jain beliefs and faith appear most remarkable for the first millennium B.C. when constant warfare, violence, bloodshed, murder and mayhem and slaughter of animals for consumption would have been the order of the day. It is surely one of man’s profoundest assertions and a unique civilizing force embracing both humanitarianism, compassion towards animals and concern for ecology through respect for every atom of creation leaving us with profound admiration and awe for the unique event in world religious history that is Jainism.

I would like to conclude with two quotes from Heinrich Zimmer who in my view is the most eminent, brilliant, knowledgeable and incisive scholars of Indian philosophies, culture and civilization, whose writings have so impressed me in revealing the fathomless depths of my own culture.

” We of the Occident are about to arrive at the crossroads that was reached by the thinkers of India some seven hundred years before Christ. This is the real reason why we become both vexed and stimulated, uneasy yet interested, when confronted with the concepts and images of Oriental wisdom. This crossing is one to which the people of all civilizations come in the typical course of the development of their capacity and requirements for religious experience, and India’s teachings force us to realize what its problems are…….The basic aim of any serious study of Oriental thought should be, not merely the gathering and ordering of as much detailed inside information as possible, but the reception of some significant influence…..Then we will join, from our transoceanic distance, in the world-reverberating jungle roar of India’s wisdom.”

”The supreme and characteristic achievement of the Brahman mind ( and this has been decisive, not only for the course of Indian philosophy, but also the history of Indian civilization) was its discovery of the Self (Atman) as an independent, imperishable entity, underlying the conscious personality and bodily frame. Everything that we normally know and express about ourselves belongs to the sphere of change, the sphere of time and space, but this Self (Atman) is forever changeless, beyond time, beyond space and the veiling net of causality, beyond measure, beyond the dominion of the eye. The effort of Indian philosophy has been, for millenniums, to know this adamantine Self and make the knowledge effective in human life. And this enduring concern is what has been responsible for the supreme morning calm that pervades the terrible histories of the Oriental world – histories no less tremendous, no less horrifying, than our own. Through the vicissitudes of physical change a spiritual footing is maintained in the peaceful-blissful ground of Atman; eternal, timeless, and imperishable Being.”

Collosus of Sranvanbelagola – Gomteshwar