Jainism a Philosophy

Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of Dharma), with the first in the current time cycle being Rishabhadeva, whom the tradition holds to have lived millions of years ago, the twenty-third tirthankara Parshvanatha, whom historians date to the 9th century BCE, and the twenty-fourth tirthankara Mahavira, around 600 BCE. Jainism is considered an eternal dharma with the tirthankaras guiding every time cycle of the cosmology.

Jainism is transtheistic (neither theistic nor atheistic) and holds that the universe was not created, and will exist forever. The perfect enlightened souls with a body are called Arihants (victors) and perfect souls without a body are called Siddhas (liberated souls). Only a soul with human body can attain enlightenment and liberation. The liberated beings are the supreme beings and are worshipped by all heavenly, earthly and hellish beings who aspire to attain liberation themselves.

Jain philosophy is primarily concerned with understanding the nature of living beings, how these beings are bound by the processes of karma and how living beings may be liberated (moksha) from the cycle of death and rebirth (saṃsāra). Jain philosophy has remained relatively stable throughout its long history and no major radical doctrinal shift has taken place.

Main Features

One of the main features of Jain philosophy is its dualistic Metaphysics (branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality), which holds that there are two distinct categories of existence: the living, conscious, or sentient beings (jīva) and the non-living or material entities (ajīva). In the philosophy of mind, mind–body dualism denotes either the view that mental phenomena are non-physical, or that the mind and body are distinct and separable.

In Jainism there is no central creed or set of dogmatic beliefs. There are as many paths to enlightenment as there are rivers to the ocean. Unlike creed-centered religions, Jainism focuses more on the questions of life than the answers. The tradition does not emphasize specific beliefs, but rather provides a framework of ethics within which the soul must find its own way to liberation.

Main Pillars of Jainsim

The three main pillars of Jainism are

● Ahimsa                  Non Violence

● Anekāntavāda     Non-absolutism

● Aparigraha           Non possessiveness

Knowledge

Knowledge is the essence of the soul. This knowledge is masked by the karmic particles. As the soul obtains knowledge through various means, it does not generate anything new. It only shreds off the knowledge-obscuring karmic particles. According to Jainism, consciousness is a primary attribute of Jīva (soul) and this consciousness manifests itself as perception and knowledge.

Jain Epistemology (branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge) includes three related doctrines which deal with the complex and manifold nature of knowledge:

● Anekāntavāda        The theory of many-sidedness

● Nayavāda                The theory of partial standpoints

● Syādvāda                The theory of conditioned viewpoints

Anekantavada

Anekantavada is a fundamental doctrine of Jainism. It is the principle of non-absolutism or the acceptance of multiple perspectives. It states that the ultimate truth and reality is complex and has multiple aspects. According to Jainism, no single, specific statement can describe the nature of existence and the absolute truth. It is non-absolutist and stands firmly against all dogmatisms, even including any assertion that only Jainism is the right religious path.

Anekantavada encourages individuals to consider and respect the views and beliefs of others, even if they differ from their own. This can lead to greater understanding, tolerance, and compassion towards others and decimates the negative thoughts within our minds towards the other being and the urge to destroy or change the other person’s views, beliefs and thoughts.  It is interpreted as intellectual Ahimsa or Ahimsa of mind and non-violence in plurality of mind and action. Anekantavad leads to Ahimsa.

The dialectical concepts ofādvāda “conditioned viewpoints”āda “partial viewpoints”from Anekāntavāda in the medieval era, providing Jainism with more detailed logical structure and expression.

Nayavāda

Is “the theory of partial standpoints or viewpoints.” Nayas are partially valid, philosophical perspectives from which anything can be seen. An object has infinite aspects to it, but when we describe an object in practice, we speak of only relevant aspects and ignore irrelevant ones. Jain philosophers use the theory of partial viewpoints in order to explain the complexity of reality, part by part. Nayavāda holds that all philosophical disputes arise out of confusion of standpoints, and the standpoints we adopt are, although we may not realise it, “the outcome of purposes that we may pursue”.

Syādvāda

Is “the theory of conditioned predication”, which provides an expression to anekānta by recommending that the indeclinable “syād” (“in a certain sense”) be prefixed to every phrase or expression. In the context of Jain thought, syād (often paired with eva, “surely” or “certainly”) means “in some specific sense, or from some specific perspective, it is certainly the case that…”. As reality is complex, no single proposition can express the nature of reality fully. Thus the term “syād” should be prefixed before each proposition giving it a conditional point of view and thus removing any dogmatism in the statement as well as indicating that the sentence is true only from a specific point of view

Moksha

According to the Jain texts, the means to achieve liberation is threefold

● Right Vision           Samyak Darśana

● Right Knowledge   Samyak Jnāna

● Right conduct        Samyak Charitra

Right Vision

Is defined as “seeing based on true knowledge of the tattvas (substances, realities). Right Vision is attained by right knowledge. This doesn’t mean believing what you’re told, but means seeing (hearing, feeling, etc.) things properly, and avoiding preconceptions and superstitions that get in the way of seeing clearly.

Right Knowledge

Is defined as “knowing the tattvas such as the jīvas (living beings) as they truly are (artha).” This means having an accurate and sufficient knowledge of the real universe – this requires a true knowledge of the five (or six) substances and nine truths of the universe – and having that knowledge with the right mental attitude.

Knowledge is said to be of five kinds

● Omniscience                   Kevala Jñāna

● Sensory Knowledge       Mati Jñāna

● Scriptural Knowledge    Śrutu Jñāna

● Clairvoyance                   Avadhi Jñāna

● Telepathy                        Manah Prayāya Jñāna

There are 3 reliable means of correct knowledge.

● Perception                       Pratyaksa

● Inference                         Anumana

● Testimony                       Sabda or the word of scriptures

Right conduct

Is freeing yourself from attachment and other impure attitudes and thoughts. “If our character is flawed and our conscience is not clear, knowledge alone will not help us achieve composure and happiness”. A person who has right faith and right knowledge will be motivated and able to achieve right conduct.