Jainism

• What before Birth?
• What after death?
• Role of 8 karma
• 9 tatva
• Procedure to stop cycle & recycle of birth

Jina - One who conquers his inner enemies like anger, greed, passion, ego, etc. The followers of Jina are known as Jains.

Lord Mahavira organized his followers, into a four fold order, namely monk (Sadhu), nun (Sadhvi), layman (Shravak), and laywoman (Shravika). Later on they are known as Jains.

The ultimate objective of his teaching is how one can attain the total freedom from the cycle of birth, life, pain, misery, and death, and achieve the permanent blissful state of one's self. This is also known as liberation, nirvana, absolute freedom, or Moksha.

He explained that from eternity, every living being (soul) is in bondage of karmic atoms that are accumulated by its own good or bad deeds. Under the influence of karma, the soul is habituated to seek pleasures in materialistic belongings and possessions. These are the deep rooted causes of self-centered violent thoughts, deeds, anger, hatred, greed, and such other vices. These result in accumulating more karma.

He preached that right faith (samyak-darshana), right knowledge (samyak-jnana), and right conduct (samyak-charitra) together will help attain the liberation of one's self.

At the heart of right conduct for Jains lie the five great vows:

• Nonviolence (Ahimsa) - not to cause harm to any living beings
• Truthfulness (Satya) - to speak the harmless truth only
• Non-stealing (Achourya) - not to take anything not properly given
• Chastity (Brahmacharya) - not to indulge in sensual pleasure
• Non-possession / Non-attachment (Aparigraha) - complete detachment from people, places, and material things.
  Jains hold these vows at the center of their lives. The monks and nuns follow these vows strictly and totally, while the common people try to follow the vows as far as their life styles will permit.

The spiritual power and moral grandeur of Mahavir's teachings impressed the masses. He made religion simple and natural, free from elaborate ritual complexities. His teachings reflected the popular impulse towards internal beauty and harmony of the soul.

His message of nonviolence (Ahimsa), truth (Satya), non-stealing (Achaurya), celibacy (Brahma-charya), and non-possession (Aparigraha) is full of universal compassion. He said that, "A living body is not merely an integration of limbs and flesh but it is the abode of the soul which potentially has perfect perception (Anant-darshana), perfect knowledge (Anant-jnana), perfect power (Anant-virya), and perfect bliss (Anant-sukha)." Mahavir's message reflects freedom and spiritual joy of the living being.

Lord Mahavir also preached the gospel of universal love, emphasizing that all living beings, irrespective of their size, shape, and form, how spiritually developed or under-developed, are equal and we should love and respect them

Prayer of Jain religion:
Every day Jains bow their heads and say their universal prayer, the Navkar-mantra. All good work and events start with this prayer of salutation and worship.

• Namo Arihantanam: - I bow to the enlightened souls
• Namo Siddhanam: - I bow to the liberated souls
• Namo Ayariyanam: - I bow to religious leaders
• Namo Uvajjayanam: - I bow to religious teachers
• Namo Loe Savva Sahunam: - I bow to all monks of the world
• Eso Panch Namukkaro:   - These five salutations are capable of
• Savva Pava Panasano:    destroying all the sins and this is
• Mangalancha Savvesin    the first happiness among all forms
• Padhamam Havai Mangalam:   of happiness.

In the above prayer, Jains do not ask for any favors or material benefits from their Gods, the Tirthankaras or from monks and nuns. They do not pray to a specific Tirthankara or monk by name. By saluting them, Jains receive the inspiration from the five benevolent for the right path of true happiness and total freedom from the misery of life.

It is the Karman and not the birth that determines the social status of a person. These ideas were revolutionary ideas indeed! And the receptive intelligent ideological elements in Brahmanism welcomed these ideas. It is significant to note that the ganadharas of Lord Mahavira were Brahmins So far we have seen how Lord Mahavira denounced the caste system and at the same time set right the Jaina monastic order. He kept the doors of his church open to all deserving persons and thus became pioneer in the field of spiritual democracy.

So far we have seen how Lord Mahavira denounced the caste system and at the same time set right the Jaina monastic order. He kept the doors open to all deserving persons and thus became pioneer in the field of spiritual democracy.

It is therefore due to these rare qualities of an ideal reformer, an able organizer, a patronizing guru, a convincing debater, a zealous missionary and an upholder of the equality of all human beings, that the name of Lord Mahavira still remains and shall ever remain a cherished inspiration to humanity at large.

While travelling on the path of spiritual progress, a person destroys all eight types of his karmas in the following sequence.

First Mohaniya (delusion), then Gnana-varaniya (knowledge), Darasna-varaniya (vision), and Antaraya (natural qualities) all three together.

Lastly the remaining four namely Nama (body), Ayu (life span), Gotra (social standing), and Vedniya (pleasure and pain of the body). He then attains liberation.

The first four karmas are called Ghati karmas because they obscure the natural qualities of the soul. The last four karmas are known as aghati karmas because they are related to the body of the soul. Once a person destroys all Ghati karmas, automatically he will destroy all his Aghati karmas at the end of his present life. No fall back can occur.

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