JAINISM
motivated by passion (kāşāya), first injures himself
Founded by Nataputta Mahavira which they called jina
“spiritual conqueror” – counterpart of buddha.
Jainas doesn’t believe in the concept of God, but rather
they held that absolute knowledge and absolute
perfection is possible through intense human effort. That’s
why rituals, prayers, and sacrifices are not observed but
rather by regulating moral and spiritual discipline.
Jains doesn’t believe in God is our creator but that doesn’t
mean that they don’t have God
Followers of Jainism are called JAINS
“The ethics of Jainism is naturalistic in so far as it is
humanistic.
The Jain does not depend upon any supernatural
deliverance or intervention to achieve moksha. He
realizes bliss on the basic of his own powers as a human
being.”
Moksha- freedom from samsara, the cycle of death and
rebirth
Jainism emphasized that knowledge could be perfected
by right conduct was mere futile and conduct without right
knowledge was blind.
Five (5) important vows to achieve complete mastery over
oneself by subduing passion:
mahavrata (great views)
a. non-violence (ahiṁsā) – accorded utmost
importance among these principles
b. truth (satya)
c. non-stealing which implies not to take anything to
which one was not entitled (aṣteye)
d. celibacy or abstention from self-indulgence
(brahmacharya)
e. non-possession or renunciation (aparigraha)
According to Jainism all living beings, irrespective of their
size, shape, or different spiritual developments are equal.
No living being has a right to harm, injure, or kill any other
living being, including animals, insects, and plants. Every
living being has a right to exist and it is necessary to live
with every other living being in perfect harmony and
peace.
Anger, greed, fear, and jokes are the breeding grounds of
untruth. To speak the truth requires moral courage. Only
those who have conquered greed, fear, anger, jealousy,
ego, and frivolity can speak the truth.
Jainism insists that one should not only refrain from
falsehood, but should always speak the truth, which
should be wholesome and pleasant. One should remain
silent if the truth causes pain, hurt, anger, or death of any
living being.
Don’t steal even worthless things which is not belong to
him.
Sexual desire. Abstain from doing extraordinary thing
Abstain from addiction
*According to the Jain sources a violent man who is
(ātmahamana), irrespective of the fact whether another
being is injured or not.
*Jainism believes that no overall good of individuals or
society can arise from violence. Jainism teaches that
untruth, stealing, taking more than one's fair share,
immoderate pursuit of sensual pleasures and
possessiveness are aspects of violence. All these involve
passions, mental violence of self and of others
Three (3) jewels of Jainism
Discernment of right from wrong
Founded standard
Apply and perform the good
It constituted the foundations of Jainism: the three
doctrine of - 8 fold path
Right faith – discernment of right and wrong and
truth
Right knowledge – awareness of what is right and
doing what is right
Right conduct
Sallekhana
1. sacred process and part of a vow
2. Sort of ritual suicide undertaken as part of the
process of reverence for all life but it is not done
very often today
3. Jains do this because they regard all life as
sacred that they don't want to harm/kill any living
thing even microbes. As a result, a person
gradually decreases his/her food & liquid intake
resulting to death in order not to harm any living
thing. Ex: each day you will lessen to drink water.
4. During the period, person has to abandon worldly
attachments and relations. He must seek
forgiveness from his family and focus and spend
time in meditation.
5. Reduced intake in food means reducing negative
factors and focus on spiritual matters
6. In case the person falls ill or loses peace of mind,
he should abandon the process and resume his
normal life
7. Sallekhana should not be confused with suicide
since the latter is brought by mental weakness or
external circumstances which the person is not
able to circumvent while the former is neither
hurtful nor is there any sorrow but there is
calmness and peace with which death is faced
8. This process is difficult to adopt. It requires the
devotee to possess unshakable conviction that
soul and body are separate
JAINA AHIMSA
- Lord Aristanemi refused to get married due to
slaughter of animals for his marriage feast
- Goal: is to ascend to the Siddha Loka a world
beyond heaven and earth, where all liberated
soul dwell eternally in state of energy,
consciousness and bliss
- Jainas avoid activities associated with violence
and follow a vegetarian diet
- Fosters attitude of respect for all life forms
The definition of Ahiṁsā in Jainism Jain Vow of Ahiṁsā.
Himsa- violence Ahimsa – non-violence
The wheel represents the dharmacakra which stands for
the resolve to halt the cycle of reincarnation through
relentless pursuit of truth and non-violence.
One of the Jain texts ascribes Ahiṁsā as having positive
attitude and it is the best medicine for the suffering arising
from the disease of the world-whirling.
In Jainism, nonviolence is not limited to refraining from
mental, verbal and physical injury to human beings. It
encompasses abstaining from injury to all living beings,
all animals and plants.
Violence (cheda, cutting) is uncontrolled behaviour such
as sleeping, sitting, staying and going, i.e, physical
actions. Impure activity is cheda, because it destroys
monkhood activity which consists in pure activity.
Therefore uncontrolled activity is always violent.
Nonviolence (Ahiṁsā) is the keystone of the Jain code of
ethics, which is a natural effect of rationalism. Jainas do
not believe that any higher authority hands down a
'system of laws' or commandments.
Kinds of Violence: - origin or law
 Physical violence-covers killing, wounding, and
causing any physical pain
 Violence in words-consists of using harsh
language
 Mental violence-implies bearing ill feeling
towards others.
Ahimsa is the standard by which all actions are judged.
The term means nonviolence, non-injury and absence of
desire to harm any life forms. Yamas means "reining in"
or "control", these are "don't do these" list of self-restraint.
And this practice should last for 2 days. The pure-minded
who practice specific nonviolenece confine themselves to
limited place and abstain from going to many places. He
becomes a saint if he engange in complete abstention but
if it is partial restraint, he only becomes a disciple.
4 Classification of Injury
1. Accidental injury - permissible
2. Occupational injury -
3. Protective injury - unavoidably committed
4. Intentional injury - can be absolutely avoided
The five vows, being great vows in the case of monks and
small vows in the case of laymen, are, abstention from
violence, dishonesty, theft, sexual pleasure, and
attachment to worldly objects. There are five meditations
for each of these five vows against violence for instance
are preservation of speech, of mind, care in walking, care
in lifting and haying down things and looking at one’s food
and drink. A layman may vows, such as non-violence, by
including some supplementary vows.
Inspiration and the consequences of an action for others
involve certain positive aspects of Ahiṁsā.
Samitis are the five rules according to Jain texts:
1. Careful movement (samyakgamana āgamana)
2. Careful speech (bhāşa)
3. Careful eating (eşaņā)
4. Careful placing and removing (gŗha-nikşepa)
5. Careful evacuation (vyutsarga).
-non-killing of beings and to vocal non-violence
-limit the area of one’s activities in order to be able to
follow complete Ahiṁsā.
Jain should observe three controls (daņda).
1. Control of the body (vapus)
2. Of speech (vacana), and
3. of the mind (manas)
Carefulness of speech(bhāşā samiti)- consist of
abstention from backbiting, ridicule, talking ill of others,
self-praise and harsh words and speaking what is good
for oneself or for Monks should not have enemies in the
form of evil bodily activities because they have already
been given up and therefore do not come again. Monks
should not have any reservation in controlling their
internal enemies (antaranga) like anger.
Non-resistance of Jainas:
Jaina ethics prescribe non-resistance for the monks which
are to be practiced when facing violence of every kind.
Tattvārtha-Sūtra defines dishonesty (anŗta) as false (asat)
expression (abhidhāna)-Dishonesty is any wrong
expression (asatabhidhāna) caused by fervent mentality
(pramāda-yoga) and carried out in body, mind or speech.
False statements are of four kinds:
1. Speech by which the existence of a thing with reference
to its position (kşetra), time (kāla), and nature (bhāva) is
denied.
2. If a thing exists where it does not exist, with reference
to the position, time and nature of other objects.
3. An existing thing as something different from what it
really is.
4. The last type of dishonesty consists of three kinds of
speech,
 Condemnable (garhita)
-backbiting (paiśunya), offending jokes (hāsa), it is
harsh (karkaśā), unsuitable (asamañjasa), non-
sensical (pralāpita or uncanonical (ut-sūtra).
 Sinful (sāvadya)
- induces another person to engage in cutting,
piercing, ploughing, trading and stealing is sāvadya
or sinful, as it leads to the killing of living beings
(prāņi-vadha).
 Disagreeable (apriya)
All which causes uneasiness, fear, pain, hostility,
grief, quarrel or anguish of mind, is said to be
apriya.”
Jain text warns against speaking untruth (asūnŗta) which
goes against the belief of the whole world (sarva- loka-
viruddha), involves a violation of trust (viśvasita-ghātaka)
or is opposed to merit (puņyavipakşa)
False speech, Hiṁsā, because it injures the real nature of
a living being (ātma-pariņāma)

Cause- cause of Hiṁsā, and it is present in falsehood.

Jainism a pragmatic criterion:

 Awareness of the correct view of reality

(samyakdarşana), including the interrelatedness
of life and the intrinsic worth of each living being,
is associated with a feeling of compassion for
others.
 Compassion (anukampa, daya, karuņa) is
understood in various Śvetāmbara and
Digambara textual sources and the relationship
between compassion and Ahiṁsā, the core
ethical value of Jainism.
 Jainism attempts to enforce a strict egalitarianism
regarding the objects of injurious action. Simply
put, every life unit (jīva) has equal value.
Therefore, Jain Ahiṁsā is based on the equality
and universal kinship of all souls. This
egalitarianism is a great Jain achievement, but its
formulation is questionable.

1. Every Jain jīva, just as every Sankhya puruşa, is

distinct and separate from every other, so a Jain cannot,
strictly speaking, regard another self as her "own self."

2. Sympathy and reciprocity, along with equality, must be

necessary conditions for Ahiṁsā. True sympathy and
reciprocity are possible only in a system of internal
relations.