Jainism Doctrine Jainism Believe about Salvation

Vijay Kumar:
Who is a Jain? One who follows the Jaina traditions ... Jainism has never ever been spelled as a Religion ... it is a way of life. The word Jain was derived from the word "Jina" ... one who has won his true self ... one who has Realized God ... the knower of Brahman ... one who has come face-to-face with God. One who has become a Mahavira... Lord Mahavira never stated that that he is a son of God like Jesus Christ in Christianity... according to him every human being has the power to become a Mahavira ... the moment we remove the dross from within ... our Atman (the soul within comes back to its original pristine pure form ... it liberates forever from the cycle of birth and death... our atman the soul within becomes free forever.

By "Jina" ... in the fables we mean a genie ... one who has come out of the bottle to obey his master. What it really means is that the moment we Realize God ... we become one with God Almighty. In the famous Aladdin episode ... the moment Aladdin rubbed the ring on his finger there appeared a genie ... this simply means that having remained closed in the dungeon for a long time ... Aladdin realize the true fact of life ... he truly Realized God ... he in fact had become a genie ... when our atman the soul within starts to guide us directly then coming out of the dungeon does not remain a big task ... for now all the powers of the God are available to us to guide us on the right path.

Mahavira never prided on the fact that he had realized his real self ... he was full of compassion for the humanity ... before he left his mortal frame at the age of 72 years ... he had preached for a period of full 30 years ... he realized his true self at the age of 42. He could have gained Moksha Salvation at that very moment and left his body ... but before leaving his body he wanted to disseminate ... pass on to the masses what he had learnt of the cosmic wisdom.

As in Buddhism and Christianity ... the followers of Mahavira are not known as Mahaviras. Followers of Buddha are known as Buddhists (and the Religion as Buddhism) ... a follower of Jesus Christ are known as Christians (and the Religion ... Christianity) but so is never the case in Jainism ... for Lord Mahavira is never termed as Mahavira Jain. Thus ... Jainism is considered as a way of life. The Jaina doctrines are there to guide us on the right path.

In the chronological order ... Lord Krishna (an Avataar of the era) came about a thousand years earlier than Mahavira. Likewise Bhagavad Gita was available almost a thousand years before ... the doctrines of Mahavira were available. No doubting in Jainism ... we have the blessings of a total of 24 Tirthankars but prominence is given to the last Tirthankara of the era ... Lord Mahavira! Why so ... up to the 23rd Tirthankara Lord Parshvanath ... the humanity was not had to assimilate the teachings of Tirthankars ... unless there is some who can understand what is being spoken of ... all cosmic wisdom would fell on deaf ears.

It was Mahavira in whose time ... the preaching of Jainism spread amongst the masses ... people were able to decipher what was being said. Up to the 23rd Tirthankara ... all sacred teachings were limited to the learned scholars, Acharyas ... who were partly able to fathom the depths of the cosmic wisdom. It was only Mahavira who was able to preach the cosmic wisdom in totality to the humanity. The prime reason why teachings of Mahavira are given precedence over what the other 23 Tirthankars tried to preach.

It was only in the times of Mahavira that a person known as Gautam Gani was able to totally comprehend what was being said and was instrumental in spreading the teachings of Mahavira to the masses. Learned people like Mahavira can be many but those who can understand the words of these masters are a few. In the times of Lord Krishna it was only King Arjuna (on the whole Mother Earth) who was able to understand the depths of the sayings of Lord Krishna.

How can we differentiate between Jainism and the teachings of lord Krishna contained in Bhagavad Gita ... Lord Krishna is never termed as a man God ... he was a living of Avataar ... God Almighty had himself incarnated so that Dharma could prevail in the end. Whatever is contained in Jainism is also contained in Bhagavad Gita but the vice versa is not true. Does it mean that whatever is contained in the Bhagavad Gita does not exist in Jainism ... yes!

Suppose Bhagavad Gita contains 16 chapters, which explained the complete origin of mankind ... the total concept from the beginning of the cosmos ... until pralaya (and of the cosmos) occurs. Compare it with a tree. The stem of the tree is Dharma, which is always, and ever existing in every Religion of the world. and from this flows the wisdom of Bhagavad Gita. As this tree of Dharma grows ... it branches out ... the first branch, which generates after about a thousand years indicates that Mahavira had Realized God. This branch of Jainism consists most of the prominent features of the Bhagavad Gita but not the whole content. The followers of this branch were called Jains.

Mahavira laid more emphasis Ahimsa. In Bhagavad Gita ahimsa is but a part of the total document. After about 77 years of Mahavira another branch came out. Gautama Buddha had gained Realization ... and the branch known as Buddhism. Now Gautama Buddha laid more emphasis on compassion ... whatever is contained in Buddhism does also exist in Jainism and not vice versa. Whatever is contained in Jainism does not exist in Buddhism in totality. Does this mean that out of 16 chapters in Bhagavad Gita ... Mahavira gave prominence to eight chapters ... thereafter Gautama Buddha got hold of six chapters and developed his theory of the middle path. Yes! It is so.

Subsequently after about 423 years came Jesus Christ ... he followed and emphasized on only four chapters ... the following known as Christianity. Thereafter about 200 years came Prophet Mohammed and so on. In the last 150 years came Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana ... both have Realized God.

In Jainism lot of stress is laid on factors like samosaran ... when Lord Mahavira had Realized God and he wanted to preach ... the words did not come out of his mouth ... there was no one to catch the essence of his words. It was only when Gautam Gani reached the scene that Mahavira started the speaking ... in the field of Spirituality it is very essential that proper pupil is also available to an enlightened master. Ramakrishna Paramhansa in his lifetime had only one pupil who could understand him truly ... it was Swami Vivekananda who came searching for the Guru and ultimately found him. He truthfully served Ramakrishna Paramhansa, which enabled him to learn the cosmic truths, which could only have been imparted by a realized soul like Ramakrishna Paramhansa.

Mahavira also emphasized on the importance of Anekanta vada ... and what does this actually mean ... Anekanta vada means there can be many viewpoints in respect of a particular dogma and all may be true. As many people ... as many viewpoints, it is not all but some of them may point to the same thing. Wanting to drink water an Englishman will say water, a Hindu "Jal" and a Muslim "Pani" ... all are correct as they desire the same product. According to Mahavira there was no in disputing the other. According to him we can always logically come to a firm conclusion.

Another is the theory of syadvada ... a person is walking on the street ... many children run towards him ... one shouts "papa", another "uncle", the third "granddad". They all not right ... it is only the related relationships which count. Based on this principle Alberta Einstein propagated his theory of relativity ... as per the theory of relativity if to train serving in the same direction with speeds of 61 and 72 kilometers per hour then the people traveling in train one would find that people in train two traveling at the speed of nine kilometers an hour. This is a relative concept but absolutely true.

Anekanta vada and syadvada played very important roles in the life of Mahavira. In the final stages of his life before he had Realized God ... he was totally stuck up ... only when the complete doctrine of Anekanta vada was clear to him did he Realize God.

Mahavira practiced absolute Spirituality for a continuous period of 12 years ... what does it mean ... it means that Celibacy is to be continuously followed for a continuous period of 12 years. One needs to preserve his energies so that one can rise to the highest platform in life ... become a realized soul ... attain Moksha Salvation in this life. The concentration with which these austere practices are required to be carried out is expressed in the example given below.

It so happened that Mahavira was so engrossed in self-enquiry that he stood on the top of a hillock absolutely unaware of the happenings around. There came a villager who had a few buffaloes with him ... finding a lone person on the top of the hillock ... he requested Mahavira to take care of the buffaloes as he had forgotten an important errand to be carried out. Leaving the buffaloes to Mahavira this poor man went back to the village. After a few hours when he returned he could not find the trace of buffaloes.

Ignorant as he was, this villager assumed that Mahavira was an extremely smart person ... he seems to have hidden the buffaloes somewhere and is pretending as if he does not know of the matter. He abused Mahavira and ordered him to return the buffaloes. Mahavira was totally lost in the thoughts ... for him nothing else mattered other than knowing the absolute truth. Unaware of the happenings around Mahavira kept quiet. This infuriated the villager further. He went to the village and brought a set of nails and the hammer.

Abusing Mahavira that he was misusing his powers of hearing and not willing to reply to him ... the villager decided to punish Mahavira. He drew the nail from side of the ear to the other. Blood was flowing freely but Mahavira was still unaware of the happenings around. Such is the power of concentration, which is required of the true seeker. Whether it is Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity or the Islamic Dharma ... the path is the same ... yet, few dare to travel this path for the benefit of mankind alone.

More people on earth know about Swami Vivekananda then his Guru Ramakrishna Paramhansa. The logic is clear ... people do not fathom the depths of the teachings of Ramakrishna Paramhansa ... how does one follow one! The teachings of Swami Vivekananda were more on a diluted scale ... he was more practical in his approach. In present times people think that it is extremely difficult to become a Gandhiji these days what to say of becoming a Swami Vivekananda. Thinking of realizing God and becoming a Ramakrishna Paramhansa is beyond comprehension.

The prime reason why Buddhism is more prevalent world-wide then Jainism ... the teachings in Jainism carry greater depth than in Buddhism ... this makes it difficult to be understood ... while talking to a publisher of books of ideology ... I was surprised to learn that publishers preferred printing books of Buddhism a minimum of thousand numbers. But in Jainism ... the publisher was lucky if he was able to publish 200 books and yet remain profitable.

There is no point of criticism amongst various sacred Scriptures like Bhagavad Gita, the Buddhist literature, the Jaina doctrines, the Bible and the Koran. All these sacred Scriptures lead to the same goal ... the purpose of all is the same ... they are but mere different paths to achieve the same goal.

There is one very important aspect in Jainism that does not find prominence in other Religions of the world. It is the concept of bhava Yoga ... and what does this mean? Bhava Yoga is the concept that explains the inherent underlying meaning of the term Karma. Jainism believes in the concept that, "whether we carry out the physical part of our action or not, if we have in our thoughts considered ill will of the another then the sin has already been committed. It is totally another matter that if we get -10 marks for the physical injury then we may be allotted minus one for the bhava Karma. Even the thought of committing an injury ... the bhava of ill will of the other ... gets us a negative marking on the Spiritual plane.

This aspect of bhava Karma is very important to understand as it is only the theory of residual Karma which is carried on to the next life ... and as bhava Karma is very intimately connected to theory of karma ... at no stage in life we can avoid it. Mahavira strongly advocated that we do not have a right to cause an injury in our thoughts ... it is only the thoughts that prompt us (precipitate) to carry out the physical aspect of the bhava Karma. If our thinking were of a serene nature then nothing bad would befall us. No bad thoughts ... the possibility of our committing a sin would not exist.

Every Dharma ... Religion has its own pitfalls and words of wisdom ... it is only how the sayings of, Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, Buddha in Buddhist literature, Mahavira in Jaina doctrines, Jesus Christ in Bible and prophet Mohammed in Koran is interpreted by the Spiritual masters of the day ... in the present Kali Yuga (metal age) ... interpreting a document for own vested interests is the order of the day. Yet, we all need to leave our life ... life goes on forever!

Learn more on Yoga and Meditation here-

Meditation Techniques - Yoga Philosophy - Jnana Yoga

It is very important for one to understand the meaning of Yoga and Meditation before we start practicing them. You may send your further queries whenever you have one! It is only when all queries within us dissolve ... we come face-to-face with God ... merge with the Almighty Creator.

May God bless you.

Always there to clarify your queries (send your query),

Essay by: Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani" ... The Man who Realized God in 1993!

Full text of query: I am Jain . but still i don't know about Jainsum can u help me to know what executly Jainsum is . i am doing Yoga but i can't able to mediated on my aasans i try my best but couldn't .Plz help me how i can mediated.

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