Neglected Religious Belief and Faith

Yes, I have read that the Jains have a very strict dietary code. Something puzzles me, however. There are lots of websites selling Jainist Coffee Mugs online, and I aways thought that coffee, especially hot coffee was a prohibited beverage. So I did not understand why they sell these mugs. Maybe you know the reason. I follow a religion that prohibits hot coffee drinking also, but I have noticed that many people who are adherents drink coffee every day. I asked a few about that and they said they thought it was OK because the coffee was decafeinated. I do not drink hot coffee but I do use a tablespoon or so of coffee concentrate to flavor iced drinks on occasion and to make mocha frosting for a chocolate cake.

Jainism is an ancient religion. It is believed that it coexisted with what is known as the Vedic Religion the ancient form of what is known as Hinduism. Jainism does not believe in the existence of God. According to this religion one must cleanse one's thought, word, and deed of all forms of violence. So, much stress is laid on non-violewnce. Since there is no redeeming and merciful God, the path to the ultimate goal called kaivalya[known as mukti/mokSha = liberation from the cycle of births and deaths] in Sanatana Dharma[Hinduism]is attined by practicing extreme ahimsa[no-violence]. Jainism also believes in progress of the individaul souls though several lifetimes. Jainism Theory of Karma is rather elaborate and complicated. The idea of sweeping the floor as one goes around is to give warning to the bugs that someone is going to walk the street. These strictures are for the renunciates. Lay public followers of the religions would practice the study of Scriptures, meditation and following forgiveness to the wrongdoer etc.,In order to help the lay ffollowers the utterances of the 23 tIrthankaras' lives are documented beginning Adinatha. The 24th tithankara was Mahavira born some 2500 years ago. Historically he is considered the founder of Jainism. But traditionally he is the last tirthankara of this Cycle of Creation(bhava). A tirthankara is the pre-final state of the spiritual evolution of the soul. Jains considered the Universe and Creation to be Real and the goal of human life is to attain Kaivalya which will be the result of keval-jnana(Pure Knowledge). Jains were great dialecticians like the Buddhists so they have made great contributions the Science of Medicine.Jains posit the existence of Atman for not only human beings, but to all animals down to the microbe, trees, plants and everything including non-living things. It is a very tough philosophy to follow with a very complicated and involved ontology and epistemology, which makes progress towards "kevala-jnAna" a near-impossible affair. The extreme difficulty in following its principles is what seems to have made it not so popular religion. But is has a sizable following in India. Most Jains are engaged in business and they are one of the most prosperous communities of India.

I think that Jainism affected Mahatma Gandhi, a great man in the worls. Mahatma Gandhi is famous about teaching "non-violence". What's your opinion?

I don't know very much about Jainism. I did meet one of it's followers once (I live in Canada). He was a white man who struck me as a bit of a nut job. I suspect he isn't typical. I've heard that Jains have brooms and sweep the ground in front of them so they don't step on bugs. Wouldn't getting swept out the way also be damaging to the bugs? I'm not sure if being killed by the broom is less likely than getting squished by the Jain's feet. If you took this to its logical conclusion, you'd get AIDS to stop your immune system from killing all those poor microbes. There are other religions which have rather been neglected. There's the polytheistic religions of Egypt, Greece, the Vikings etc. There's Zoroastrionism, which no longer accepts converts (so the Hindus would allow them to settle in India after the Muslims kicked them out of their homeland) so there aren't many left. Nobody seems to practice Aztec polytheism any more, I don't think freedom of religion would allow you to get away with the huge number of human sacrifices this entails. I myself am a Messianic, which is probably closer to the practices of Jesus' early followers than conventional Christianity.

Hello friend.....You can ask Jainism is your discussion.It is depended on the time and people nature. In the middle age that the religions spreads in the some areas of India content.But these days it has very small follower because religions can depend vastly spread some things such as attractive knowledge and learning easy ways for people...........

Hi friend, shocked to hear that Janis are neglected by other communities, really they have a good concept and following it strictly. They are not interested in giving troubles to others as well as little creatures. They are very humble and following their religion quotes strictly. Hope they will gain a good reputation soon

Hi sukumar, I know little about this religion more than what you state here, but non-violence and respect for all life should be applauded wherever it is found. Blessings.

I don't know anything about this religion, but if what you say is it's preferred doctrine, I would say it's time to reinstate it as one if not the primary world religion.

Interesting thought on this. I am pretty sure that there are still millions in India that believe in Jainsim, but I am not sure, I have heard this discussion before on another site, and I think there were like 5 or 6 million followers. I know that number is small, but it is a pretty good following if you ask me.

Would you please focus on the back ground of Jainism's origination?