Jainism: No Pain, No Gain

“The supreme principal is not-harming. One’s thoughts for others must be well intentioned as the thoughts one has for one’s self”

In my Indian mythology class we've been discussing two really interesting religions: Buddhism and Jainism. While most people know at least a little about Buddhism, Jainism on the other hand is a religion that exists today that not too many people know a whole lot about. Like Buddhism, the followers of Jainism (Jains) believe in reincarnation, or rather the cycle of rebirth which is known as 'samsara', but the Jains believe in a method of severe self-discipline to break free from this cycle and attain enlightenment. In fact, we were told in class that in order to become a Jain monk one has to pull out every single hair on one's body (!). Eyebrows included. I'm not sure exactly how this is done - there is a certain kind of comb that is used - but the point is that all the hair has to go. And for the hairs that you can't reach, another monk will help you. Ouch.

The founder of Jainism, Mahavira, taught at roughly around the same time as the Buddha. The Jains believe that everything has a soul (called jiva), and these pure, omniscient, universal souls are trapped in matter that has accumulated around them because of karma. Animals, plants, and even non-living materials such as the earth and stones have souls within them. Furthermore, even bodies of water (lakes, rivers etc), fire, wind, and gases have souls. Since karma can be accumulated by causing harm to any of these souls, Jain monks take extreme measures to prevent this. They sweep the ground in front of them with a broom to avoid stepping on any insect, they do not run or move suddenly in case they hurt any souls in the air, they carefully strain their water, and they wear a type of face-cloth to prevent causing injury to any souls in the air they breathe.

Despite such extreme measures, it is of course impossible not to do a little bit of harm to something. Therefore, Jain disciples undergo meditation and fasting to get rid of any karma they have accumulated. Finally, when the Jain disciple has reached enlightenment on earth, he or she 'burns-off' any remaining karma by starving to death.

Yikes.

Nevertheless, Jainism is a really fascinating religion and I believe it could teach us something. Their extreme concern about causing harm to any living and inanimate form should make us consider the consequences of our actions and the impact we have on plants, animals, other people, and the earth.

"If you asked me 'Is there another world?', and I believed that there was, I should tell you so. But that is not what I say. I do not say that it is so; I do not say that it is otherwise; I do not say that it is not so; not do I say that it is not not so."

In my 'Mythological literature of Ancient India' class we are tracing the line of Indian mythology and religion from its very beginnings (the Vedas) to modern day Hinduism (ie. the Baghavad-Gita). At the moment we are looking at the period around 600 BCE, where several different religious movements arose, as a result of a dissatisfaction and rejection of the widespread sacrifice-based religion of the time (which was largely in the hands of the priests). The beliefs of these new, 'unorthodox' movements were quite diverse, ranging from fatalistic to materialistic views. The quote above is from a teacher of one of these movements, Sanjaya Bellatthiputa, who was probably a sceptic (which is not hard to infer from his quote).

This quote expresses doubt about the existence of a world outside of our own; and this could be interpreted as a spiritual world, heaven, or even vaguely something outside of our own existence. What I like about this quote however, is that the paradoxes seem to suggest that whatever is outside of our own existence (heaven included) is perhaps something that we can't fully understand, regardless of what we believe.

"He was destined to learn his own wisdom apart from others or to learn the wisdom of others himself wandering among the snares of the world"

Welcome to my blog. I guess a bit of an introduction is in order, so here goes. My name is Gavin Fisher, and I am a radiohead-loving, literature-reading musician, runner and writer who is fascinated by religion and spirituality. And I was born in South Africa and currently live in beautiful (but rainy) Vancouver, British Columbia. I am studying English Literature and Religious Studies at UBC. I enjoy reading all kinds of literature, mythologies, and scriptures. I also love learning about all kinds of religious and spirtual practices and beliefs, and gaining new perspectives.

But why this blog? Well, I've been playing around with the idea of having a blog for a while, but it was only recently that I began to think about it more seriously. For the past couple of weeks, whenever I've come across a really mind-blowing quote in some of my readings I've felt the urge to share it with somebody. So, lame as it may be, for the past couple of weeks I've been using the "Write something about yourself" box under my profile picture on facebook to share my literary treasures. I doubt that anybody actually read those quotes (besides my wonderful girlfriend), and I don't know how many people will actually read this, but I think it's time to take those quotes to someplace new, where I'll be able to write longer quotes, and give my own thoughts as well.

So, I want this to be a place where I can share those quotes that jump out at me and seem to speak to me, the words of which I feel that I can relate to so much sometimes. Like the quote above, which is from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by the great Irish writer James Joyce. I just finished reading this novel for a class on British-Irish studies, and there were so many great quotes in this work that jumped out at me. Reading about the protagonist Stephen Dedalus' 'coming of age' was so introspective and laced with imagery that is was easy to get lost in the novel. It sucked me in, almost to the point where I felt like it consumed me. That's how good it was.

Anyways, I felt like I could relate to this particular quote, about someone feeling destined to learn about life, the universe and everything for themselves; and even if it is the 'wisdom of others', it is being learnt by a person who is on the fringes of society and experiencing it for himself.

And so this is a place where I can share experiences in literature, music, theatre, and religion/spirituality that just blow my mind; because of the new ideas and perspectives that they present, or just plain and simply because of the beauty of the words.

- Gavin