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Ahimsā paramo
dharmah
Non-violence is the highest form
of religious conduct
Vardhamana Mahavira
Jina – or “Victor”
Therefore his followers are called “Jains”
Tírthańkaras

“Bridge Builders”
The 24 Tirthankaras
There are 4 million Jains today in
India, UK, Canada and US
Kaivalya
one’s own efforts are the only path to liberation
A Famous Depiction of the Buddha practicing Austerities (i.e.
fasting – a primary Jain ascetic practice)
By the 1st century CE, the community had split into two
main groups

Digambara
– "clad only in the four directions“, or naked
– Found mostly in Southern India

Shvetāmbara
– "white clad“
– Found mostly in Western and Northern India
– By far, the majority
Disagreements between
Digambaras and Shvetāmbaras

Digambaras
– do not wear clothes because they believe clothes are like other
possessions, increasing dependency and desire for material
things, and desire for anything ultimately leads to sorrow.
– believe that women cannot attain moksha in the same birth

Shvetāmbaras
– wear white seamless clothes for practical reasons and believe
there is nothing in Jain scripture that condemns wearing clothes.
Sadhvis (nuns) of both sects wear white.
– believe that women may certainly attain liberation and that
Mallinatha, the 19th Tirthankara, was female.
Disagreements between
Digambaras and Shvetāmbaras

Digambaras
– Believe that Mahavira was not married
– Believe that Mahavira renounced clothes
– Engage in much stricter austerities

Shvetāmbaras
– Believe the princely Mahavira was married and had a
daughter
– Believe that Mahavira was conceived by a brahmin
couple, and the embryo was later moved to the womb
of a Ksatriya woman
Jain Metaphysics
The universe is divided in three worlds. We live
in the central world. The underworld, occupied
by demons and demigods, consists of colored
layers with the darkest at the bottom. The
earth's surface forms the middle world. Above
the earth is the celestial world, with 16 layers
for beings born in the kalpa heavens without
Jain insight and the 14 layers for those with
insight. On top of all this, beyond the heavens,
is the crescent-shaped apex of the universe, a
region permanently occupied by souls who are
already liberated (not in this picture,
unfortunately)
Jain Logic

Anekanta –

Syadvada –
‘Multisidedness’ the doctrine of non-absolutism
 Every view is right in some respects
the doctrine of conditional statement
 No view is right in every respect
– The Seven Conditional Predications :







Relatively,
Relatively,
Relatively,
Relatively,
Relatively,
Relatively,
Relatively,
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
thing
thing
thing
thing
thing
thing
thing
is
is
is
is
is
is
is
existent.
non-existent
both existent and non-existent
indescribable
existent and is indescribable
existent and is indescribable
existent, nonexistent and indescribable.
Jain Practice

The three Jewels
– Right insight
– Right knowledge
– Right conduct (the Five practices)
 Non-violence
 Truthfulness
 Non-stealing
 Sexual Purity
 Non-possession
Opportunities for Women
Mahavira willingly ordained women
 Thousands of women have become nuns
 Unlike in Theravada Buddhism, where the
ordaining of women has died out, Jains
continue the practice to this very day

Symbol for unity,
the four directions
combined, the
bridge between
monks/nuns and
the laypeople and
between women
and men
The three dots above
the swastika
represent the three
jewels of Jainism:
Samyak Darshan
(Right Faith),
Samyak Jnan (Right
Knowledge), and
Samyak Charitra
(Right Conduct)
Mudra meaning
peace and nonviolence