In the first or second lesson Binaben had mentioned something along the lines that in Jainism we do not believe in God. So I asked her the following via email (both question and answer are verbatim because you need to understand my thinking process and that the answer is in direct relation to the question I posed). Please also note that my understanding of God is evolving as time goes and I am obviously unable to describe what God means to me in words – indescribable!
Q: Jainism does not believe in God. This is a confusing concept for me, because I believe in a Supreme Being aka God - not really a God in the sense of Shri Ram and Shiv Bhagvan - I understand that these "Gods" depict the values that the Supreme Being possesses and which need to be cultivated in us. Please advise.
A: Jainism believes in the principle of godhood and thats why we take arihants and siddhas as our gods as they have reached that state. So there is no problem in you taking Mahavira as god and we normally do. He is an inspiration for us to become like Him.
You can also check out JAINGOD.DOC at http://www.ibiblio.org/jainism/database/JAINEDU/jainedu.html Compiled by Pravin K. Shah (Jain Study Center of North Carolina)
Here is an extract from the file that might shed some more light on the same topic...
"Concept of God in Jainism
Jainism believes that universe and all its substances or entities are eternal. It has no beginning or end with respect to time. Universe runs own its own accord by its own cosmic laws. All the substances change or modify their forms continuously. Nothing can be destructed or created in the universe. There is no need of some one to create or manage the affairs of the universe. Hence Jainism does not believe in God as a creator, survivor, and destroyer of the universe.
However Jainism does believe in God, not as a creator, but as a perfect being. When a person destroys all his karmas, he becomes omniscient and omnipotent. He is a liberated soul. He lives in a perfect blissful state in Moksha. This living being is a God of Jain religion. Every living being has a potential to become God of the Jain religion. Hence Jains do not have one God, but Gods are innumerable and their number is continuously increasing as more living beings attain liberation."
Q: There is a belief that ladies should not go to the temple when they are menstruating. Is there anything specific in Jainism about this?
A: Ladies do not go to the temple while menstruating out of respect of the dos and don't s of the temple. In olden times there were no sanitary pads so used to be quite messy but now we are clean. Also they say that our moods fluctuate quite a lot at this time so maybe a reason to do with the aura but I have not found any valid reason or a convincing one.
I had also asked the Shravikas who had come to Navnat last year (I can’t remember which group they belonged to) about the same and they mentioned that in earlier times in India when we used to do manual work in the farms, ladies would have a really tough time, becoming physically weak during the time of menstruation, and so the tradition then had been set that ladies are not allowed to do anything taxing or go out. Probably temples were also far from their destinations and since they did not have the luxury of transport by cars, they were probably confined to their homes.
In the first or second lesson Binaben had mentioned something along the lines that in Jainism we do not believe in God. So I asked her the following via email (both question and answer are verbatim because you need to understand my thinking process and that the answer is in direct relation to the question I posed). Please also note that my understanding of God is evolving as time goes and I am obviously unable to describe what God means to me in words – indescribable!
ReplyDeleteQ: Jainism does not believe in God. This is a confusing concept for me, because I believe in a Supreme Being aka God - not really a God in the sense of Shri Ram and Shiv Bhagvan - I understand that these "Gods" depict the values that the Supreme Being possesses and which need to be cultivated in us. Please advise.
A: Jainism believes in the principle of godhood and thats why we take arihants and siddhas as our gods as they have reached that state. So there is no problem in you taking Mahavira as god and we normally do. He is an inspiration for us to become like Him.
You can also check out JAINGOD.DOC at http://www.ibiblio.org/jainism/database/JAINEDU/jainedu.html Compiled by Pravin K. Shah (Jain Study Center of North Carolina)
Here is an extract from the file that might shed some more light on the same topic...
"Concept of God in Jainism
Jainism believes that universe and all its substances or entities are eternal. It has no beginning or end with respect to time. Universe runs own its own accord by its own cosmic laws. All the substances change or modify their forms continuously. Nothing can be destructed or created in the universe. There is no need of some one to create or manage the affairs of the universe. Hence Jainism does not believe in God as a creator, survivor, and destroyer of the universe.
However Jainism does believe in God, not as a creator, but as a perfect being. When a person destroys all his karmas, he becomes omniscient and omnipotent. He is a liberated soul. He lives in a perfect blissful state in Moksha. This living being is a God of Jain religion. Every living being has a potential to become God of the Jain religion. Hence Jains do not have one God, but Gods are innumerable and their number is continuously increasing as more living beings attain liberation."
Another question I had to ask…
ReplyDeleteQ: There is a belief that ladies should not go to the temple when they are menstruating. Is there anything specific in Jainism about this?
A: Ladies do not go to the temple while menstruating out of respect of the dos and don't s of the temple. In olden times there were no sanitary pads so used to be quite messy but now we are clean. Also they say that our moods fluctuate quite a lot at this time so maybe a reason to do with the aura but I have not found any valid reason or a convincing one.
I had also asked the Shravikas who had come to Navnat last year (I can’t remember which group they belonged to) about the same and they mentioned that in earlier times in India when we used to do manual work in the farms, ladies would have a really tough time, becoming physically weak during the time of menstruation, and so the tradition then had been set that ladies are not allowed to do anything taxing or go out. Probably temples were also far from their destinations and since they did not have the luxury of transport by cars, they were probably confined to their homes.