Introduction to Jainism

Jainism teaches a simple religious lifestyle of ethics and nonviolence, a path that everyone can follow. It denies a creative God, but confirms that every being is a god in its essence. Over many millennia the same doctrines have been given to humankind by 24 Great Teachers, the last of whom was Mahavira, who lived about 2500 years ago, and said, among other things:

The purpose of living beings is to help one anotherand

Everything we are is the result of our thoughts.

These statements succinctly express the essence of Jain philosophy. The path depicted in the Jains' teachings is designed to 'improve the soul through right insight, right knowledge and right conduct, so that the inflowing karmas are of the right type, or no more karmas attach themselves to the soul.

Their teachings on karma are very detailed, and distinguish 148 types of karmas with many subdivisions.

`The ultimate aim of the soul's pilgrimage through all the forms in space and time is fully conscious union with the soul's inherent qualities: infinite knowledge, infinite purity and infinite freedom within this universe.'

Jain biology comprises not only plants, animals, humans and minerals, but also invisible intelligent life-forms, which all fulfil their own functions in nature. In the chapter cosmology their relation becomes clear. Unique information and photography are given on Indus script and its interpretation in the last chapter on `Art and Archaeology'

**Content and Sample Pages**