Jainism and the Natural World

Several points have already been made that indicate Jainism’s inherent concern for the natural world. The principle of ahimsa, of course, demands care for all living beings, starting but by no means ending with vegetarianism.

How does this ecological ethos fit with the doctrine of samsara, which maintains that the world is currently in a process of degeneration and destined for final dissolution, after which a new world will arise? The Jain response to this question involves the quest for liberation, which requires that one avoid negatively affecting karma, which in turn depends on perfect moral behavior, achieved through diligent practice of ahimsa and its related principles.

Ahimsa demands not only avoiding violence but also constant striving toward friendship with all fellow living creatures. “The Jain Declaration on Nature,” an essay written in 1990 by L. M. Singhvi on the occasion of Jainism’s participation in the World Wildlife Fund Network on Conservation and Religion, celebrates this ideal. It concludes with the assertion that Jain teachings “offer the world today a time-tested anchor of moral imperatives and a viable route plan for humanity’s common pilgrimage for holistic environmental protection, peace and harmony in the universe.”⁹

In 2019, with climate change at the forefront of environmental concerns, the Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA) issued its Declaration on the Climate Crisis.— Backed by scientific evidence on emissions caused by fossil fuels and common agricultural practices, the Declaration calls for a wide variety of actions, including opposing the beef and dairy industries insofar as they practice conventional means of production, avoiding use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and opting for renewable energy sources.

Self-Assessment 6.3

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Jainism in the Twenty-First Century

A reasonable estimate of the number of Jains in the world today is 5.6 million. Because the 2001 Indian census set the number at closer to 4 million, some have arrived at lower estimates for worldwide Jain population, even at about 4 million. But Jains have long maintained that the census undercounted their numbers. Also, as the chapter has noted, sizable populations, amounting to about 275,000 Jains, live outside of India. In any event, Jainism is among the smallest of the world’s religions in terms of number of adherents, and Jain population in India, especially in comparison to its over 1 billion Hindus and over 200 million Muslims, is relatively very small.

As noted in this chapter’s Global Snapshot feature, over the past fifty years Jains have emigrated to various places around the globe. Today there are Jain communities in Kenya and other African nations, Great Britain, the United States, Canada, and various Asian nations outside of India, including Nepal, Myanmar (Burma), and Malaysia. As we have observed, the community in Singapore, while numbering only about 700 people, has played a significant role in the diverse religious life of the island nation, through active participation in the Inter-Religious Organisation Singapore and through society-oriented activities.

The healthy presence of Jainism in the United States and Canada is attested in part by the size and vibrancy of the Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA). As noted in on its website, JAINA is “an umbrella organization of 71 Jain Centers representing 150,000 members in the USA and Canada.”—There are members of JAINA in twenty-six US states and six Canadian provinces.

Jainism’s roots go back at least 2,500 years in its traditional homeland of India, where it continues to thrive despite constituting a relatively small religious community. As evidenced by organizations such as JAINA and the Singapore Jain Religious Society, and many more in various places around the globe, Jainism is also thriving in the diaspora.

In this chapter, we have learned about Jainism’s teachings, historical development, and way of life. One of the world’s oldest traditions, Jainism today remains relatively small, with only about 5.6 million adherents, and also relatively confined to its place of origin, with the great majority of Jains living in India. This tendency for the tradition to maintain itself demographically and geographically is natural for Jains, who do not actively seek converts to Jainism and, even when living outside of India, tend to maintain strong ties to the motherland.

Like every religion in the world today, however, Jainism has become diverse, as indicated by the differences between the sects. Some aspects of the religion are more adaptable to modernization, pluralism, and other contemporary forces, and some are less so. In this regard, Jainism as a whole can perhaps best be summed up as a tradition that is both eternally constant and constantly evolving. At one extreme, a group of monks and nuns wandering the countryside, sweeping ahead of their bare feet with their whisks, hardly fit into the picture of the modern world. Paradoxically, these same ascetics carry on a tradition of cosmology that appears remarkably modern relative to most traditionally religious points of view. Moreover, the conscientiousness of Jains with regard to social justice issues—expressed in their advocacy of vegetarianism and other forms of nonviolence—is in step with many who are concerned about the state of the world, the environment, and humanity’s plight.

SEEKING ANSWERS

What Is Ultimate Reality?

Like Hinduism and Buddhism, Jainism maintains belief in samsara, the wheel of life.

How Should We Live in This World?

Jainism bases its ethical teachings on the principle of ahimsa (nonviolence) and on the accompanying value of asceticism. Both are exemplified by Mahavira and the other tirthankaras, and Jain monks and nuns continue to act as exemplars. Jainism understands human beings—like every other sentient being—to be made up of a soul (jiva) combined with bodily matter (ajiva). This matter is believed to contaminate the soul and thus to weigh it down and to prevent it from attaining spiritual perfection. Jains explain this through their doctrine of karma, understanding the term in its literal sense as “action.”

What Is Our Ultimate Purpose?

Jains believe that eventually every soul will become perfectly pure, allowing it to rise to the top of the loka in the transcendent state of kevala, the Jain equivalent of Buddhist nirvana or Hindu moksha. Jains also believe that the soul that does not experience kevala is destined for rebirth, which is understood to occur immediately after death and is determined by the adequacy of one’s spiritual and moral life in this world. Death, then, does not “end it,” and mortality for Jains involves the prospect of a good rebirth.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

For Review

1. What is the role of Mahavira as one of Jainism’s tirthankaras?

2. How do Jain practices of asceticism promote the cause of ahimsa?

3. What is the loka?

4.

5. Differentiate the main religious duties of the Jain laity from those of the ascetics and explain what religious advantages a monk or nun might have over members of the laity.

For Further Reflection

1. Compare the biographies of Nataputta Vardhamana (Mahavira) and Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), focusing especially on the episodes of attaining enlightenment.

2. What is the relationship between Jain cosmology and the Jain perspective on spiritual liberation? Consider especially the classification of reality into ajiva and jiva and how this relates to the quest for spiritual liberation.

3. What is kevala? How does it compare to Buddhist nirvana? To Hindu moksha?

Chapter 6 Self-Quiz

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Chapter 6 Flashcards

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SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

Dundas, Paul. The Jains. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2002. A thorough and scholarly study that has become a standard reference work for students and academics alike.

Jain, Satish Kumar, and Kamal Chand Sogani, eds. Perspectives in Jaina Philosophy and Culture. New Delhi: Ahimsa International, 1985. Helpful insights from within the Jain tradition.

Jaini, Padmanabh S. The Jaini Path of Purification. 2nd ed. Columbia, MO: South Asia Books, 2001. The first comprehensive work in English that offers a sympathetic study of the religion, this modern-day classic has been revised and updated.

Lopez, Donald S., Jr., ed. Religions of India in Practice. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995. Offering some translations for the first time, this anthology presents a wide range of texts well beyond the usual collections of sacred writings.

Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli, and Charles A. Moore, eds. A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1957.

Click here for more suggested readings, weblinks, and other media for this chapter.

ONLINE RESOURCES

Internet Sacred Text Archive (Jainism)

sacred-texts.com/jai

A repository of Jain scriptures.

The Wabash Center

wabashcenter.wabash.edu/resources

The Wabash Center, a trusted resource for all aspects of the academic study of religion, offers links to a wide variety of dependable internet resources on Jainism.

JAINA: Federation of Jain Associations of North America

jaina.org

The JAINA website is especially useful for studies of Jainism in North America.

The Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale (Jainism Introduction)

fore.yale.edu/publications/books/cswr/Jainism-introduction

This site presents Christopher Key Chapple’s “Introduction” to the book Jainism and Ecology, the Appendix to this book is L. M. Singhvi’s “The Jain Declaration on Nature,” the concluding passage from which is cited in this chapter’s “Jains Beyond India” feature. The site also presents Chapple’s excellent overview article on Jain environmentalism and provides easy access to the Forum’s richly informative homepage of the Forum on Religion and Ecology.

Click here for web links to sacred texts.

LIST OF KEY TERMS

ahimsa ai iva dana Diqambara jinas jiva karma kevala loka Shvetambara tirthankaras