About Jainism and Lord Mahavir:
Jain religion recognizes the fundamental natural phenomenon of
Symbiosis or mutual dependence, which forms the basis of the
modern day science of ecology.
Life is viewed as a gift of togetherness, accommodation, and
assistance in a universe teeming with interdependent constituents.
Lord Mahavir was the twenty-fourth and the last Tirthankara of the
Jain religion. According to Jain philosophy, all Tirthankaras were
born as human beings but they have attained a state of perfection
or enlightenment through meditation and self realization. They are
the Gods. Tirthankaras are also known as Arihants or Jinas.(One
who conquers his inner enemies like anger, greed, passion, ego,
etc.)
The followers of Jina are known as Jains.
Mahavir was born in 599 B.C. as a prince in Bihar , India . At the
age of 30, he left his family and royal household, gave up his
worldly possessions, including clothing and become a monk.
He spent the next twelve years in deep silence and meditation to
conquer his desires and feelings. He went without food for long
periods. He carefully avoided harming or annoying other living
beings including animals, birds, and plants.
His ways of meditation, days of austerities, and mode of behavior
furnish a beautiful example for monks and nuns in religious life. His
spiritual pursuit lasted for twelve years.
At the end he realized perfect perception, knowledge, power, and
bliss. This realization is known as keval-jnana.
He spent the next thirty years traveling on bare feet around India
preaching to the people the eternal truth he realized. He attracted
people from all walks of life, rich and poor, kings and commoners,
men and women, princes and priests, touchables and untouchables.
He organized his followers, into a four fold order, namely
* monk (Sadhu)
* nun (Sadhvi)
* layman (Shravak)
* and laywoman (Shravika)
Later on they are known as Jains.
The ultimate objective of his teaching is how one can attain the total
freedom from the cycle of birth, life, pain, misery, and death, and
achieve the permanent blissful state of one's self. This is also
known as liberation, nirvana, absolute freedom, or Moksha.
He explained that from eternity, every living being (soul) is in
bondage of karmic atoms that are accumulated by its own good or
bad deeds. Under the influence of karma, the soul is habituated to
seek pleasures in materialistic belongings and possessions. Which
are the deep rooted causes of self-centered violent thoughts,
deeds, anger, hatred, greed, and such other vices. These result in
accumulating more karma.
He preached that right faith (samyak-darshana), right knowledge
(samyak-jnana), and right conduct (samyak-charitra) together will
help attain the liberation of one's self.
At the heart of right conduct for Jains lie the five great vows:
* Nonviolence (Ahimsa) not to cause harm to any living beings
* Truthfulness (Satya) to speak the harmless truth only
* Non-stealing (Asteya)not to take anything not properly given
* Chastity (Brahmacharya) not to indulge in sensual pleasure
* Non-possession/Non-attachment (Aparigraha) complete
detachment from people, places, and material things.
Jains hold these vows at the center of their lives. The monks and
nuns follow these vows strictly and totally, while the common
people try to follow the vows as far as their life styles will permit.
At the age of 72 (527 B.C.), Lord Mahavir died and his purified soul
left the body and achieved complete liberation. He became a
Siddha, a pure consciousness, a liberated soul, living for ever in a
state of complete bliss. On the night of his salvation, people
celebrated the Festival of Lights (Dipavali) in his honor.
Significant points of the life and teachings of Lord Mahavir.
The spiritual power and moral grandeur of Mahavir's teachings
impressed the masses. He made religion simple and natural, free
from elaborate ritual complexities. His teachings reflected the
popular impulse towards internal beauty and harmony of the soul.
His message of nonviolence (Ahimsa), truth (Satya), non-stealing
(Achaurya), celibacy (Brahma-charya), and non-possession
(Aparigraha) is full of universal compassion. He said that,
"A living body is not merely an integration of limbs and flesh but it is
the abode of the soul which potentially has perfect
perception(Anant-darshana), perfect knowledge (Anant-jnana),
perfect power (Anant-virya), and perfect bliss (Anant-sukha)."
Mahavir's message reflects freedom and spiritual joy of the living
being.
Lord Mahavir also preached the gospel of universal love,
emphasizing that all living beings, irrespective of their size, shape,
and form how spiritually developed or under-developed, are equal
and we should love and respect them.
Jainism existed before Mahavir, and his teachings were based on
those of his predecessors. Thus, unlike Buddha, Mahavir was more
of a reformer and propagator of an existing religious order than the
founder of a new faith. He followed the well established creed of his
predecessor Tirthankara Parshvanath. However, Mahavir did
reorganize the philosophical tenets of Jainism to correspond to his
times. Lord Mahavir preached five great vows while Lord Parshva
preached four great vows.
In the matters of spiritual advancement, as envisioned by Mahavir,
both men and women are on an equal footing. The lure of
renunciation and liberation attracted women as well. Many women
followed Mahavir's path and renounced the world in search of
ultimate happiness.
In a few centuries after Mahavir's nirvana, Jain religious order
(Sangha) grew more and more complex. There were schisms on
some minor points although they did not affect the original doctrines
as preached by the Tirthankars. Later generations saw the
introduction of ritualistic complexities which almost placed Mahavir
and other Tirthankars on the throne of Hindu deities.
Idol Worship
The idols of twenty-four Tirthankaras in the temple are the same
because they represent the quality and virtues of Tirthankaras not
the physical body. However, at the bottom of each idol a unique
symbol is placed to differentiate them. Lord Mahavir's idol is
recognized by the symbol of a lion.
Prayer of Jain religion:
Every day Jains bow their heads and say their universal prayer, the
Navkar-mantra. All good work and events start with this prayer of
salutation and worship.
Namaskar Mantra
* Namo Arihantanam: - I bow to the arithantas - the ever-perfect
spiritual victors
* Namo Siddhanam: - I bow to the siddhas - the liberated souls
* Namo Ayariyanam: - I bow to acharyas - the leaders of the jain
order
* Namo Uvajjayanam: - I bow to upadhyayas - the learned
preceptors
* Namo Loe Savva Sahunam: - I bow to all saints and sages
everywhere in the world
* Eso Panch Namukkaro: - These five obeisances
* Savva PavapPanasano: - Erase all Sins
* Mangalancha Savvesin : - Amongst all that is auspicious
* Padhamam Havai Mangalam: - This is the foremost
In the above prayer, Jains do not ask for any favors or material
benefits from their Gods, the Tirthankaras or from monks and nuns.
They do not pray to a specific Tirthankara or monk by name. By
saluting them, Jains receive the inspiration from the five benevolent
for the right path of true happiness and total freedom from the
misery of life.