Jainism Explained

today's video is sponsored by nordvpn more on that later jainism some call it the world's most peaceful religion its monks are famous worldwide for their strict adherence to non-violence going as far as to sweep the floor as they walk in order to avoid stepping on life forms covering their mouths as to not swallow or breathe hot air on living creatures and following a strict vegetarian diet that not only bans all meat fish and eggs but also potatoes so what is jainism why is it considered the world's most peaceful religion and why is this monk butt naked well let's find out [Music] so this is the official symbol of jainism yes that is a swastika we'll get to that eventually adopted in the 1970s it represents the main beliefs of jainism i'm not going to explain what it means right now rather we'll fill this symbol in as we go along a jain is someone who accepts the teachings of the tirthankaras jainism comes from the word jina the sanskrit word gina means spiritual victor while tirthankara means maker of a fort now a different different kind of ford entirely thank you the tankers are the most important people in jainism they have removed all of their attachments to the world and during their lifetimes have managed to break free from the cycle of rebirth and death that jains believe keep souls trapped on earth they then built a metaphorical fort across the river of rebirth so that others can follow them to liberation in non-jain histories a guy called mahavira tends to get labeled as the founder of jainism in the same way that jesus does in christianity for jains though mahavira who predated the buddha by a few decades is just worn in a long line of 24 tartankaras well technically there have actually been an infinite number of tatankaras but we just we just don't have time for that jains believe that they all preach the same eternal truths anyway buddhism hinduism and jainism all grew up together in ancient india the world that these three religious bodies evolved in during the sixth and fifth centuries vce was dominated by two ideas the first of these is samsara when we die our souls move to a new body and we are trapped in an endless cycle of death and rebirth which is like super not fun the second idea was karma that actions good or bad affect your future reverts right so jainism is quite complicated and the best way for us to understand it is to break it down into its eight core ideas number one the three jewels the tartankaras preached at the path of freeing your soul was the three jewels those three jewels are right faith right faith is accepting the seven truths or tatwas of jainism oh a list inside of another list how exciting number one is jiva that all living things have an immortal perfect soul number two is ajiva non-living things have no soul number three is azhrava doing actions drags karma to your soul four is bandha which is karma can stick to your soul number five is samvada you can stop the influx of karma number six is nirhara you can separate camera from your soul and number 7 is moksha separating karma from your soul frees it from the cycle of rebirth and death the second jewel is right knowledge right faith is believing those seven truths right knowledge is truly understanding them you can do this by listening to j monks and reading jain scriptures and the last jewel is right behavior right behavior is using your faith and your knowledge to live a life that is good and does not harm others you can do this by following the five great vows of jainism the mahavaratas i know another list inside of a list yeah jane's like lists like a lot the mahavaratas are number one ahimsa non-violence number two satya always being truthful number three astaya not stealing number four is brahmacarya being faithful to your partner or being totally celibate number five is aparigraha not being weighed down by possessions or unnecessary attachments to people places or things these three jewels are seen as the only path to moksha freeing your soul they are so important that they were incorporated into the official jain symbol as those three dots there ahimsa is by far the most important of these vowels and is strictly followed by all jains so let's take a look at that number two ahimsa some jain temples have an inscription above their doors usually in sanskrit but sometimes in english that reads non-violence is the highest religion jains believe that if you want to achieve moksha then you need to stop harming other life-forms jains believe that every living thing has a soul and can therefore feel pain and suffering animal and even human rights are a fairly recent concept but jains have granted something similar to all life even microbes for thousands of years ahimsa is the hand in the middle of the jain symbol and the text there at the bottom reads all life is bound together by mutual support and interdependence number three anacantavala life is complicated in order to understand it a little better james came up with a many pointed doctrine known as ana cantervala no single viewpoint can be the only truth instead the full truth must be built out of a bunch of different viewpoints there is a famous story in jainism that helps get this point across five blind men go to an elephant and each touch one part and attempt to describe what the creature looks like the guy at the trunk says this thing must be as thick as a tree trunk while the guy at the tail says no actually it's probably more like a rope the guy the belly claims it's a wall clearly the other guy at the leg disagrees saying it's a pillar and the last guy grabbing the ears thinks they're all fools because it's clearly a fan the story then goes on to say that a nearby wise old man told them that they were all right but only partially and that all their points together could describe the whole elephant that wise old man albert einstein after explaining the elephant to the blind men the wise old man bestowed more knowledge upon them he said to never miss a cogito video make sure to click the subscribe button and ring the notification bell and the blind men nodded for they knew that this was great wisdom some modern jains often see anakin davala as a part of ahimsa as tolerance of other worldviews especially when it comes to other religions number four samsara and moksha samsara the endless cycle of death and rebirth for jane's rebirth is not a good thing even a good rebirth as say a prince or a potato is sad because no matter how good your life is all happiness is temporary because it all ends in death yet it's a bummer and there's only one cure for this moksha if you achieve moksha then your soul will escape the cycle and go on to live at the top of the universe in infinite bliss this can only be done by completely removing karma from your soul number five karma the term karma means action but this action has consequences jains believe that your karma affects how you will be reborn in your next life but good or bad karma is irrelevant to jane's because it's the fact that karma keeps rebirth going that they see is the main problem jains have a rather unique view of karma they see it as a physical substance jains believe that karma is kind of like atoms that cover the entire universe when you do any action it attracts these good or bad karma atoms to your soul then later in life or possibly in another life they release their good or bad effects once they've done that they fall off your soul passions such as hate anger greed or lust will act as a glue that makes even more atoms stick to you and so will make the consequences even more powerful imagine your soul as a cloth and karma as a dust passionate actions make the cloth wet and so the dust sticks to it easier karma is what keeps you stuck in the samsara cycle karma physically binds your soul to this earth but wait there's more you can escape this by burning away all the karma attached to your soul the best way to do this is by becoming a jain monk or nun six monks and nuns the jain monk and nun life is based around the five mahavratas the great vows that we saw earlier the first of the mahavaratas is ahimsa for regular jains ahimsa means trying to avoid having other forms of life for a monk or a nun though this is turned up to 11 and includes even microscopic life along with being strict vegetarians they can't eat raw food eat at night or eat any food that they haven't thoroughly inspected in case they accidentally consume other life forms they can't cook so they have to go around to jain households daily and beg for food it is considered a very holy act for those regular jains to donate food to them they also carry small brooms to brush away tiny life forms in their way so they don't crush them they cannot ride in vehicles because of the damage they cause and they can't bathe because of the harm it could potentially do to waterborne life some j monks even wear mouth guards to avoid inhaling airborne life or harming it with a hot breath the second maharata is not a lie and the third is not a steal those two are kind of simple i hope even non-chains are sticking to those ones the fourth mahavarata is the complete renunciation of sexual relations because how do i say this strict jains believe that people pollen contains vast numbers of living things most of which will die soon after the act is complete they also believe that having a romantic relationship is a form of attachment kind of like the night's watch i probably should have just said that can can we delete the people pollen part the fifth and final maharata is that of non-possession jain monks and nuns carry nothing but a few necessary items like their brooms and move every day in order to avoid attachment to one place for jane's this is the best possible life because of how non-violent it is it is the best way to achieve maksha and regular jains hold the monks and nuns in very high regard due to the monks and nuns dependence on the jain community the relationship between the two was extremely close and personal interestingly enough the earliest nuns in history are probably found in jainism they can be traced back to the times of mahavira and jainism is quite unique in the fact that nuns outnumber monks by a huge margin number seven regular jains the vast majority of genes are not monks or nuns many accept that their time to be a monk or a nun will come in a future life they follow the five small vowels the anu verratta which is like a diet version of the five great vows these aren't strict rules regular jains should try to avoid violence and violent jobs they shouldn't lie they shouldn't steal or cheat people in business they shouldn't be too frisky and should remain loyal to their husband or wife and should do their best to unburden themselves of their wealth ideally through charity jains are an extremely charitable community but rather than their cash donations going to monks or nuns they are spent on temples health clinics schools libraries or animal shelters regular jains also practice strict vegetarianism eggs are counted as meat they don't harm any insects so honey is out as well anything fermented is considered to have life forms in it so alcohol is also at the window root vegetables like potatoes onions and garlic literally my entire diet are cancelled because you need to rip the entire plant out of the ground to eat them thus causing destruction due to these vows jains have gravitated towards careers in things such as business and law and today jains are amongst the wealthiest and most educated groups in india number eight loka the jain universe or loka is made up of three parts the wide top part is the heavenly realm the waist is the earth the wide bottom part is hell at the tippy tippy top of the universe is the siddha loka where the souls of those that have achieved moksha go and enjoy infinite bliss that's where all the tartankaras are chilling oh it's looking out we've got more of a jane symbol thingy filled in jane hell is a very dante's inferno there are seven layers the deeper you go the worse it gets you stay in hell until all of your bad karma is burned away and you get to be reborn on earth again now hell in jainism isn't really a punishment like it is in other religions rather it's seen as a natural consequence of bad karma the zone above the waist is the realm of the gods this realm is like super fun there's no suffering everyone is happy there's unlimited refills probably a trampoline the people that are reborn here are the ones with really good karma but just like in hell this isn't really a reward you were born here due to the natural laws of karma and even the gods eventually die and karma still binds their souls in samsara so even the gods will eventually be reborn on earth and will need to try and achieve moksha this is why some jains say that bad karma is a chain of iron and good karma is a chain of gold but both are chains all souls can be reborn in the loka as any of four types plant or animal human hell being or god which is what the swastika in the jain symbol represents each of the four potential rebirths would you look at that looks like we just filled in the whole symbol the swastika also represents the cycle of death and rebirth all jain temples and holy books must contain the swastika it is an ancient and beloved symbol in india for many different religions the nazis kind of made things a bit awkward in that regard every living thing from a grape to a god has the ability to be reborn as a human and achieve moksha so those are the eight main concepts of jainism but it does leave us with some questions you may be wondering is there a jain god what do they pray to what's the dealio mr video man well the jain concept of god is very unique they don't believe in a creator of the universe instead they believe it has simply always have been here the liberated souls at the top of the loka are beyond all wants and desires so they see no reason to interfere on earth jains worship them in order to be more liked them rather than to ask them to help out in life now some jains worship the gods in the upper heavenly realms and since jains are surrounded by hindus they tend to worship the same gods as them but in the jain worldview those gods in heaven are imperfect and are still trapped in samsara just like them what about the different religious sects does jainism have those of course just like every other religion the two main sects are the de gambera and the svetenbaras now you may be thinking to yourself right now what boring theological reason could there be for this split is it an argument about how to make holy bread or who should have been the main religious guy after another guy nope this one's about naked dudes the main theological divide between the digambara and the svetenbaras is whether or not monks should wear clothes the digambaras the skyclad claim that in order to be completely non-attached to the world monks should also renounce clothing this had the consequence of saying that women could not achieve moksha because they couldn't be naked in public which was kind of just assumed the swedenbaras the white clad disagree and argue that a person can be unattached to clothes mentally but still wear them so women can achieve moksha just like men there are a few more differences between them such as with chain scriptures they accept but the main one is the clothing jains have been highly influential in india for thousands of years shaping its vegetarian friendly diet and lending the concept of ahimsa to gandhi's independence movement as knowledge of the jains becomes more common outside of india it confronts many people with difficult concepts people tend to assume that the world exists for human consumption to fulfill human desires but for jains the world is something to give up where humans are not dominant over other life forms but part of an intricate web where animals and plants are more than just things to consume in the last century jainism has found itself in a strange position their ancient philosophy has garnered the eye of the modern world as the ideas of non-violence strict vegetarianism and what could be called an environmentalist outlook are strikingly relevant in a world coming to terms with the fact that it may be consuming itself karma particles track you in real life and have severe consequences so don't let anyone track you online especially when you can protect yourself using nordvpn who have kindly sponsored today's video nordvpn protects you while you're online it hides your location encrypts your data and lets you surf anonymously it allows you to connect up to six devices with just one account so whether you're browsing on your computer at home or on the wi-fi your local coffee shop your data will be safe with nordvpn and if something isn't available in your country then guess what congratulations you're korean now or italian or brazilian it's fast it's easy to use and it keeps you protected and you can go to nordvpn.org cogito and use the code cogito to get 75 percent off a three-year plan by going to nordvpn.org cogito and using the code cogido checkout not only help support the channel but they'll also give you an extra month free so thank you so much to nordvpn for sponsoring this video so those are the basics of jainism it isn't even close to covering everything when videos simply can't do it religions are just too diverse too deep and mean too many different things to different people but learning even the basics of anything that millions of people deeply care about gives us an insight into our fellow humans worldview and i hope you enjoyed it you can find all the sources used in the description if you like this content please subscribe if you're interested in supporting the channel there are links to the t-shirt store and patreon also in the description i'd like to thank my current patrons who make the continuation of these videos possible and thank you so much for watching you

Channel: Cogito

Views: 1,406,178

Keywords: jainism, what is jainism, what is jainism religion, what is a jainism, jainism religion, what is the jain religion, world history, what is jainism and buddhism, who are jains, jainism explained, what is jainism explained, jainism and hinduism, jainism founder, who is the founder of jainism, religions in global history, jain religion, what is buddhism, what is hinduism, jain, jainism documentary, what is a jain monk, what is a jain nun, difference between jainism and hinduism

Id: KkwmYlgkOhU

Length: 18min 46sec (1126 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 31 2019