Jainism in the 21st Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Jainism in the 21st Century - Essay Example The ethical content of such principles is obvious: not calling for religious intolerance, which is generally not typical for Indian religions, Jainism, however, strongly demands from all his followers to be ready for true behavior and true deeds at least on the assumption that this is necessary at first, until a person is just unable to perceive true knowledge that can explain him or her what is what. Thus, being a member of Jain community means to sacrifice particular civilization notions of modern life, such as wearing clothes, eating meat and even numerous root crops, and so on. Jains strictly adhere to vegetarianism, but even in such a case they show their regret for eating fruits, vegetables and nuts, which in their opinion have a living soul as well. So every day Jains do penance for their sins and try to do wrong as little as it possible through eating of only unable to feel living creatures. As a result, Jains’ way of life is marked by austere policy and solicitous att itude to everything from animate and inanimate nature, due to their key belief of cyclical reincarnations. Consequently, without explaining how it happens and why, Jains argue that every jiva or a living soul is constantly connected with ajiva or a non-living matter by the means of karma, immaterial insensible substance, that supports the communication of the living with the nonliving (Shah, 2015). So, the salvation is the process of separation of the soul from the matter, the liberation of the living from the inanimate.