ABC Of Jainism

Here is a comprehensive summary of the Jain text "ABC of Jainism" by S.L. Jain, based on the provided pages:

Overall Purpose:

"ABC of Jainism" is a compilation aimed at providing an accessible and practical understanding of Jainism, particularly for English-medium students. It breaks down core Jain concepts into easily digestible questions and answers, drawing from the teachings of Munishri Kshamasagar. The book emphasizes Jainism as a religion of purity, peace, and rational solutions for life's problems, offering guidance for self-improvement and enlightenment.

Key Concepts Covered:

1. Namokar Mantra (Chapter 1):

   • This is presented as a prayer of virtues, a worship of the "Panch Parmesthi" (Arihant, Siddha, Acharya, Upadhyaya, Sadhu).
   • The purpose of recitation is to internalize and strive for the virtues of these revered beings.
   • Arihantas: Perfect souls with bodies, possessing infinite knowledge, perception, bliss, and power. They are "Jinas" (conquerors).
   • Siddhas: Perfect, bodiless souls, free from all karmic bonds. They are spiritually higher but Arihantas are prayed to first as they preach.
   • Acharya: The head monk of a monastic community.
   • Upadhyaya: A teacher monk.
   • Sadhu: A monk devoted to self-enlightenment and possession-less.
   • The mantra is seen as a unique prayer that leads to purity and peace.

2. Tirthankaras (Chapter 2):

   • These are individuals with the special capability to preach the path of salvation.
   • They don't create a new religious order but re-establish the eternal path.
   • Attaining Tirthankarship is a result of continuous right-faith and contemplation for the welfare of all in past lives.
   • Their lives are marked by five significant celebrations ("Panch Kalayanka"): Conception, Birth, Monkhood, Perfect Knowledge, and Salvation.
   • They preach in a "Samavasaran" (a pavilion) where everyone has equal access to their sermons on the nature of the soul, universal love, compassion, and harmony.
   • Tirthankar idols are identified by their unique emblems, determined by a mark on the thumb of their right foot.

3. Path of Purity and Peace (Chapter 3):

   • This path is defined by the triad of Right Faith, Right Knowledge, and Right Conduct.
   • Right Faith: Believing in the true nature of the Seven Realities:
     1. Jiva (Soul): Living being.
     2. Ajiva (Non-Soul): Non-living substance.
     3. Ashrava: Inflow of karmic matter into the soul.
     4. Bandh: Bondage of karmic matter with the soul.
     5. Samvara: Stoppage of karmic inflow.
     6. Nirjara: Gradual removal of karmic matter.
     7. Moksha: Attainment of perfect freedom.
   • Right Knowledge: Knowing the real nature of one's soul, free from doubt, perversity, and indefiniteness. It reveals things as they are. While faith and knowledge occur together, faith is the cause and knowledge the effect.
   • Right Conduct: Firmly engrossed in the soul's true nature, involving withdrawal from immoral and adoption of moral conduct. It aims to restrain mind, speech, and body, weaken passions, and lead to purity. This is practiced partially by householders and completely by monks.

4. Jaina Concept of Karma (Chapter 4):

   • Karma means action or deed. It's categorized into Bhava Karma (thoughts/emotions), Dravya Karma (subtle material particles), and No Karma (the physical body through which the soul experiences karma).
   • The law of karma is not fatalism but a moral law of causation where the soul is responsible for its destiny.
   • Auspicious and inauspicious activities cause vibrations in the soul, attracting surrounding matter particles (Dravya Karma) that assimilate with the soul.
   • These karmas obscure the soul's innate qualities and produce conditions, leading to the cycle of assimilation and fruition.
   • Mundane souls have existed eternally with karmas; Jainism teaches to stop influx and remove them.
   • Eight Main Types of Karmas: Knowledge Obscuring, Perception Obscuring, Feeling, Deluding, Age, Body Making, Family Determining, and Obstructive.
   • Conquering Karmas: Achieved through one's own efforts, by following the path of Right Faith, Knowledge, and Conduct, remaining peaceful during karma fruition, avoiding new karmic bondage, and dissociating existing bonds.
   • Understanding karma provides a rational explanation for life phenomena and helps in achieving equanimity, contentment, and a better future.

5. Jaina Ethical Code (Chapter 5):

   • Based on the five vows: Ahinsa (Non-violence), Satya (Truth), Achourya (Non-theft), Brahmacharya (Chastity), and Aparigrah (Non-possession/Contentment).
   • These are practiced partially by householders and completely by monks.
   • Ahinsa: Involves compassion in thought, word, and deed, avoiding killing or harming, and abstaining from vices.
   • Satya: Speaking pleasant and truthful words, with good intentions, avoiding harshness, falsehood, gossip, and breach of trust.
   • Achourya: Not taking what is not given or doesn't belong to oneself, including accepting stolen goods, smuggling, and adulteration. It also extends to respecting family members' property.
   • Brahmacharya: Chastity and purity of relations, treating others with respect according to their age and relationship.
   • Aparigrah: Contentment, avoiding greed, jealousy, and unnecessary accumulation. Excess wealth should be used for charity.
   • Householder's Code: Includes daily worship, study, self-control, austerities, charity, and adherence to specific abstinences (alcohol, non-veg, honey, eating after sunset, specific fruits) and principles like compassion, filtered water, and reverence for the supreme souls. They also observe the five vows.
   • Monk's Code: Involves complete freedom from objective and subjective violence, truthfulness, not accepting anything unoffered, complete chastity, engrossment in the soul's nature, freedom from possessions, careful movement, controlled speech, accepting meals with humility, careful handling of religious implements, meticulous sanitation, detachment from senses, meditation, prayer, renunciation, self-introspection, and giving up attachment to the body. They follow specific practices like pulling hair, eating once a day from palms, and performing penance.
   • The ethical code has significant social value, promoting order and equality through wealth distribution.

6. Jaina Concept of God and Universe (Chapter 6):

   • God: All liberated souls are considered God, possessing complete knowledge of the universe. However, God does not design or operate the universe; Jainism rejects the concept of a creator God.
   • Universe: Has no beginning or end. It comprises two types of substances: living (Jiva) and non-living (Ajiva). Both have always existed and will continue to exist.
   • Living Beings: Sentient, with perception and knowledge. They are worldly (with bodies, senses, undergoing birth/death, feeling pleasure/pain) or liberated (pure souls, free from worldly impurities).
   • Non-living Substances: Non-sentient, including:
     1. Matter: Possessing color, taste, smell, touch.
     2. Medium of Motion: Immaterial, aiding movement.
     3. Medium of Rest: Immaterial, aiding stillness.
     4. Space: Immaterial, accommodating all substances.
     5. Time: Immaterial, maintaining and measuring changes.
   • Explanation of Activities: Changes in the universe are due to the inherent nature of substances. Substances transform but retain their fundamental category (matter remains matter, soul remains soul). Change requires a substance to have the inherent capacity for that specific change, akin to energy transformations.

7. Method of Expression in Jainism (Chapter 7):

   • Emphasizes Anekant (Many-sidedness) and Svadvad (Relative Description) as effective methods.
   • Anekant: The principle that each entity has multiple attributes. Reality is multifaceted.
   • Svadvad: The process of describing an entity from a particular viewpoint ("Syad" meaning "from a point of view"). It acknowledges that no single description can capture the entirety of a thing and allows for the acceptance of other valid viewpoints.
   • These methods are crucial for resolving conflicts by promoting understanding, coordination, harmonization, and synthesis of differing individual perspectives, fostering patience and mutual appreciation.

8. Jaina Concept of Meditation (Chapter 8):

   • Meditation is the concentration of the mind on a particular object.
   • Immoral Concentration: Focus on mundane objects, leading to worry (evil concentration) or indulgence in harmful thoughts/activities (wicked concentration).
   • Moral/Religious Meditation: Involves equanimity, reflection on the nature of the world, body, pleasures, and virtues of the Panch Parmesthi, often through Namokar Mantra recitation.
   • Twelve Types of Repeated Reflections (Anupreksha): These are key practices for spiritual refinement, leading to qualitative changes in consciousness, behavior, and thought processes. They include reflections on:
     1. Anitya: Transitoriness of worldly things.
     2. Asharam: The helplessness against death.
     3. Sansar: The cycle of rebirth and suffering.
     4. Aekatva: Aloneness in birth, death, and experiencing karma.
     5. Anyatva: The soul's separation from the body and other substances.
     6. Ashuchitva: The impurity of the body.
     7. Ashrava: The devastating inflow of karmas due to attachment, aversion, delusion.
     8. Samvara: The good aspects of stopping karmic inflow.
     9. Nirjara: The dissociation of karmas (through penance - Avipak Nirjara - being the more effective for liberation).
     10. Lok: The nature of the universe and its six substances.
     11. Bodhi-Durlav: The rarity of attaining omniscience.
     12. Dharm: The combined value of Right Faith, Knowledge, Conduct, and Penance for spiritual bliss.

9. Tirthankar Rishavdeva and Mahavir (Chapter 9):

   • Introduces Rishavdeva (the first Tirthankar) and Mahavir (the last Tirthankar).
   • Rishavdeva: Born in Ayodhya to King Nabhiraya and Marudevi. Taught agriculture, trade, arts, sciences, and technology, earning the title "Prajapati." Attained salvation from Mount Kailash. India is known as "Bharat Varsh" after his son Bharat. His son Bahubali's statue is the world-famous Gomateshwar Bahubali. Historical evidence suggests Jainism existed long before Mahavir and Parshvanath, with mentions in the Yajurveda and Bhagavata Purana.
   • Bhagwan Mahavir: Born in Kundgram to King Siddharth and Trishla. He was unmarried, renounced his princely life for penance, attained self-knowledge, preached for welfare, and attained salvation at Pavapuri, celebrated as Dipavali.

10. Bhagwan Mahavir (Chapter 10):

    • Details Bhagwan Mahavir's life, birth name Vardhman, parents, and birth on Chaitra Shukla 13th.
    • Highlights his inherent compassion, intelligence (illustrated by the story of his parents' relative directions), generosity, piety, and bravery.
    • Explains his various names: Sanmati (due to his pious feelings and intelligence), Veer (for conquering a mad elephant with affection), and Mahavir (for his fearlessness, exemplified by playing with a snake).
    • Discusses his renunciation, becoming a Digambar monk, and his twelve years of intense penance, which purified his soul. He attained omniscience and became an Arihant.
    • His preaching attracted all beings, including animals, who understood the language of love and compassion.
    • He preached for thirty years and attained salvation on Kartik Krishna 15th (Amavasya) at Pawapur, celebrated as Dipavali with worship and lamps.
    • The chapter encourages readers to draw inspiration from his life.

11. My Musing - Meri Bhavana (Chapter 11):

    • This chapter is a personal prayer and aspiration, reflecting a deep commitment to Jain principles.
    • It expresses reverence for an omniscient, liberated God (regardless of name), who has conquered passions and preaches for universal welfare.
    • It prays for company of knowledgeable, detached monks and to emulate their conduct.
    • Key wishes include: non-covetousness, satisfaction, avoiding pride, anger, and jealousy; living simply and truthfully; serving others; maintaining friendly feelings towards all; having compassion for the poor and needy; extending equanimity and forgiveness to the cruel or misguided; generating affectionate feelings for the virtuous; being grateful; not seeking revenge; aspiring for virtues and not focusing on others' faults.
    • It expresses a desire to remain on the true path despite praise, criticism, material gain/loss, or threats.
    • It wishes for inner strength to remain stable through difficulties, calmly bearing the loss of loved ones or undesirable company.
    • The prayer extends to a universal wish for the happiness and peace of all living beings, free from enmity, sin, and pride, with a spread of non-violence and virtuous conduct.
    • It further hopes for timely rains, righteous rule, absence of disease and famine, and the global dissemination of non-violence.
    • Finally, it wishes for increased affectionate feelings, reduced sexual desire, pleasant speech, collective effort for national upliftment, and the equanimity to face calamities by recognizing the pure nature of the soul.
    • The chapter concludes with biographical details of the author, S.L. Jain.

In essence, "ABC of Jainism" serves as a foundational text, guiding readers through the fundamental principles of Jainism in a clear and accessible manner, promoting ethical conduct, spiritual development, and universal compassion.