Spiritual Discipline And Practices In Jainism - Book Summary

Here's a comprehensive summary of the provided Jain text, "Spiritual Discipline and Practices in Jainism" by Bhagchandra Jain:

The book "Spiritual Discipline and Practices in Jainism" by Dr. Bhagchand Jain explores the core concepts of spirituality, religion, and philosophy within Jainism, detailing the rigorous practices and disciplines undertaken by adherents to achieve spiritual liberation.

1. The Nature of Spirituality, Religion, and Philosophy: Spirituality is defined as the essence of the self, characterized by right knowledge and conduct in relation to the universe. It is an inward pursuit requiring purity of spirit, intuition, and mysticism. Religion (dharma) is seen as a binding force that guides individuals toward ultimate truth and societal upliftment, emphasizing traditional values and universal truths. Philosophy provides the intellectual framework and moral values to ponder religious and social issues, with spiritual salvation as the ultimate goal. Jainism integrates these three, offering ideals for spirituality, discipline for social upliftment, and philosophical justification for exemplary behavior.

2. Conception of Spirit and Other Categories: Jainism posits the existence of the soul (Atma) as the central point of spiritual pursuit. The soul is described as having consciousness, memory, and desires, distinct from non-soul substances like matter, motion, space, and time. The interaction between soul and non-soul leads to the origin of the universe. The soul is formless, an agent and enjoyer of karmas, and exists in a corporal form. Its cognitive operations are determinate and indeterminate, with the ultimate state being the simultaneous knowing and perceiving of all things.

3. The Soul and Bondage: Souls are categorized as worldly or emancipated. Worldly souls attract karmic matter due to false notions, negligence, and passions, becoming obscured. This intermingling of soul and karma, known as bondage, causes the cycle of birth and rebirth. The true nature of the soul is hidden by evil karmas, which spiritual disciplines aim to remove.

4. Path to Spiritual Salvation: The ultimate goal is spiritual happiness and peace. This is achieved by destroying karmic matter through practices that lead to the cessation of karmic inflow (Samvara) and the dissociation of existing karmas (Nirjara). The complete destruction of karmas results in spiritual salvation, a state of permanent happiness.

5. The Triple Jewel (Ratnatraya): Jainism emphasizes the "Triple Jewel" – Right Faith (Samyagdarsana), Right Knowledge (Samyagjnana), and Right Conduct (Samyagcaritra) – as the path to spiritual salvation.

Right Faith (Samyagdarsana): This is belief in the true character of things. It can be attained through intuition or knowledge and is characterized by serenity, fearlessness, compassion, and devotion. It requires avoiding doubts, desires, disgust, and admiration for wrong beliefs, as well as 25 specific faults.
Right Knowledge (Samyagjnana): This involves understanding substances as they truly are.
Right Conduct (Samyagcaritra): This is the cessation of activities that lead to transmigration, essentially the removal of the causes of rebirth. It involves controlling passions like anger, pride, deceit, and greed.

6. Spiritual Disciplines and Practices: Jainism prescribes disciplines and practices that can be observed partially by householders and totally by ascetics.

For Householders (Sravakas):
- Eight Basic Restraints (Mulagunas): These include abstaining from meat, alcohol, honey, and five types of figs, as well as refraining from injury, falsehood, stealing, unchastity, and excessive possession.
- Seven Obnoxious Habits (Vyasana): These are gambling, meat-eating, alcoholic drinks, prostitution, hunting, stealing, and illicit sexual intercourse.
- Eighteen Minor Restraints (Uttaragunas): These are further disciplines to refine conduct.
- Six Daily Observances (Avasyakas): These include worship of Tirthankaras (Jinapuja), service to spiritual teachers (Guruseva), study of scriptures (svadhyaya), self-restraint (samyama), penance (tapa), and charity (dana).
- Eleven Spiritual Stages (Pratimas): These represent a progressive spiritual journey for householders, moving from basic faith to near-asceticism. Key stages include observing the twelve vows (anuvratas, gunavratas, siksavratas), which include non-violence (Ahimsa) as the paramount principle.
For Ascetics (Bhiksus/Munis):
- Ascetics observe all the vows of householders in their entirety.
- They practice absolute renunciation, controlling their body, speech, and mind with extreme vigilance.
- They endure 22 types of afflictions (parisahas) without complaint.
- Their conduct is guided by five cardinal principles: control (gupti), regulation (samiti), moral virtues (dharma), contemplation (anupreksa), and conquest of afflictions (parisahajaya).
- They observe 28 mulagunas, including the five Mahavratas (great vows), five samitis (regulations), conquest of five senses, six avasyakas, hair-plucking (Kesaluncana), nudity (acelakata), and eating once a day.
- Penance (Tapa): Ascetics engage in both external (bahyatapa) and internal (abhyantara tapa) austerities to purify the soul and sever karmic ties.

7. Meditation (Dhyana): Meditation is crucial for spiritual progress. Jainism describes two types of auspicious meditation:

Dharmadhyana: Contemplation on objects of revelation, misfortune, karmic consequences, and the universe.
Sukladhyana: Pure meditation, which leads to the attainment of transcendental powers and eventually omniscience and liberation.

8. Spiritual Death (Sallekhana): Sallekhana, or voluntary spiritual death, is a practice undertaken by those nearing the end of life, especially when physical and spiritual duties become impossible. It involves gradually reducing diet and shedding worldly attachments with equanimity and pleasure, not out of despair or force. It is distinguished from suicide as it is performed without passion.

9. Spiritual Stages (Gunasthanas): Jainism outlines a fourteen-stage path of spiritual development (Gunasthanas), detailing the soul's progress from ignorance and attachment to omniscience and liberation. These stages chart the gradual purification of the soul through the minimization of karmas and the strengthening of right faith, knowledge, and conduct.

10. Moksa (Liberation): Moksa is the ultimate state of liberation, achieved through the complete annihilation of all karmas. The liberated soul ascends to the top of the universe, residing in a state of infinite knowledge, perception, bliss, and freedom from suffering.

In conclusion, "Spiritual Discipline and Practices in Jainism" provides a detailed overview of the Jain path to spiritual enlightenment, emphasizing ethical conduct, self-control, rigorous discipline, and profound meditation as means to achieve the ultimate goal of liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The text highlights the integration of spiritual, religious, and philosophical principles in Jainism, offering a comprehensive framework for both householders and ascetics to pursue spiritual purification.