6 results for “Jain monks”
Digambara and Shvetambara are the two major Jain traditions. They share the core Jain framework of non-violence, karma, liberation and the Tirthankara tradition, but differ on monastic clothing, scriptural authority, women's liberation and some biographical traditions concerning Mahavira.
The Jain path aims at freeing the soul from karmic bondage. Its core includes the Three Jewels of Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct, rigorous non-violence, the five vows, non-attachment and the philosophical doctrine of Anekantavada.
Major Buddhist teachings include the Middle Way, impermanence, dukkha, not-self, dependent origination, karma, rebirth, Nirvana, ethical discipline, meditation, wisdom, loving-kindness and compassion. Buddhism analyses experience as a changing process conditioned by causes rather than as the expression of an eternal unchanging self.
Siddhartha Gautama was a historical religious teacher associated with the Shakya community. Buddhist tradition connects his birth with Lumbini, enlightenment with Bodh Gaya, first sermon with Sarnath and Mahaparinirvana with Kushinagar. His path rejected both sensual indulgence and extreme self-mortification in favour of the Middle Way.
Around the sixth century BCE, the growth of states, towns, trade, crafts and new social groups coincided with major religious and philosophical questioning. Shramana traditions, including Jainism, Buddhism and the Ajivikas, developed within this wider social and intellectual transformation.
Mahavira was the twenty-fourth Tirthankara of the Jain tradition, not its first founder. Jain tradition places him within an older lineage that included Parshvanatha. He emphasised rigorous asceticism, non-violence, self-control and liberation from karmic bondage.
