Janism
The Jainism religion was founded by a prophet named Mahavira in Eastern India. Jainism is a nonviolent and peacefully religion. The followers of Jainism do not believe in a supreme being that created the universe and everything in it. Jainism teaches that the universe is eternal and that it does not have a beginning or an end. Jains believe in reincarnation and that nothing can be created or destroyed. Jainism teaches that anyone has the chance to attain a pure soul and become divine if they rid themselves of all karma. Even though Jainism is not the largest religion it still has followers all over the world.
In the 7th century BC Jainism started to come about in Eastern India, it was also the same time that Buddhism was developing. Jainism was founded on the teachings of the 24 Tirthakaras, who are also referred to as prophets. The last two Tirthakaras are the only ones that can be historically verified (Religion and Ethics-Jainism, 2003). These two prophets’ names were Parshvanatha and Mahavira (Religion and Ethics-Jainism). Mahavira was the last and most famous of all 24 Tirthakaras, he lived from 599 to 527 BC (Religion and Ethics-Jainism, 2003). When Mahavira was thirty years old, he chose to go into solitude and try to reach spiritual truth. It took Mahavira 13 years to reach enlightenment and he soon gathered 11 converts to his cause (Religion and Ethics-Jainism, 2003). He is now regarded as the founder of Jainism and he created five basic principles for the followers of Jainism to live by. The purpose of these rules was to help liberate one’s self from karma. The five basic principles are ahimsa, satya, asteya, aparigraha and brahmacharya (Religion and Ethics-Jainism, 2003). The words mean nonviolence, truthfulness, taking only that which is given freely, non-possessiveness and chastity. He died by a practice called salekhana, which means that he fasted to death.
The main goal of all Jains is to attain Moksha, which is possible through...
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