Jainism is the Indian religious movement initiated in the 500s BC by Var-dhamāna, around the same time as Buddhism started. The Jainas develop a theory of knowledge, a psychology, a logic, a metaphysics, and an ethics. The Jainas believe five kinds of knowledge. (1) Mati is ordinary cognition obtained through sense perception. (2) Sruti is knowledge obtained through symbols or words, (3) Avadhi is direct knowledge of things even at a distance, that is knowledge by clairvoyance, (4) Manahparyāya is telepathic knowledge of others minds, and (5) Kevala is perfect knowledge which comprehends all substances and their qualities. So the Jainas believe in many psychic types of knowledge. Perception is divided into several stages. (1) Vyanjanavãgraha, where the sense data acts on the peripheral ends the sense organs and brings the object to the subject, (2) Arthavagraha, where consciousness is excited and sensation felt, (3) Iha, where the mind desires to know the details of the object, (4) Avaya, the recognition of the object as this and not that, and (5) Dharana, where the sensations reveal the qualities of things. This is an a priori deduction of perception in which perception is mediated, much along the lines of Kant’s deduction in the 1700s. However, this system posits an external object and the mind does not modify the object in any way. Knowledge is of two forms: (1) pramana, or knowledge of a thing as it is in itself, and (2) naya, or knowledge of a thing in its relation. Nayas are divided in many ways. For example, naigamanaya is the end of a course of activity which is present throughout such as a person cooking food when he has a pot over a fire with food in it. There are many other ways that the Jainas divide knowledge such as the Saptabangi which are the seven different ways that judgments are affirmed and negated without contradiction.
The Jainas divide the world into two elements: Jīva and ajīva, the soul and the non-soul respectively. The ajīva is touched tasted and smelt, is devoid of consciousness, and is experienced, and the jīva is not perceived, contains con-sciousness, and has the experience. The body contains both the soul and the nonsoul and the soul lies superimposed with the body and expands and con-tracts according to the development of the body. Everything is material except souls and space. Matter consists of a plurality of atoms, which have no points, are infinitesimal, eternal, and ultimate, cannot be created or destroyed, and possess weight. Unlike the atom of physics, these atoms have taste, color, smell, and contact. The heavier belong to matter and move downwards and the lighter belong to soul and move upwards. There are a plurality of different atoms which attach to form the elements. Karma exists as an imperceptible type of atom that underlies the cosmos, and fills all cosmic space. Thus karma for the Jains is of material nature. The atoms penetrate the body and attach to the jīva, and retard the soul. When a result of a karmic action takes place, these atoms discharge from the body. There are an infinite number of jīva in the cosmos and are the (1) bound souls, the (2) freed souls, and the (3) liberated souls. The bound souls are bound to existence and live a material life, the freed souls are freed of matter, and the liberated souls will not become em-bodied and live elsewhere in the cosmos Through effort, the jīva can shed the matter and become a pure soul. This ideal can only be realized through the shedding of karma and corresponds to the Ātman in the Upanishads and the absolute ego in Fichte. Otherwise the soul is always connrected to matter. One should note that Jainism is really an idealism, that is it makes no reference to the atom of science and regards matter as negative.
Jainism is a complicated religion and this is the ethics of the ascetic. The karma is shed by following the five paths, which are (1) innocence (2) charity, (3) honorable conduct such as not stealing (4) chastity in word thought and deed and (5) renunciation of all worldly interests. There are many practical ways of shedding the karma such as giving to the poor, shelter to Monks, etc. The Jainas promote simplicity, humility, and patience. Sins include anger, ad-mireability of ones own ability, distortion of the truth, desires to be rich, dis-honesty, unchastity. The person should be indifferent to pleasure and pain. So this is a very strict ethics and the chief doctrine is abstinence from everything. This is often seen as a stricter system than Buddhism in Which goodness is seen in patience and pleasure is seen as negative. A person is permitted to commit suicide if the strictures on abstinence is to great. Women are looked opon as objects of temptation. The freed soul for the Jains has pure conscious-ness, understanding, freedom, and bliss. It is difficult to know what the liber-ated soul is like. They exist outside of space and time, have consciousness, has no qualities, and is without birth or death. The materialistic strain of the Jainas causes them to place a greater emphasis on outer deeds and a lesser emphasis on meditation.
Idealism Studies 