statue of Mahavira
Posted on 08/24/2011 10:29:16 PM PDT by Brian_Baldwin
The “founder” of the Jains religion which is primarily in India is called Mahavira, which mean “The Great Hero” (maha – great, vira – hero). He lived thousands of years ago, and there is ample evidence that not only was he a near contemporary of the “Buddha”, the Buddha or “Intellectual” (buddhi – mind, Budd – intellect, Buddha – the Intellectual) who was a Prince of Nepal called Siddhartha, there is evidence and I personally believe that Mahavira had taught or strongly influenced the “Buddha” in religion and yoga.
Mahavira is largely unknown in the West, but that is not entirely true in that among those interested in history and religion the “Founder” of Jainism is known and the importance of Mahavira is very much appreciated.
Actually, to call Mahavira the “founder” would be incorrect, this sect actually is even much, much older and is ascetic in nature and probably goes back several hundreds of years prior to Mahavira.
Buddhism is well known among those who are interested in history and religion, but for many in the West they often think of the “Buddha” as a Chinese or Japanese “God” and such, but in fact “Buddhism” originated in India, not China or Japan, and spread from India to other regions of the world. But among Buddhists themselves, which still have a good following in India and a very large following in Asia in general, few take the time to acknowledge the very factual and strong connection to teachings delivered to Siddhartha (Buddha) from the Jains which are much more ancient than Buddhism. Much of Buddhism is very much a growth and outcome of Jain influence, which explains the ascetic part of Buddhism which many in the West are familiar with.
Today, Jainism is a very small population. If you travel to India, you may find different forms of Jainism, from sects that are largely philosophical in nature, to those very much ascetic. Some Jains may live isolated and without clothes at all (shocking to Westerners, they are called “sky clad” or naked ones) – but their numbers as you can imagine are very tiny. You may observe some Jains who wear a white mask over their mouths so as to not breath in any “living creature” and they sweep with a broom so as to move any “living creature” out of the way of their path. This of course is an example of the most relentless of Jain followers who are vegetarian in every respect.
There are also Jains who live in the modern world, but attend Jain “temples” and follow a very long linage of “teachers”, who are know by their names, which goes back centuries. Many such “modern” Jains in India work in the jewelry business, in gems or perhaps gold market. Many such Jains are very rich.
It could be that the Prince (Siddhartha) and Mahavira met in Rajgir at a famous hill, which was also called “Hill of Vultures” in that, it is thought some Jains would lay their dead down here to allow vultures to eat them to the bone instead of the use of fire or burial, but this is not certain. But this same “Hill of Vultures” was the place of some of the “Buddha’s” most famous sermons.
It is interesting how, knowledge of all sorts seems to come to life from a particular individual, and the ideas of such individuals then connect and collected over time by the masses in general. But one thing to remember always – even though many think of religion in terms of “books” (such as the Bible, the Koran, the Buddhist sacred texts, the Vedas, and so on) – behind everything is the human voice.
The human voice is the most powerful thing (outside of God as the spiritual creator of all of us) in the world. It is not the book. It is the individual. At least, in my humble opinion. The human voice will go across the universe. The human voice touches us. The human voice changes us. It teaches. And, leave no doubt about it, as we see in our modern age of talk radio, the human voice while it may sometime bring destruction (i.e. Hitler), it will also save in the end. The human voice will return America to it’s principals.
Thanks. If not a founder, perhaps a codifier?
Good way to explain. I need to better my English, and that is the perfect word in context, I am going to use it.
Glad to be of service.
It might also be useful to mention that Jain rhymes with wine...
An Indian told me that there is a famous statue of the founder of the Jains. The figure depicted by the statue is naked.
Buddhism and Jainism both had aggressive and passive branch. Both had history of violence against then majority religion Hinduism/Vedic.
Yes, one branch of Jains stays naked.
Very nice.
statue of Mahavira
Thank you for this Brian, Jainism also vehemently argues against any creator God or gods. According to the tenets of Jainism, the universe just is, was and will always be.
The picture is of Shri Bahubali (son of First Teerthankar Shri Rishabh Dev). This is not Mahavir
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