Enlightenment in hinduism jainism and buddhism free essay sample

Karma is similary in Hinduism and Jainism in that the laws of cause and effect can be used for ones benefit in the afterlife. It is different in the two religions in that in Hinduism, karma is dependant on the will of a God, and in Jainism it is dependant on the individual. This is significant because in both Jainism and Hinduism, karma has an effect on every aspect of a person life both directly and indirectly. The two religions apply karma to their lives in different ways, both within and between the two religions. The goal in Hinduism is to connect ones soul with the universal essence through the use of karma as manipulated to work to ones advantage. Since Hinduism is based on a hierarchy, seen in the form of caste, they way one uses karma is dependent on the caste, which they belong to. Jainism on he other hand, has no concept of a god, and has no hierarchy because it is a religion of equality. Jains consider Karma as being the cause of suffering in ones life; so everyone is put at the same level aiming to achieve the same goal by changing their karma from bad to good. The ultimate goal of these two religions is to achieve liberation from the cycle of transmigration. Throughout the hierarchal system of Hinduism, and the equivalent, individualist system of Jainism, a large role of karma is seen as bringing one closer to this goal. The caste system, as seen in Hinduism, was brought about in the story of creation, seen in the Rg Veda texts. It was said that each caste was created through the different body parts of a god. They become the varnas or castes of hindu society; each varna with its own level of knowledge and own duties in life. The dharma-shastras are the rules for social order, and their main emphasis is on following varnashramadharma. Varna, or this caste hierarchy, is therefore a ruling on the hindu people. Different varnas lead people to have different tasks to complete in order to fulfill their varnashramadharma. Completeing this action is considered the good action used in order to obtain good karma. In the case of Hinduism, one’s soul achieves liberation from the cycle of transmigration through connection of the soul (Atman) to the universal deity or essence (brahman). This union is achieved by doing good action, which is dependant on your varna. These The goal in Hinduism is to achieve enlightenment from he cycle of samsara, and acheieve moska by connect the individual soul to the universal deity. This is done through following the rules for social order, seen in the Dharma-shastras, a Vedic text. The core idea in these rules is to follow varnashramadharma. The first part of this is varna, meaning caste, There are four varnas in hindu religion, which include priests (brahmins), warriors (kshatriyas), merchants (vaisyas), and peasants (sudras), from highest to lowest status respectively. Each role has different ranges of knowledge about the religion and rituals. This means to achieve dharma, each level of castr would have to undergo a different action based on the amount of knowledge they have. Depending on your caste, or role in society, the actions you perform to achieve dharma are going to be different. individuals of lower caste are sometimes not allowed to perform the same actions or deeds as people of higher caste. Within the varna heirarchy, the top three varnas are ritual castes, while the bottom sudra caste is not. Ritual castes are considered as twice bron, because hey have to undergoe an initiation into the religion. This includes rituals like the thread ceremony, and is considered a physical sign of ones varna. These are the only castes allowed to perform rituals , whereas the bottom sudra caste is not. out of the ritual castes, the priests are supposed to be the most knowledgeable of rituals. Another form of hierarchy seen in Hinduism is between the universal essense, or brhaman, and the soul, or atman. Each individual has their own atman, and these sols continue in a cycle of transmigration, until they have achieved liberation through good action, and connected there atman to Brahman. The hierarchal system seen here is at the level of the atman, and the higher level of the Brahman. Each atman has to work to bring up their status to connect their atman to Brahman, or in other words bring their atman up to the status of Brahman. Once once all of these souls have reached Brahman, they have reached their ultimate goal, or highest point that they atman can go; so up a level from their atman. Once they reach this level, there is no more hierarchy, because everyone is equivalent at that level. In Jainism, karma is seen as a source of suffering, and any form of suffering that one experiences in their life is due to the bad karma one has gained from not following Jain doctrine in ones past life. Until they follow this doctrine, their souls are kept in this cycle of transmigration. This is shows that, like hindus, Jains can change their karma to liberate their souls. Unlike the hindus however, once the soul is liberated it is not connected with any universal deity because there is no concept of deity within the Jain religion. Once a person has purified their soul through good action, and living according to the doctrine, it is liberated by being released from the cycle of transmigration, and has its suffering put to an end. The concept of the individuals being responsible for their own karma is maintained throughout the religion. A Jain is responsible for the actions of their own soul. One must create good karma on their own. The key actions required to do this are through renouncing all ties to the world, seen as an illusion, and detaching themselves from all material possession. This is done by taking the five jain vows; non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy, non-possession, non-materialism. some go to the extent of becoming monks as seen in the story of the Jain monk. These vows go hand in hand with the gems of Jainism, which are a set of teachings providing a means for living. They include right vision or view, right knowledge, and right conduct. Living according to the Jain doctrine and auterities, detachment and renunciation of the self from all illusions of the world, all changes ones bad karma to good karma, and leads one to a path to liberation of the soul from suffering in the cycle of trasmigration. The key actions required to do this are through renouncing all ties to the world, seen as an illusion, and detaching themselves from all material possession. This is done by taking the five jain vows; non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy, non-possession, non-materialism. some go to the extent of becoming monks as seen in the story of the Jain monk. These vows go hand in hand with the gems of Jainism, which are a set of teachings providing a means for living. They include right vision or view, right knowledge, and right conduct. Living according to the Jain doctrine and auterities, detachment and renunciation of the self from all illusions of the world, all changes ones bad karma to good karma, and leads one to a path to liberation of the soul from suffering in the cycle of trasmigration. The renunciation stories were made to instil deep hatred toward the world, and had a goal to renounce human ties (Granoff, 88). The lesson in the story of The Monk Sudstri from the Brkatkathakosa demonstrated Samsara; meaning by not practicing austerity according to the Jain doctrine, you would remain in a cycle of transmigration (Granoff, 88). Samsara, seen in both Jainism and Buddhism, was depicted in this story when the jeweller, Sudstri, was reborn as his own son. Also, the concept of karma was seen when Sudstri remembered his past life and suffered facing the people that had betrayed him, everyday. It mentioned later in the story that he had not been practicing the Jain doctrine, and we saw that he received bad karma because of this. The only way to get out of this cycle of Samsara, and to gain good karma was for Sudstri to live according to the Jain doctrine. This meant detaching from the world and achieving dharma by following the five Jain vows; ahimsa-non violence, satya-truthfulness, asteya-non-stealing, brahamacharya-celibacy, and aparigraha-non-posession and non-materialism (Granoff, 89). Sudstri became a monk and was assumed to receive liberation when he died years later in meditation (Granoff, 89). Jainisms focus on the equivalent individual is clear through its lack of caste, or hierarchy. Each individual is responsible for their own soul, and is change their karma in the same way to achieve liberation. Regardless of what your status is in society, whether you are a queen, or a queen’s jeweler, you are reuired to undergo the same vows to arrive at the same ultimate goal. This very example was also seen in the story of the monk sudstri. At the end of the story, when they were convinced of karma being the cause of the jeweler’s suffering after reincarnation, the king and queen, a long with sudrsti renounced their lives and and followed the jain doctrine in order to change their karma. In Jainism, regardless of high or low status in the world, the concept that the world is an illusion has to be kept in mind, making status in this world meaningless, and purity of the soul the ultimate reality. Following the Jain doctrine is considered purification of te soul, because at the hand of this illusionary world, the soul becomes subject to impurities such as pride, ignorance, and greed. These aspects come to a person through attachment to material possessions, status, and people. Purification also comes through following the Jain doctrine, which includes following jain vows. One of the jain vows seen to be followed was non-posession, and examples was seen in one of the jain sects, digamara (skyclad) where people would practice nudity, in order to not be attached to clothing, as it was a material possession. There were different actions required by men and women to do. Some hierarchy was seen when between men and woman, as they could not practice non-possession, like in the form of nudity, to the same extent as men. The second sect of Jain was svetambara (the white clad) which was more accepting of women. Though there was their a heirachy seen in this sense within the jian relgion, the main dutys done by jains were on an individualistic basis. Jainisms focus on the equivalent individual is clear through its lack of caste, or hierarchy. Each individual is responsible for their own soul, and is change their karma in the same way to achieve liberation. Regardless of what your status is in society, whether you are a queen, or a queen’s jeweler, you are reuired to undergo the same vows to arrive at the same ultimate goal. This very example was also seen in the story of the monk sudstri. At the end of the story, when they were convinced of karma being the cause of the jeweler’s suffering after reincarnation, the king and queen, a long with sudrsti renounced their lives and and followed the jain doctrine in order to change their karma. In Jainism, regardless of high or low status in the world, the concept that the world is an illusion has to be kept in mind, making status in this world meaningless, and purity of the soul the ultimate reality. Following the Jain doctrine is considered purification of te soul, because at the hand of this illusionary world, the soul becomes subject to impurities such as pride, ignorance, and greed. These aspects comes to a person through attatchment to material possessions, status, and people. Focusing on the self, and renouncing from the illusion of the world including all ties from people and material things is important for the Jain path to inlightenment. Hinduism has a focus on heriarchy Caste system Varna- ritual castes perform different rituals Everyone has there own dharma based on their caste Achieved through accrual of good action to reap good consequencd In this case good consequence is achieveing connection of atman and brahman Gods and humans Many gods, all above humans Main god/diety, Brahman, is above everyone Everyone trying to get their individual atmans on the level of brahman Release from that caste system once achieve moska (atman is then joined to Brahman and is oe group entinity at same level) After death, doesn’t matter what catse you are from, as long as your atman connects to Brahman, allowing you to achieve moshka/liberation from transmigratory cycle Since aaalll souls are part of that universal entity, Brahman, after death all souls come to the same level. so there is no caste after death which is what they are trying to achieve, aswell as relief from transmigratory cycle Jainisms focus on the equivalent individual is clear through its lack of caste, or hierarchy. Each individual is responsible for their own soul, and is change their karma in the same way to achieve liberation. Regardless of what your status is in society, whether you are a queen, or a queen’s jeweler, you are reuired to undergo the same vows to arrive at the same ultimate goal. This very example was also seen in the story of the monk sudstri. At the end of the story, when they were convinced of karma being the cause of the jeweler’s suffering after reincarnation, the king and queen, a long with sudrsti renounced their lives and and followed the jain doctrine in order to change their karma. In Jainism, regardless of high or low status in the world, the concept that the world is an illusion has to be kept in mind, making status in this world meaningless, and purity of the soul the ultimate reality. Following the Jain doctrine is considered purification of te soul, because at the hand of this illusionary world, the soul becomes subject to impurities such as pride, ignorance, and greed. These aspects come to a person through attachment to material possessions, status, and people. Purification also comes through following the Jain doctrine, which includes following jain vows. One of the jain vows seen to be followed was non-posession, and examples was seen in one of the jain sects, digamara (skyclad) where people would practice nudity, in order to not be attached to clothing, as it was a material possession. There were different actions required by men and women to do. Some hierarchy was seen when between men and woman, as they could not practice non-possession, like in the form of nudity, to the same extent as men. The second sect of Jain was svetambara (the white clad) which was more accepting of women. Though there was their a heirachy seen in this sense within the jian relgion, the main dutys done by jains were on an individualistic basis. Jainism has a focus on individualism No caste system, everyone is equal Nobody is higher than anyone else. There is no diety Everyone must undergo same things, detachment and renunciation to relieve themselves from cycle of suffering Cycle continues as long as people are caught in this illusion Because they are caught in the illuson. It leads to ignorance greed, prde etc.. and no respet any thing else This is why when they purify there souls and actually renninciate, they are so carefull to follow austreries and doctrine Everyone does the same thing to achieve liberation 5 jain vows example is non-violence thisgoes to the extent of nin-kiling, so people carry brooms and sweep the floors infront of them makingsure not to injure any animals non killing also seen in the diet they eat. Very careful about food choices—nothing with a root because that would be killing and individualnsoul individuals are thought to be reincarnatued as animals humans anything (seen as suffering caused by karma),so injuring any rooted plant could eb killing a soul. Vs. Hinduism that doesn’t go to that expent. That becomes part of their ritual system like when they sacrifice food and crops into fire are one of their ways to achieve karma (ritual castessacrficing to agni) or violence seen with them as part of their dharma like int the story of the lauravans and pandavas where god krishna tells him its right to go into battle Even after death, the individual soul is liberated Role in material world Both see the world as an illusion Hinduism- caste system seen rooted from religious practices into societal practices. The world is illusion, work to get brhaman and atman together to get out of this illusion Everyone is as different level in life, based on caste, which is based on a upanishadic idea. Some individualism, where you are responsible for your own dharma. But divivision by hierarchy also seen. Jainism- detachment from the material world, becaue its an illusion. The world is suffering, so need to renounce Jainism sees individuals in the material world. Everyone works toward their own goal which is why there is no sense of caste or hierarchy, even though some distinctions seen between men and women, but everyone is at same level in the same position in life in the aspect of their souls