For more than two thousand years, the ascetic principles of Jainism have influenced much of the Middle East, primarily in the Ganges River Basin region of India, where about four million of the devout remain. A predominant principle of Jainism is the concept of sallekhana. According to Justic T. K. Tukol of Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute, sallekhana is “embracing death voluntarily when both householders and ascetics foresee that the end of the life is very near either due to the old age, incurable disease, severe famine, attack from the enemy or wild animal”. The concept of sallekhana has received much criticism due to the fine line between its practice and suicide. I believe the concept of sallekhana and the background of its practice voids its similarity to suicide. Sallekhana also known as amnyas-marana, santhara and samadhi-marana has been a part the Jainism culture for centuries. The vow of sallekhana is usually taken when one feels like they have lived their life to its entirety or to aid an elder in the dying process. A person who chooses to accept the sallekhana vow must come in with a pure and calm mind and leave behind their friends and possessions. While under this vow, one must forgive those who have done them wrong as well as ask for forgiveness from those they have harmed. All negative emotions such as grief, regret, fear, and hatred must be eliminated from the ascetic’s mind. When first starting sallekhana all solid foods are gradually given up and replaced
Jainism treats the issue of life and death in a very similar way. Followers believe that living a non-violent life and respecting the sacred life existing around people (according to the Jains, everything in the world, including the inanimate, has a soul) may release the human being from the vicious circle of re-incarnation. Jains also recognize the eternal nature of the human soul and believe it exists as enmeshed in the human’s or object’s body during a whole life. However, Jainism assumes that the soul parts from the body when it does to be re-incarnated into something (or somebody) else, which means Jains do not recognize the unity of soul and body. This is actually the principle of all three religions—they pose little value to the human life because all followers believe that the soul will still remain in the human world, but will only change its appearance once re-incarnated into some other being or object. (McKay et al., 2008)
The Middle East supports three major religions; Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. All three have a tie to Jerusalem as a Holy City. These religions don’t get along very well because of their differences, but they also have some unseen similarities.
2. Consider the following statement: Sallekhana (“holy death”) violates the Jain principle of ahimsa because
Death is one of the only things guaranteed in life and most religions have meaningful and precise customs, traditions, and funerary practices revolving around death. From specific protocols for preparing the body to performing certain duties during the memorial service. The structure that religion provides around dealing with death offers guidance to grief stricken survivors and fulfills religious obligations. The two religions I chose to focus on for this paper is Buddhism more specifically the Mahayana sect of Buddhism and religion I the Mayan civilization. Mahayana Buddhism and Mayan religions have similar aspects in dealing with death and the funerary practices such as cremation.
Jainism is an ecologically responsible way of life, which is non violent in thoughts, actions, and deeds (Pecorino, 2001). The heart of Jainism is to live and practice ahimsa. This is the action by which all actions are judged (ahimsa| Britannica.com, 2015). The Golden Rule, if you will. The Jain’s believe that life is eternal. That all living souls have the potential of attaining enlightenment and immortality (Raghuram, 2004). If you interrupt the spiritual progress or jiva of an insect, animal, plant or person, you will incur karma (ahimsa | Britannica.com, 2015). Your karma will affect your samsara, and will determine your next incarnation. The purpose in one’s life is to attain liberation from the samsara cycle.
Most religions and cultures view and have a different perspective on how they approach end of life care. There are hundreds if not thousands of religions along with individual cultural beliefs all around the world but, the ones that will be discussed in the content of this paper include; Buddhism, Muslim, Hinduism, and Judaism . Buddhism is a tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development that attempts for a deep meaning into the true nature of life in which their spiritual beliefs and practices are based off of the teachings of Buddha. The Buddhist religion is based on four fundamental contemplations that form the foundation of understanding and meditation: first, that a human rebirth is extremely precious and should be used to its highest
This should be my 15th attempt at erasing/re-writing the intro of this write up. Suicide has been such an ostracized topic that one does not speak until it hits the news. I found it very hard to even think about how I was going to present my thoughts on it. Until, I feel like I speak to you directly, Yama Budhha, and hundreds of less known nevertheless equally important souls.
According to Jainism, the soul will go from a complete dependence on the karma cycle to a state of complete dissociation from it, when all stages have been followed. Gunasthana, which is a Sanskrit word meaning level of virtue, are the fourteen stages the soul goes through to attain spiritual growth and development before attaining moksha. Gunasthana is also referred to as the purification of karma doctrine. The fourteen stages are: 1. Mithyadristi, is the stage of gross ignorance. 2. Sasadana, is the stage of the mental state of the soul. 3. Misradrsti, is the stage of when a person hovers between certainty and doubt in belief. 4. Avirata samyagdrishti, is the stage of when doubts are removed and becomes a true believer. 5. Desavitra, is the stage of partial vows in pursuit of right conduct. 6. Pramatta virata, is the stage of complete self-discipline, but
Both Jainism and Sikhism have arisen as alternatives to Hinduism within India. As Molloy highlights, they both share a belief in karma with Hinduism, but both reject the polytheistic and ritualistic elements of Hinduism. Despite these similarities, Jainism and Sikhism are different in their emphasis. The founder of Jainism was named Mahavira. He was the twenty fourth, in a succession of saints, called tirthankaras. Mahavira was born into an aristocratic family, and much of his life is shrouded in legend, but all version of his life story agree, that at the age of 30 he embraced the wandering life of an aesthetic holy man. His is said to have endured much pain, and sacrifice at his own hands, and at the hands of others. During this
The idea of the soul varies widely in religious tradition. While these variations exist, its basic definition is unvarying. The soul can be described as the ultimate internal principle by which we think, feel, and will, and by which our bodies are animated. The soul is seen as the core principle of life or as the essence of a being 1. Views on the permanence of the soul vary throughout religious tradition as well. While some view it as a mortal entity in flux others believe the soul is an immortal and permanent unit. These interpretations vary from time period to time period and between religions. These characteristics of the soul are interpreted differently through an Eastern or
Learning different religion and seeing what the eastern and western are like and comparing them.
Islam has definite views on euthanasia, and this essay will bring to the fore all of the main beliefs relevant to the issue of euthanasia/assisted suicide. Islam spells things out quite plainly, with enough similes to clarify every point in the system of beliefs.
As history continues, many religions have had an over powering effect on western civilization. When the 5th century arose, the religion, Islam, had an extremely important impact on the civilization. Muhammad, an Arabic prophet founded Islam and began to introduce it the people of his time. Diplomacy, violence, warfare, public laws, and Arabic tradition played a crucial role in the building of the Islamic religion. These important aspects helped shape and build the Islam religion that is now one of the world’s most widely practiced religions.
The Daoism literature on human life and the end of it, suggest that Daoists are interested in, and have been on a continuous quest for immortality. Daoism, like other ancient Asian traditions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, offer a way out of cyclical human existence in a practice known as asceticism. However, the motivations and the methodology behind asceticism vary greatly in each of these Asian traditions in the East. The main focus of this paper
Many different religions around the world see the importance in life after death but these beliefs do vary a lot and each religion will believe completely different things. Two core religions in this essay that will be looked into are Islamic and Catholic. What do they believe will happen when someone dies? Is there another life after they die? Heaven? Hell? Or Paradise? Through this you will the importance in the belief of life after death, and the practices, rituals, and prayers that provide evidence and physical proof of how they show this belief. Then to go onto to discuss the wider implications holding onto these beliefs can have.