Introduction
Now that this essay has presented the origin and concept of Religious Life in both traditions, the following paragraphs will describe the current routines of the Religious Life in Jainism and Roman Catholicism so that the concepts in Part I can be related to in a more practical way.
Jainism
The purpose of ‘dīkṣā’(initiation) is to enter the Jain Religious Life without any possessions from the secular world. Moreover, once one has stepped into the Jain ascetic life, it is considered a big sin to return to their lay life.
As mentioned in part I of this essay, there are two sectors in Jainism - Digambaras and Svetambaras - the responsibilities as a Religious are followed somewhat differently by both of these sects. However, the initiation of all the Sadhus and Sadhvis is the same.
Digambaras
The main characteristic of a Digambara Monk is that he would be completely nude after the rituals of ‘dīkṣā’ are performed. (In the first stages of becoming a monk, they are allowed to wear a small piece of white cloth around their private parts, and then when they reach a higher stage of asceticism and gain more experience they have to walk around nude). This is why the Digambaras are identified as the ‘sky-clad’.
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Also, all of them are only allowed to carry two things: a ‘kamandalu’ (a wooden pot used for water) and a ‘picchi’ (a small brush made out of peacock feathers used to cover their private parts when walking around in public). To eat, they go around to houses of the Digambara laity and ask for food. However, the strict rule is that they are not to take the food in any vessel; they are to stand at the same spot at the same time and eat the food from their hands. Moreover, to practice the religious life as strictly and efficiently as possible the Digambara Religious always have to be in company of other Religious belonging to the same