Jainism Vs Buddhism Research Paper

Module 3 Essay This essay will be an interesting one, as there are many colorful and intriguing elements to be explored in the case of Jainism and Buddhism. The topics that will be discussed in this essay will include a compare and contrast of Jainism and Buddhism which will embrace common grounds they share, differing characteristics of each religion, and focus on some distinctively unique features for each belief. So let’s first compare and contrast Jainism and Buddhism. Jainism and Buddhism have quite a few relative traits that are observed in both Jainism and Buddhism. One of the first traits that stood out to me was both the Jains and Buddhist teachings. According to Fisher, Mahavira’s “teachings were not written down because the

The Jains positioned each participator according to abilities and gender. “Digambaras believe that women cannot become so pure that they could rise to the highest heaven” (Fisher 123). Meanwhile, the “Svetambaras feel that women are capable of the same spiritual achievements as men, and that the nineteenth Tirthankara was a woman” (Fisher 123). This placement segregated the women from the men and placed the women lower on ladder of “spiritual achievement” (Fisher 123). On the other end of the spectrum, Buddhists “monastic order that developed from the Buddha’s early disciples – accepted people from all casts and levels of society” (Fisher 141). “Many young men decided to become monks (Bhikshus)…The Buddha’s stepmother Mahaprajapati, who had raised him after the death of his mother, and his wife, Yashodara, became bhikshunis, members of the order of nuns that the Buddha founded” (Fisher 141). To summarize and contrast each religion on this matter, Jains positioned people into certain orders according to their status and caste in society, while Buddhism does not discriminate and place each person according to their social status.

The final contrasting feature I would like to talk about is who they look to for guidance (divinity). “Jains believe that the universe is without beginning and that it has no creator or destroyer. Our lives are therefore the results of our own deeds;

This belief is unique to Jainism, and would never be observed by a Buddhist follower. A feature that is entirely distinctive in Buddhism is preservation of “bits of hair, nails, teeth, bones, and ashes from his (Buddhas) cremated body” (Fisher 155). “Tiny bone chips believed to be a relic of the Buddha is enshrined at Doi Suthep Temple in Chiang Mai in Thailand” (Fisher 156). I find this to be very interesting, as followers state that they are not worshipping Buddha, but they have bits and pieces of him preserved inside of many Buddhist temples. Apparently his skin, hair and nails have type of power or exude some type of healing ability I am