Jainism Vs Buddhism Research Paper

Jainism and Buddhism both date back to around 2500 years ago and while they have many similarities they also have some differences. This paper outlines some of these and gives a brief overview of some of the teachings and beliefs that belong to each religion.

Like Buddists, Jains see thing ultimate good as the escape from the cycle of rebirth known as moksa or the liberation from karmic bondage known as nirvana. Like Buddhist’s Jains do not maintain the idea of a God as it is understood in Abrahamic religions. They believe that karmic reward and punishment is an interpersonal process and we are all responsible for our own joy and suffering; there is no divine entity to judge us and it is up to us to follow the path to ultimate freedom or

The early sutras present Buddha’s teachings as a solution to a problem; this problem being the fundamental problem of life also known as suffering. This is documented in the ‘four noble truths’. The four noble truths are truth of the nature of suffering, truth of the nature of cause, truth of the nature of its cessation, and truth of the nature of the path leading to its cessation. The noble truth of suffering describes the types of suffering, these are things like birth, ageing, sickness, dying, sorrow, grief, pain, unhappiness and unease. Being united with things that are not liked is suffering, separation from what is liked is suffering, and not getting what you want is suffering. The cause of this suffering are things such as thirst, greed, and desire. The cessation of suffering is completely letting go of these desires. The fourth noble truth, the path to cessation is told by the eightfold path. The eight fold path includes right understanding: understanding the basic Buddhist concepts, right thought: determining to practice the Buddhist faith, right speech: no abusive speech, gossip, etc, right action: doing good things, not harming others, right livelihood: earning an honest living, right effort: avoiding harmful thoughts, right mindfulness: clear sense of one’s health, right concentration: concentrating on the Buddhist teachings. (Gethin, 1998, p.

Both Mahavira and Buddha are said to have a keen sense of the impermanent and unsatisfactory character of material existence. Both sought liberation from the process of rebirth and undertook the ancient practice of renouncing their home and their family to live a life of solidarity, wandering and contemplating. Mahavira’s family were Jains and they were devotees of Parsvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara and they approved of his choice to renounce and a great crowd of human and celestial beings were said to have seen him off on his great journey. This is in contrast to the Buddha who did not have the support of his family in the pursuit of his renunciation. Buddha’s for enlightenment takes him six years and Mahavira’s takes him twelve. (Long, p.