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Jainism Vs Buddhism Research Paper

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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 …show more content…

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. …show more content…

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.

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In “The Buddha’s Message” by Christopher Gowans, we are presented with an overview of the Buddha’s teaching. Gowans expounds on certain central aspects of Buddhism, namely the idea of suffering, the 4 Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and Nirvana providing examples and analogies to elucidate these ideas. In this paper, I shall argue in agreement with the sentiment that life is suffering on two main fronts, those being that I agree with the idea that the universe possesses an impermanent nature, causing happiness gained from fulfilling all desires impermanent as well and thus suffering inevitable, followed by my belief that flesh naturally begets suffering, that is, our physical existence is a source of suffering so long as we physically exist.

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This is clear in many sections of the document, with one being " This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is the craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanies by delight and lust..." (Document 6). Also, this document suggests that by it being the truth, any other religion opposing it is wrong, similar to what "The Night" in the Quran states. Being a different approach, the Mahabharata counters every negative statement with a positive one, such as "let us overcome the angry man with gentleness..."

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These sets of laws were part of the first sermon preached by Buddha in the fifth century B.C.E. The first truth is sorrow, “Birth is sorrow, age is sorrow, disease is sorrow, death is sorrow, contact with the unpleasant is sorrow, separation from the pleasant is sorrow, every wish unfulfilled is sorrow”. The second truth is the arising of sorrow, “it arises from craving, which leads to rebirth, which brings delight and passion, and seeks pleasure- the craving for sensual pleasure, the craving for continued life, and the craving for power”. The third truth is the stopping of sorrow, “It is the complete stopping of that craving, so that no passion remains, leaving it, being emancipated from it, being released from it, giving no place to it”. The fourth truth is “the way that leads to the stopping of sorrow”.

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Suffering arises from attachment to desire 3.Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases 4. Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path. Buddhism this is used for getting to freedom. This is the eightfold path: Right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right

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Buddha’s first teaching after his enlightenment was Four Noble Paths which talk about suffering. Tenzin mentions how suffering is the main theme of Buddhism just like numbers is talked about in math. The Dukkha, or suffering, is not physical like a headache, but it is more like discontent. The moment a person gets something new, they feel happy for an instant, but then time passes and he or she wants

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(A)According to the Holy Catholic Church, when one dies, if one has lived a holy life, than one is freed from the shackles of sin and able to enjoy salvation in God’s presence for eternity (Church 1987-1995). According to Buddhism, if one has obtained enlightenment, then upon death one is freed from Samsara, the cycle of reincarnation (Eknath pg 199-203). Though these two cosmological principles may seem terribly divergent, there is much more in common between the two traditions than would generally be assumed. The essential assumption which all Buddhism is based around is that all suffering is, at its core, derived from desire and as such, a perfect state beyond death would have one freed from it. In Luke’s Gospel, when questioned upon a woman’s marital status after death, Our Lord responded, “…they that shall be accounted worthy of that world, and of the resurrection from the dead, shall neither be married, nor take wives.

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The first noble truth of suffering (Dukkha), There are various forms of suffering that we experience in our lives. On the one hand there are moments of pain, aging, diseases and ultimately death. In addition, there are

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The second of the Four Noble Truths is the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering. This Noble Truth explains where the suffering comes from. “According to Buddhism, our main mental problems or root delusions are: attachment, anger and ignorance” (Harderwijk). This quote is explaining what the main causes of suffering are from the Buddhist perspective. Suffering is also caused from hatred, cruelty, jealousy, and impatience (Kotapitiye).

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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.

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There is Four Noble Truths, on the basis of Buddhism. The first Noble Truth is, that all life is suffering, pain, and misery. The Second Truth is that this suffering is caused by selfish craving and personal desire. Reading about the Buddhist approach made me believe our desire in life leads us to suffer, unfulfilled desires cause us pain and suffering. This becomes very easy to understand, our desires become what we suffer from.

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To each cause, there is an effect. Both of these religions believe in this cause and effect relationship, though to exceedingly different degrees. Jains take a rather extreme position on Karma. They believe that unintended or unconscious actions can lead to negative Karma (Fisher, 2013). Buddhists however, believe that it is the intention of the mind behind the action that is what influences Karma (Goldstein, 2008).

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The nibbana or transcendence of karma and the will of one. Crosby states that Buddhism become essentialized in the context of political, ethnic, and religious rivalry (p43). For the interpretation of one’s view of Buddhism, it must be taken into account of their connection both spiritually, psychologically, physically, emotionally and indifferent. It is not to be misconstrued on how one’s faith can vary. The Theravada Buddhism focus is not limited to one’s connection to the Buddha’s conception in one’s country, but is an insight to the deep underlying mixture of the symbolical connection such as the Prabang in

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But, Jains also believe that God is not the almighty center of the universe, rather Jains believe that our soul, Jiva, are the permanent reality and matter, ajiva, is lifeless, material and evil (V, Jayaram). Jains believe that Godliness inherited through “infinite bliss, power, Perfect knowledge and perfect Peace; One who achieves this state by breaking bonds of Karma and liberation from rebirths can be termed God” (Buddhism vs Hinduism). The teachings of Jainism revolve most of their philosophies around Karma; good Karma, which results from good and righteous activities, leads you to higher spirituality and bad Karma, which results from sinful activities, will lead you to declination in

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He lived a sheltered life until one day he went out into the city and saw four things that changed his life: an old man, a sick man, and a dead man, which taught him the inevitability of decay. The fourth sign was a poor man, dressed in rags, but who looked happy and at peace. This showed Siddhartha that even though suffering was a natural part of life, liberation could be achieved. The Buddha then set out on a search for enlightenment that involved listening to the teachings of the Upanishads and later joining a band of ascetics in a life of strict deprivation, neither of which proved satisfactory. He finally achieved enlightenment by meditating for 49 days, and devoted the rest of his life to teaching others what he had discovered.

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