Jainism Vs Buddhism Research Paper

Jainism and Buddhism acknowledge extremely similar aspects in their respective religions. They both have a grounded belief of karma, samsara, and one of liberation. Although these basic principle are the same, they have differences within them. In this essay, it will discuss the similarities and differences between the basic beliefs and traditions regarding karma, samsara, recognition of the self, and final liberation in regards to Jain and Buddhist religions.

Both Buddhism and Jainism believe in the concept of karma as a binding force responsible for all of the suffering of being on earth. Both acknowledge the universality of karma and its inescapable effect on the individual beings who are subject to the cycle of birth and death. But they

It remains relatively the same across the two religions as the cycle and/or process of birth and death. Samsara is more widely known as transmigration in Jain philosophy. It refers to the worldly life characterized by continuous rebirths and reincarnations in various forms of existence. Samsara is described as a dull existence, full of suffering and is therefore considered undesirable to be constantly within its bonds. Moksha, final liberation freed from all karmic bonds, is the only way to be liberated from samsara. Distinctly, the Buddha defined samsara as an intangible process within the ever changing and self-created worlds. You leave one world only to enter another, filled with more suffering and constantly affected by karma. The only way to escape this process is to achieve Nirvana, a state of final liberation. Karma affects both of these philosophies of samsara heavily. It constantly has an affect on the current state of being, and on the state of beings yet to come.

Jainism holds the metaphysical belief of Jiva and Ajiva, of “conscious” and living beings and “not-conscious” and non-living objects. It distinguishes Jiva as an eternal being, that is held in the bonds of samsara through karmic matter. Buddhism, on the other hand, is distinguished for its concept of non-soul or Anatman. Buddhism declares that a being is a collection of elements and parts which come into existence on account of karma and continues

In some extreme cases, liberation can also be achieved by destroying the body itself through austerities and self-mortification. After liberation, the Jiva continues to remain as an individual soul, but in the highest state of purity and enlightenment. Buddhism does not believe in the existence of eternal souls. So, it approaches the subject of liberation purely from a physical and mental perspective. What becomes liberated during nirvana is the individual “being” that comes into existence on account of the collection of elements. This individual being is not eternal. It is an temporary being that is subject to karma and samsara. Nirvana is an indescribable state in which the individual personality becomes free once and for all from the process of birth and death (i.e. samsara) and achieves some kind of stillness that is difficult to explain. Nirvana, the literal meaning of the sanskrit word is “blowing out” or putting out or extinguishing a flame. Nirvana is described in Strong’s The Experience of Buddhism as, “The destruction of desire, the destruction of hatred, and the destruction of delusion-that my friend, is what is called nirvana”. This quote does its best to describe the indescribable. It also goes further to show that the Buddhist state of final liberation is a mental and physical liberation from the causes of suffering in the physical