A religion founded by Mahavira, which arose in India around the same time as Buddhism (500BCE). Part of Jain belief is that the immaterial soul, or jiva, is trapped in the body, and any violent actions generate heavy karma that keeps the jiva trapped in the body. Therefore, the Jain ideal is ahimsa, or non-harming.
Related Articles:
- Glossary
- 198 – Renunciation as an Act of LoveBuddhism is a path of renunciation. Many people assume this means we aim to separate ourselves from the things and beings of the world and work ourselves into a state where we no longer care about them – at least not to the point where it might hurt or upset us. Fortunately, this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. Renunciation leaves us much more capable of sincere and open-handed love.
- 97 – Twelve Pali Canon Suttas Every Buddhist Should Know – Part 1Theravadin and Vipassana Buddhists tend to be familiar with the Pali Canon, particularly the suttas, or discourses of the Buddha. Other Buddhists don’t tend to spend as much time exploring Pali texts. When we aim to do so, it can be a difficult to know where to start - given the printed versions of the suttas end up being about five times the size of the Christian bible! In the interest of encouraging study of the Pali Canon suttas, I’ve come up with a list of twelve I think every Buddhist should know.
- 53 – Buddha’s Teachings Part 5: Karma, the Law of Moral Cause-and-EffectKarma may be the most widely mentioned - and misunderstood - Buddhist concept outside Buddhist circles. You might, “Well, that’s karma!” when someone more or less gets their comeuppance. This view of karma isn’t entirely off base, but Buddhist karma is subtle and complex: It’s about the state of your mind when you form an intention, perform an action, and experience the consequences, and how you can affect this process in order to avoid causing suffering for yourself and others.
- 43 – The Value of Buddhist Prayer Part 1: Paradox of Prayer in a Nontheistic Spiritual TraditionYou might be surprised to know many Buddhists pray, given that Buddhism is fundamentally a nontheistic religion. It’s possible to be an avowed atheist and a devout Buddhist at the same time. In fact, such a Buddhist might even pray! I’ll explain more about how this works in this episode, which will be the first of two. I’ll introduce you to three basic reasons Buddhists pray, take you through the first two reasons, and then finish up next week by going into more detail about the third type of prayer.