Jainism

Overview

Absolute non-violence, ahimsa, and a severe simplicity. Every living thing has a soul, so harm is never a small matter.

Jainism takes non-violence, ahimsa, as the constraint that comes before convenience. Mahavira, the last of twenty-four teachers in Jain tradition, reformed an earlier community, probably led by Parshvanatha. Every living thing has a soul, jiva, so harm is never a small bookkeeping error. The severity of the life, how little you take and how carefully you move, follows from that. A comfort that requires a wound is not a neutral comfort.

Where it answers

Key terms

Ahimsa

Non-harm to any living being, in action, word and thought.

Anekantavada

Many-sidedness: reality is complex, so any single viewpoint is partial.

Jiva and ajiva

Living souls and everything non-living, such as matter, space and time: the two basic kinds of things.

Karma as matter

Karma as fine particles that cling to the soul and weigh it down.