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2/28/12 Jainism & Sikhism Jainism is generally a religion that surfaced from India. This religion follows the idea of peace and non-violence towards not only humans but, all the living creatures of the world. It is also known as Shraman, Dharma, or Nirgantha because it teaches self reliance. According to this religion, a person or soul has to conquer his inner enemies in order to get to the state of Jina. This is essentially a “superior human being”. Also, they have a comparative smaller number of followers, mostly located in India. On the other hand, Sikhism is a religion that also originated from Punjab region of India.
It is completely different than Janism because it was established under the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and his successors. It is established on the principles of Justice, faith and Waheguru which means one God. It also preaches the ideals of peace. Self reliance and non-violence but these are secondary. As the primary concern is to attain salvation through mediation in the name of God, following the teachings of Guru Nanak. The Jains are strictly vegetarian. Sikhs are not vegetarian. There are, however, some group or cults of Sikhism who encourage being a vegetarian.
The majority of Sikhs believe that eating meat is left up to the individual’s conscience in Sikhism, as it will not affect spirituality. Most Sikhs are meat-eaters and decry vegetarians as daal khorey (lentil-eaters. The food served in the Sikh temples is invariably vegetarian in order to accommodate all sections of society. Jains do not believe in the concept of a God responsible for the manifestation of the Creation. They believe the universe is eternal, without beginning or end, and that all happens in an autonomous fashion with no necessity of a co-coordinator/God.
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion, believing in the singular power of the Formless Creator God, without a parallel universe. In the Guru Granth Sahib, God is called by all the Hindu names and as Allah as well. Jainism is a religion of severity. Its goal is passionless detachment, reached only through the most severe and disciplined lifestyles, culminating in death by voluntary self-starvation. The aim is to achieve the goal solely by self-effort without the help of God or gods; although these self-imposed austerities often include benefit for others. Jains have long been active in promoting ublic welfare. They are known especially for their endowment of schools and hospitals for people and animals. ‘Ahimsa’ meaning non-violence is the basis of Jainism. Sikhism based on a loving and ever-present God experience in the here and now is much less concerned with ‘other worldliness’. The stress is on this life, this existence and achievement of a state of physical/spiritual equipoise through constant engagement in the Divine Being (Naam). The Sikh religion is perceived as possessing two basic features, one being a mystical aspect the other more aggressive, military and world affirming.
Jains constitute what is the only major religion in the world that is unconditionally vegetarian. These two religions are both so different ; have some the same too. I never realized how many differences there actually are. Not until you actually sit down and point them out. Before this class I couldn’t even tell you any other religion besides Christianity. So actually learning about all these different religions is very interesting. I still find it weird that they all believe in a different God than I do. I guess I didn’t realize how many different types of religion there were.