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Religious/Philosophical Perspective
Why Animals Matter: A religious/Philosophical Perspective Jainism
Harmlessness is the only
religion.
Jain maxim
Below are quotations from Jain sacred
text and leading Jains
both past and present concerning animal rights; the
humane treatment of animals and adopting a
vegetarian/vegan diet. This page is part of a section
about animal rights and religious and philosophical
belief and an adjunct to the article linked above or is
useful if you prefer just basic
information.
Also links to Jain Vegetarian
societies and websites of interest.
For ease of reading all quotations appear in a
Purple Font
Please note: External links will open into a new window
The heart of Jainism is non-violence to
all beings, it is a religion of
compassion, universal love, it considers
the welfare of all living beings, and
not of man alone. One of the basic
virtues of Jainism is ahimsa,
non-violence. A Jain world would be free
from violence or exploitation of any
creature and the environment. Jainism
teaches us to look upon all beings as we
would upon upon our own self, thus
Inflicting injury to them is inflicting
injury to one's self.
Unless we live with non-violence and reverence for all
living beings in our hearts, all our humaneness and acts
of goodness, all our vows, virtues, and knowledge, all
our practices to give up greed and acquisitiveness are
meaningless and useless." “He who harms animals has not
understood or renounced deeds of sin... Those whose
minds are at peace and who are free from passions do not
desire to live at the expense of others.
All
beings are fond of themselves, they like pleasure, they
hate pain, they shun destruction, they like life and
want to live long. To all, life is dear; hence their
life should be protected.
If you kill someone, it is
yourself you kill. If you overpower
someone, it is yourself you
overpower. If you torment some one,
it is yourself you torment. If you
harm someone, it is yourself you
harm.
Lord
Mahavira 24th
Tirthankaraor saint
More Quotations From Jain Sacred Text
Acaranga Sutra
The Acaranga (or Acharanga) Sutra is a canonical sacred text of Jainism
based on Lord Mahavira’s teachings -
Lord Mahavira
, 599-527 BCE, was the twenty-fourth Tirthankaraor saint,
an enlightened being. The Acaranga Sutra
discusses the conduct of a Jain monk. In particular it
describes actions which monks must take to avoid harming
other living beings, including the microscopic life
forms which the ancient Jains believed pervaded the
universe. In antiquity, Acaranga was the first text that was studied by the Jain
monks. This Sutra states that the teachings of all the
Tirthankars belonging to the three divisions of time;
past, present, and future are basically uniform. They
all teach, "Do not kill any living beings, or overpower
them, or enslave them, or harass them, or drive them
away."
The Arhats and Bhagavats of the past, present, and
future, all say thus, speak thus, declare thus, explain
thus: all breathing, existing, living, sentient
creatures should not be slain, nor treated with
violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor driven away.
Acaranga sutra
Propagate the religion which is
a blessing to all creatures in
the world.
Acaranga sutra
One
who harms animals, directly or indirectly, has not
understood deeds of sin...those whose minds are at peace
and who are free from passions do not desire to live at
the expense of others.
Acaranga Sutra
Don't kill any living beings. Don't try to rule them.
Acaranga Sutra
Above, below and in front, people indulge in violent
activities
against living beings individually and collectively in
many ways;
discerning this, a wise man neither himself inflicts
violence on these bodies, nor induces others to do so,
nor approved of their doing so.
Acaranga sutra
He who harms animals has not understood or renounced
deeds of sin...Those whose minds are at peace and who
are free from passions do not desire to live at the
expense of others.
Acaranga Sutra
Sutrakritanga
Sutra
Sutrakritanga Sutra is a sacred canonical text of
Jainism and its teachings include Jain doctrine and the conduct of Monks.
The Sutrakritanga Sutra is the second agama of the 12
main angās of the Jain canons. Agamas are canonical
texts of Jainism based on Mahavira’s teachings.
All breathing,
existing, living, sentient creatures should not be slain
nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented,
nor driven away. This is the pure unchangeable law.
Sutrakritanga Sutra
All beings hate pains; therefore one should not kill
them. This is the quintessence of wisdom: not to kill
anything.
Sutrakritanga Sutra
One who cultivates an attitude of equality towards
all living beings, mobile and stationary, can attain
equanimity. Thus do the kevalis say.
Anuyogadvar
Purusartha-Siddhyupaya
Purusartha-Siddhyupaya an is an important text in
the Jain canonical literature. This text, written by Amrtacandra, who was a mystic scholar, is themed
around ‘ahimsa’ (non-violence), the fundamental
principle in Jainism. Amrtacandra is said to have lived
about ten century AD. Purusarthasiddhyupaya deals
with nonviolence in all its aspects.
Flesh can not be procured without causing destruction of
life; one who uses flesh, therefore, commits hisma
(injury) unavoidably
Purusartha-Siddhyupaya
Mulachara
Mulachara is a Jain text
composed by Acharya Vattakera of the Digambara
tradition, who lived around 1st-2nd century CE.
It incorporates the concepts derived from the Acharanga text.
Mulachara
discusses the conduct of a Jain monk
One should reflect thus:) Let me treat all living
beings with eqanimity and none with enmity. Let me
attain samadhi (tranquility) by becoming free from
expectations.
Mulachara
The sadhaka (one who practices spiritual discipline)
speaks words that are measured and beneficial to all
living beings.
Kartikeyanupreksa
Bhagavati Aradhana
To kill any living being amounts to killing one self.
Compassion to others is compassion to one's own self.
Therefore one should avoid violence like poison and
thorn (that cause pain).
Bhagavati Aradhana
Mercy to living beings, self restraint, truth, honesty,
chastity and contentment, right faith and knowledge, and
austerity are but the entourage of morality.
Sila-prabhrita
Tattvartha Sutra (also known as
Tattvarth-adhigama-sutra or Moksh-Shastra) is a
Jaina text written by Acharya Umaswati or
Umasvami.The Tattvartha Sutra is regarded as the
most authoritative book on Jainism
The purpose of living
beings is to assist each other.
Tattvarth-Sutra
Mercy to living beings, self restraint, truth, honesty,
chastity and contentment, right faith and knowledge, and
austerity are but the entourage of morality.
Sila-prabhrita
Non-injury to all living beings
is the only religion.” (first truth of Jainism) “In
happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should
regard all creatures as we regard our own self, and
should therefore refrain from inflicting upon others
such injury as would appear undesirable to us if
inflicted upon ourselves.” “This is the quintessence of
wisdom; not to kill anything. All breathing, existing,
living sentient creatures should not be slain, nor
treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor
driven away. This is the pure unchangeable Law.
Therefore, cease to injure living things.” “All living
things love their life, desire pleasure and do not like
pain; they dislike any injury to themselves; everybody
is desirous of life and to every being, his life is very
dear.
Yogashastra
Non-injury to all sentient
beings is the only religion. -
Yogashastra (first truth of Jainism)
In happiness and
suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all
creatures as we regard our own self, and should
therefore refrain from inflicting upon others such
injury as would appear undesirable to us if inflicted
upon ourselves.
Mahavira, Yogashastra
Contemporary Commentary
Vegetarianism is another important correlate of Ahimsa.
It is “an attitude of life which refuses to enjoy any
pleasure at the cost of another’s pain. It is the
policy of living at peace with all beings as far as
possible. It is a more radical innovation than any of
the modern sciences to raise the cultural level of man.
The rational conclusion of vegetarianism is that one
should refuse any thing for any purpose in which animals
are slaughtered, even medicine and leather goods.
Extract from the article: The
Idea of Ahimsa and Vegetarianism
To read the complete article
Jain World:The Idea of Ahimsa and Vegetarianism
 |
Symbol:
Shri Vatsa an auspicious symbol on the upper
chest of all 24 Tirthankaras showing
compassionate universal eternal love for all
living beings however minute they may be. |
Links
General information about Jainism
For an absolute wealth of
information in 24 different
languages about Jainism visit Jain
world:
Welcome to Jainworld - Jainism
Global Resource Center - Jain
community, jainis
Articles in
this website include a wide range of material from
an
explanation of ahimsa,
Ahimsa-vrata, i. e., the vow of
`Ahimsa',
to a delightful account of
Abraham Lincoln's
compassion towards a pig
.
Also includes
scholarly articles, clipart, radio
lectures and much more. If you visit no other
website than this you will find all
you need to know about Jainism
Jainism: Jain Principles, Tradition and Practices
A
selection of links to various matters relating to
Jainism including a section on vegetarianism and ahimsa
Jainism: Jain Principles, History,
Resources, History
Jain
Compassion
It aims at the
welfare of all living beings, and not of man alone. It
maintains that living beings are infinite, all so called
empty spaces in the universe are filled with minute
living beings. According to it, there are countless
single-sense organisms that take the subtlest possible
units of material elements -earth, water, fire and air -
as their bodies. Fresh earth is alive but when it is
baked it becomes dead. Fresh water from a well, etc. is
alive but when it is boiled or influenced by mixing some
other substance it becomes dead. Vegetables, trees,
plants, fruits, etc. do have life but when they are
dried, cut or cooked they die. To avoid injury to them
as far as possible, man is advised to use them
discreetly. He should resist from polluting water, air,
etc. and thereby perpetrating violence to them. Worms,
insects, animals, etc. help in keeping ecological
balance thus they help man. And domestic animals have
for ages been a constant and faithful aid to man in
civilizing himself. From the ultimate standpoint of
their original pure pristine state, all living beings
are uniform in their nature. Jainism teaches to look
upon them as upon one's ownself. Inflicting injury to
them is inflicting injury to one's ownself.
Jain Compassion
Why Animals Matter: A religious/Philosophical Perspective Jainism
Important please note:
I
am not an animal expert of any kind just your average
person who loves animals, all animals, and feels deeply
about the plight of many of our fellow creatures.
Neither am I a writer, or any other expert. Therefore
please keep in mind that the information included in
this website has been researched to the best of my
ability and any misinformation is quite by accident but
of course possible.
Copyright, accreditations and
other matters, please read |
