"Well, akshually, Jainism is atheist, akshually"

 

Or actually not really...

Can you tell me about Jain Tantra or Jain Tantrism?

Yes — though it’s not often talked about, there is such a thing as Jain Tantra (sometimes called Jain Tantrism). It’s a fascinating and somewhat paradoxical part of Jain history, because Jainism is usually seen as the most strictly ascetic, non-esoteric, and anti-ritualist of India’s religions. But the historical record shows otherwise.

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1. What is Jain Tantra?

• Jain Tantra refers to the esoteric, ritual, and sometimes magical practices that developed within Jain communities, especially from the medieval period onward (roughly 8th–12th centuries CE).

• It shares forms and vocabulary with Hindu and Buddhist Tantras, but adapted them to Jain metaphysics and ethics.

• It includes:

  • Yantras (sacred diagrams)

  • Mantras invoking Jinas, yakṣas/yakṣiṇīs (guardian spirits), and cosmic powers

  • Mandalas and ritual worship

  • Occult rites for protection, prosperity, healing, and liberation

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2. Main Features

• Yakṣa–Yakṣiṇī Cults:

  • Jinas (the enlightened ones) are seen as beyond worldly involvement, so Jains often directed ritual devotion toward their attendant deities (like Padmāvatī, Ambikā, Cakreśvarī).

  • These beings were worshipped with Tantric-style rituals for worldly aid and protection.

• Mantra Practices:

  • The most famous Jain mantra is the Namokar Mantra (“I bow to the arihants, siddhas, teachers, monks, ascetics…”).

  • But in Tantric texts, we also see seed syllables (bīja-mantras) and complex formulas invoking specific powers.

• Yantras and Ritual Magic:

  • Jain tantric manuals include diagrams used in meditation or protective magic.

  • Some yantras are almost identical in form to Śaiva and Śākta ones, but with Jain deities inscribed.

• Esoteric Soteriology:

  • Some Jain tantras describe hidden methods to accelerate liberation, parallel to Buddhist Vajrayāna’s “swift path.”

  • This often meant ritualizing ascetic ideals, not replacing them.

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3. Texts and Traditions

• Surviving texts include:

  • Bhaktāmara Stotra (a hymn to the Jina Ṛṣabha, later expanded into tantric ritual manuals)

  • Padmāvatīkalpa (ritual manual for the goddess Padmāvatī)

  • Jvālāmālinīkalpa (tantras dedicated to goddess Jvālāmālinī)

  • Āvaśyaka Niryukti and other commentaries include esoteric mantra interpretations.

• These texts were especially cultivated among Digambara Jains in medieval South India, but Śvetāmbaras also had parallel traditions.

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4. Relationship to Hindu/Buddhist Tantra

• Jain Tantra clearly borrowed ritual technologies from neighboring Śaiva and Vajrayāna traditions:

  • Circle rituals, mantras, mudrās, visualizations.

• But it did not adopt sexual or antinomian practices that are common in Hindu Śākta Tantra. Jain discipline (ahiṃsā, strict ethics, non-violence, asceticism) was non-negotiable.

• Instead, Jain Tantra reinterpreted Tantric methods within a Jain ethical framework.

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5. Living Traditions

• Even today, some Jain communities practice rituals to yakṣiṇīs like Padmāvatī using mantras and yantras.

• Monastic orders sometimes still preserve Tantric texts (though often guarded or downplayed).

• Popular worship at Jain temples often shows Tantric influence (ritual offerings, diagrams, protective mantras).

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✅ Summary:
Jain Tantra is a little-known but real esoteric dimension of Jainism, blending Jain ascetic ideals with Tantric ritual technologies. It centered on yakṣa–yakṣiṇī worship, mantras, yantras, and ritual magic. While Jain philosophy stayed rigorously ascetic, Jain Tantra provided a practical, ritual way for laypeople to seek protection, prosperity, and spiritual aid within a Jain framework.

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Would you like me to give you a concrete example of a Jain Tantric goddess (like Padmāvatī or Jvālāmālinī) and the way she’s invoked in mantra/yantra practice?

Who are the yaksha-yakshinis? Jainism is often described as "atheist" or "atheistic".

Excellent pair of questions — they go right to the heart of how Jainism is both very philosophically austere and yet mythically and ritually rich.

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1. Yakṣa–Yakṣiṇī in Jainism

• Yakṣa = male attendant spirit, Yakṣiṇī = female counterpart.

• Every Tīrthaṅkara (the 24 enlightened “ford-makers” of Jainism) has a pair of divine guardians who serve as protectors of his image and devotees.

• Example:

  • Ṛṣabha (1st Tīrthaṅkara) → Yakṣa Gomukha & Yakṣiṇī Cakreśvarī

  • Mahāvīra (24th Tīrthaṅkara) → Yakṣa Mātaṅga (or Brahmaṇyadeva) & Yakṣiṇī Ambikā

• They are often depicted as semi-divine beings with superpowers, approachable for worldly aid.

• In practice, they became the focus of much popular devotion, mantra, and Tantric ritual, since the Jinas themselves are aloof and beyond involvement in worldly affairs.

Functions:

• Protection of temples and devotees

• Granting health, wealth, fertility, protection from enemies

• Acting as “bridges” between ordinary people and the transcendence of the Jinas

So they play the role of guardian angels or bodhisattva-like figures, though technically still bound by saṃsāra.

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2. Why is Jainism called “atheistic”?

This can be misleading. Here’s why:

• Jains do not believe in a creator God (Īśvara or Brahmā).

• The universe is eternal, governed by natural laws (karma, dharma, adharma as cosmic substances).

• The highest beings are the Jinas / Tīrthaṅkaras — perfected humans who attained liberation. They are worthy of worship, but they are not creators or sustainers of the cosmos.

• Even gods (devas) exist in Jain cosmology — heavens full of divine beings — but all are finite, karmically bound, and mortal. They are higher in power, not higher in truth.

So Jainism is “atheistic” in the sense of denying a supreme creator God, but it is not materialist or godless:

• It has an extensive pantheon of deities, spirits, and cosmic beings.

• Its highest beings (the Jinas) are objects of devotion, though they are liberated humans, not gods in the theistic sense.

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3. Yakṣa–Yakṣiṇī & Jain “Atheism”

This creates an interesting paradox:

• Official Jain philosophy is ascetic, focused on self-effort and liberation.

• In lived practice, Jainism developed a rich devotional and Tantric tradition around yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs.

• These beings made Jainism accessible to ordinary people who sought worldly blessings while still revering the Jinas as ultimate ideals.

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✅ Summary:

• Yakṣas and Yakṣiṇīs are protective deities assigned to each Jina, worshipped for practical benefits.

• Jainism is called “atheistic” because it rejects a creator God — but it still has a vast pantheon, where gods, yakṣas, and Jinas play important roles.

• This combination makes Jainism a kind of devotional non-theism: no creator God, but many divine beings and intense ritual devotion.

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Would you like me to give you a table of all 24 Tīrthaṅkaras with their yakṣa–yakṣiṇī pairs? It might help you see how systematized this is.

How common is Jain-Hindu syncretism? Do Jains and Hindus worship in each other´s temples?

This is a great and nuanced question, because Jainism and Hinduism have lived side by side for over 2,000 years, often sharing cultural, artistic, and ritual spaces while keeping their own doctrinal boundaries.

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1. How common is Jain–Hindu syncretism?

• Architecture & Temples

  • Many Jain temples look almost identical to Hindu temples in style, iconography, and ritual form.

  • Example: Dilwara temples at Mount Abu (Rajasthan) — Jains built them, but the architecture follows broader Hindu temple patterns.

  • Sometimes Jains even worshipped in temples originally built for Hindu deities, and vice versa.

• Deities Shared Across Traditions

  • Some Jain yakṣiṇīs (like Ambikā, Padmāvatī, Cakreśvarī) overlap with Hindu goddesses (Ambikā ≈ Durgā, Padmāvatī ≈ Lakṣmī/Padmā).

  • Jvālāmālinī has Śākta resonances.

  • Certain Jain mantras and yantras look almost identical to Śaiva/Śākta Tantric ones, with only the divine names changed.

• Pilgrimage Sites

  • Some holy sites (like Śatrunjaya in Gujarat or Gommaṭeśvara at Śravaṇabelagola) are Jain, but Hindus often visit and revere them.

  • Conversely, some Jain families visit Hindu temples for local deities, especially in rural areas.

• Festivals

  • Jain Paryuṣaṇa and Hindu festivals sometimes overlap in calendar and form.

  • In regions like Karnataka and Gujarat, processions and fairs bring both communities together.

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2. Do Jains and Hindus worship in each other’s temples?

• Yes, informally and locally, quite often.

  • In villages, where there may be just one temple structure, Jains and Hindus have historically shared spaces.

  • Hindus sometimes pray in Jain temples — especially to yakṣiṇīs, who resemble Hindu goddesses.

  • Jains may make offerings at local Hindu temples (especially to village goddesses for protection), though orthodox Jains will insist their true devotion is only to Jinas.

• But there are boundaries.

  • Strict Jains will not participate in animal sacrifice or blood offerings (common in some Hindu Śākta temples).

  • Ritual purity rules in Jain temples are stricter — for instance, meat-eaters may be discouraged from entering, and menstruating women traditionally excluded.

  • Theologically, Jains reject the idea of a creator god, so their visits to Hindu temples are often framed as “cultural respect” or family custom rather than doctrinal worship.

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3. Historical Perspective

• In medieval India, Jains, Hindus, and Buddhists all used overlapping temple and artistic styles.

• Some kings patronized both traditions equally (e.g., Chalukyas, Hoysalas).

• In inscriptions, Hindu kings sometimes called themselves protectors of Jinas, and Jain donors supported Hindu shrines.

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✅ Summary:

• Jain–Hindu syncretism is common in practice — shared temples, overlapping deities, festivals, and pilgrimages.

• Yes, people do worship across traditions, especially at the popular/local level, though with some doctrinal caution.

• Jains emphasize self-effort and non-theism, but in daily life, the boundary between Jain and Hindu religiosity has often been permeable and fluid, especially in India’s shared sacred landscape.

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Would you like me to point out some famous temples where Hindus and Jains historically worshipped together (like Khajuraho, Ellora, or mixed-use shrines in Gujarat)?

Yes, please.

Perfect — here are some famous cases of Jain–Hindu temple overlap where worship, architecture, or sacred geography was shared:

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1. Ellora Caves (Maharashtra)

• The site has 34 rock-cut temples and monasteries:

  • Buddhist (caves 1–12)

  • Hindu (caves 13–29)

  • Jain (caves 30–34)

• All were carved between the 6th and 10th centuries CE.

• Pilgrims of different traditions visited together; kings patronized all three faiths.

• The styles (Śaiva, Vaiṣṇava, Jain) influenced one another heavily.

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2. Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh)

• Famous for its erotic sculptures, Khajuraho has Hindu and Jain temples side by side.

• Jain temples (like the Pārśvanātha and Ādinātha shrines) are within walking distance of Hindu temples (like Kandariya Mahādeva).

• Local worshippers historically flowed between them — today, too, Hindus often visit Jain temples there.

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3. Mount Abu – Dilwara Temples (Rajasthan)

• Purely Jain temples, but built by Hindu rulers (Chaulukya dynasty).

• Hindu artisans also worked on them, and Hindu pilgrims frequently visit to admire and sometimes pray.

• The architectural style is indistinguishable from Hindu temple design of the period.

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4. Śatrunjaya Hill (Palitana, Gujarat)

• Major Jain pilgrimage site with hundreds of temples.

• Local Hindus often join the processions, revere the hill, and worship yakṣiṇīs with Hindu-style rituals.

• In the wider region, Jains also participate in Hindu festivals at nearby shrines.

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5. Śravaṇabelagola (Karnataka)

• Home of the giant monolithic statue of Bahubali (Gommaṭeśvara), a key Digambara pilgrimage site.

• But Hindu pilgrims also come, seeing Bahubali as a great saint or even an avatāra-like figure.

• Kings who sponsored the statue (Ganga dynasty) were Hindu, but strongly patronized Jainism too.

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6. Kumbharia Temples (Gujarat)

• A cluster of 11th–12th century temples, with Jain shrines alongside Śiva and Viṣṇu temples.

• Archaeology shows mixed patronage by Jain merchants and Hindu kings.

• Even today, Hindu villagers often visit Jain temples for blessings.

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7. Local & Village Shrines

• In many rural areas (especially in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka), a single temple structure historically housed both Hindu and Jain icons.

• Example: A shrine might have an image of Ambikā Yakṣiṇī (Jain goddess) next to Durgā (Hindu goddess).

• Worshippers addressed them interchangeably, blurring the boundary.

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✅ Summary:

• At major sites like Ellora, Khajuraho, Mount Abu, Śatrunjaya, Śravaṇabelagola, and many smaller shrines, Hindus and Jains have historically worshipped together or side by side.

• Jains maintained doctrinal distinctness (no creator god, emphasis on Jinas), but at the level of ritual and devotion, there has been deep overlap.

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Would you like me to also show you how Jain icons were sometimes absorbed into Hindu frameworks (for instance, Bahubali seen as a form of Śiva, or Jinas identified with Viṣṇu’s avatāras)?

Yes, please.

Absolutely — here’s how Jain icons and deities were sometimes absorbed or syncretized with Hindu frameworks, especially in art, popular devotion, and regional practice:

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1. Bahubali / Gommaṭeśvara and Śiva

• Bahubali, the son of Rishabha (the first Tīrthaṅkara), is depicted as standing in meditation (kayotsarga) or seated, entirely nude (Digambara).

• Hindu perception:

  • Local Hindus sometimes identified Bahubali with Śiva or a great rishi/ascetic, due to his austere meditation and cosmic significance.

  • Temples to Bahubali often adopted Śiva-like architectural motifs (shikhara towers, mandapas) to make the shrine more accessible to Hindu devotees.

• Pilgrimage overlap: At Śravaṇabelagola, Hindu and Jain pilgrims climb the hill together.

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2. Yakṣiṇīs as Hindu Goddesses

• Many Jain Yakṣiṇīs were visually and ritually similar to Hindu goddesses:

  • Ambikā (mother of Neminatha, 22nd Tīrthaṅkara) ≈ Durgā / Pārvatī in iconography and function.

    • Both protect devotees, grant fertility, and are depicted with lions or trees.

  • Padmāvatī (Yakṣiṇī of Parshvanatha) ≈ Lakṣmī, sometimes depicted with lotus, elephants, and auspicious symbols.

  • Temples dedicated to these Yakṣiṇīs often incorporated Hindu-style pūjā rituals, lamps, and festivals.

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3. Tīrthaṅkaras and Hindu Avatāras

• Some local traditions equate Rishabha (1st Tīrthaṅkara) with Viṣṇu:

  • Certain texts identify Rishabha as an avatāra of Viṣṇu, emphasizing his cosmic role.

  • This is mostly popular/local syncretism, not canonical Jain doctrine.

• In art, Tīrthaṅkara images sometimes appear with Vaishṇava motifs (conch, chakra) to make them recognizable to Hindu devotees.

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4. Festivals & Ritual Syncretism

• At Paryuṣaṇa or Mahāvīra Jayanti, in some regions:

  • Hindu neighbors participate in processions, offer flowers, or light lamps.

  • This sometimes led to blending of ritual styles: lamps, bells, and music borrowed from Hindu temple practice.

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5. Iconography & Shared Architectural Language

• Jain temples often mimic Hindu mandala layouts, garbha-gṛha, and vimāna towers.

• Sculptural panels sometimes feature Hindu deities alongside Jinas (Ganesh, Śiva, or Viṣṇu appear at Jain sites for protection and aesthetics).

• This was particularly common in Chalukya, Hoysalas, and Solanki-period constructions.

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6. Key Takeaways

• Doctrinally, Jains never absorbed Hindu gods — Jinas remain supreme in Jainism.

• Culturally and ritually, Jain images were often “read” through a Hindu lens by local populations.

• This syncretism made temples socially inclusive, allowed shared festivals, and enabled cross-religious patronage by kings and merchants.

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✅ Summary:

• Bahubali → sometimes perceived as Śiva

• Ambikā, Padmāvatī → Hindu-style goddesses

• Rishabha → occasionally equated with Viṣṇu

• Iconography, architecture, and ritual often borrowed Hindu motifs, allowing Jain sites to function in a Hindu-dominated religious landscape.

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If you want, I can make a side-by-side chart of key Jina, Yakṣiṇī, and Hindu correspondences showing which Jains are locally seen as which Hindu deity — it’s a very clear way to visualize this syncretism.

Luminous encounters

 

“The Self-Immolation of Kalanos and other Luminous Encounters among Greeks and Indian Buddhists in the Hellenistic World” is a rather short article by Georgios T Halkias published in 2015 in the scholarly “Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies”. Or perhaps not so short, since Halkias has appended a large number of voluminous footnotes! The author further states that his study is “revisionist”, but not being an expert on Kalanos and other luminous beings, I can´t really tell what the “revisionism” entails. Perhaps the identity of the famed gymnosophists, and perhaps…something else. Stay tuned!

During the campaigns of Alexander the Great (here referred to as Alexandros of Macedonia), the Greeks encountered “gymnosophists” or naked wise men, obviously a reference to some kind of Indian ascetics. But what kind? There are many different kinds of ascetics in South Asia, and I suppose the usual guesses are Hindus (or rather what we would call Hindus) or Jains. 

Halkias proposes Buddhists instead. Kalanos accompanied the Greek army of Alexander and then committed suicide by self-immolation on a pyre. Apparently, Jains oppose self-immolation, instead preferring suicide by voluntary starvation. They aren´t even allowed to handle fire, since it can kill flying insects. Nor is there any archeological or documentary evidence of a Jain presence in Taxila, where the Greeks encountered the gymnosophists, during the relevant time frame. But what about the nudity? Halkias believes that nudity was prevalent in many different Indian contexts, not just among Jains, citing as an example near-nude Indian diplomatic envoys to the Persian king.

The author further argues that there is evidence that members of some early Buddhist sects only wore rags or were “open air dwellers” rather than building shelters for themselves. That the gymnosophists allowed women to practice or debate with them also points to Buddhism. So does the fact that Kalanos willingly accompanied the Macedonian army when it departed for another part of the conquered Persian Empire. Missionary work directed at non-Indians was standard Buddhist practice. But apparently the “smoking gun” (pun almost intended) is Kalanos´ self-immolation. This may come as a shock to those who think that Buddhism is a strictly non-violent religion which opposes suicide, but there you go. 

I´ve previously reviewed a scholarly article on ritual suicide among Pure Land Buddhists in China and Japan. If Halkias is correct, acceptance of suicide runs deep within Buddhism, including its earliest forms. It was acceptable for ascetics (not laity) to commit suicide if sickness or old age seriously impaired their meditative practice. Indeed, this seems to have been precisely what Kalanos was doing. Buddhist monks, but not Brahmins, were cremated at death. Brahmin holy men who committed suicide usually drowned themselves in sacred rivers. Therefore, suicide by fire would have been a Buddhist practice.

Halkias references a presumably apocryphal tradition according to which the Buddhist emperor Ashoka killed himself by self-immolation. From a much later period, there is a description of Indian ascetics by the Gnostic Bardesanes which must refer to Buddhist monks, and which also states that they practice self-immolation. More disturbingly, perhaps, Bardesanes states that the ascetics take their own lives *not* when they are sickly or elderly, but when their spiritual practice is most successful! Halkias recounts legends about Buddha´s former lives or about bodhisattvas, which include self-immolation. The point of self-immolation is, Halkias believes, to imitate the Buddha´s funeral pyre and produce holy relics. He even believes that the Buddha himself self-immolated, but I don´t see how the quoted material bears this out.

Here is another bizarre quote: “A Buddhist narrative from the Mahavastu tells that at the moment of Shakyamuni´s conception in his mother’s womb five hundred pratyekabuddhas assembled at the Deer Park in Sarnath (where Shakyamuni would later deliver his first sermon) and liberated themselves from their bodies in a spectacular manner. Rising high up in the air to a height of seven palm trees they immolated themselves, bursting into flames. This pyrotechnic phantasmagoria anticipates the Buddha’s enlightening teachings at the Deer Park and suggests some ancient form of sacrifice/offering that marks the birth of a great leader.”

The author ends his study by arguing that the ancient Greeks didn´t disapprove of the antics of the self-immolating gymnosophists. Quite the contrary, the suicide by fire motif also existed in Greek mythology and tradition…

I admit that I don´t quite like the implications of this revisionist piece of scholarship.

"The world´s most peaceful religion" (LOL)

 

Me, reflecting on the absurdity of existence 

The Indian religion of Jainism is often said to be the most peaceful religion in the world, and is associated with "ahimsa" (non-violence). So let´s see how peaceful Jainism *really* was during its history. Info coined from Wikipedia, which as we all know is *completely unreliable*. Right? 

Bimbisara (558 - 491 BC):

>>>He was the son of Bhattiya. His expansion of the kingdom, especially his annexation of the kingdom of Anga to the east, is considered to have laid the foundations for the later expansion of the Mauryan Empire.

>>>He led a military campaign against Anga, perhaps to avenge his father's earlier defeat at the hands of its king, Brahmadatta. The campaign was successful, Anga was annexed, and prince Kunika (Ajatashatru) was appointed governor at Champa. His conquest of Anga gave Magadha control over the routes to the Ganges Delta, which had important ports that gave access to the eastern coast of India. Pukkasati, the king of Gandhara, sent Bimbisara an embassy.

Ajatashatru (492-460 BC)

>>>He forcefully took over the kingdom of Magadha from his father and imprisoned him. He fought a war against the Vajjika League, led by the Licchavis, and conquered the republic of Vaishali. The city of Pataliputra was formed by fortification of a village by Ajatashatru.

>>>Ajatashatru followed policies of conquest and expansion. He defeated his neighbouring rivals including the king of Kosala; his brothers, at odds with him, went to Kashi, which had been given to Bimbisara as dowry and led to a war between Magadha and Kosala.

>>>Ajatashatru occupied Kashi and captured the smaller kingdoms. Magadha under Ajatashatru became the most powerful kingdom in North India.

The war between Ajatashatru and Chetaka (both being Jains, apparently).  

>>>The war began. King Chetaka was a devout follower of Mahavira and had a vow to not shoot more than one arrow per day in a war. It was known to all that Chetaka's aim was perfect and his arrows were infallible. His first arrow killed one Kalakumara, commander of Ajatashatru. On the consecutive nine days the rest of the nine Kalakumaras were killed by Cheta. Deeply sorrowed by the death of their sons, the Kali queens were initiated as nuns in the holy order of Mahavira.

>>>As Ajatashatru was moving towards defeat, he practised penance for three days and offered prayers to Sakrendra and Charmendra (Indra of different heavens), who then helped him in the war. They protected him from the infallible arrow of Chetaka. The war became very severe and by the divine influence of the Indras even the pebbles, straws, leaves hurled by Ajatashatru's men were said to have fell like rocks on the army of Chetaka. 

>>>This weapon was thus named Mahasilakantaka, i.e. the weapon through which more than a lakh (100,000) people died. Next, the Indras granted a huge, automatically moving chariot with swinging spiked maces on each side, and said to have been driven by Charmendra himself, to Ajatashatru. The chariot moved about in the battlefield crushing lakhs of soldiers. This war-chariot was named Ratha-Musala.

>>>In this battle, Chetaka was defeated. But, Chetaka and others immediately took shelter inside the city walls of Vaishali and closed the main gate. The walls around Vaishali were so strong that Ajatashatru was unable to break through them. Many days passed, Ajatashatru became furious and again prayed to Indra, but this time Indra refused to help him. But Ajatashatru was informed by an oracle of a demi-goddess "Vaishali can be conquered if Sramana (monk) Kulvalaka gets married to a courtesan."

>>>Ajatashatru inquired about the monk Kulvalaka and sent for the prostitute Magadhika disguised as a devout follower. The fallen woman attracted the monk towards herself and finally, the monk gave up his monkhood and married her. Later Magadhika on Ajatashatru's orders brainwashed Kulvalaka to enter Vaishali disguised as an astrologer. 

Samprati (224-215 BC)

>>>According to a Jain text, the provinces of Saurashtra, Maharashtra, Andhra and Mysore broke away from the empire shortly after Ashoka's death (i.e., during Dasharatha's reign), but were reconquered by Samprati, who later deployed soldiers disguised as Jain monks.

Ahimsa my ass. 

Human desire

 

"How can Christianity be man-made if it goes against all human desires?" seems to be the most recent Christian TikTok meme. The atheist with the strange moniker "Genetically Modified Skeptic" has little problem responding to it. 

Summary: Christianity doesn´t go against all human desires, it can be a good thing for a community from a Darwinist survival viewpoint to give up some desires, and Christianity isn´t the only religion that conflicts with (some) human desires. What about Buddhism or Jainism, for instance?

Or as somebody pointed out in the commentary section: if you are a (modern American) Protestant, you can´t use this argument anyway, since traditional Catholics and the Orthodox give up even more than you do!

Hindu imperialism?

 

The unsympathetic "Shankaracharya" in Puri continues his imperialist preaching. He actually says that the Indian constitution should be applied all over the world?! 

Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs - regardless of where they live - should be considered Hindus. In this way, Hinduism would become the largest world religion, so what´s the point of converting anyone? 

An original non-conversion, this, but there you go...  

A really existing goddess

 

"The Jaina Goddess Padmavati in Karnataka" is a short but interesting essay by Indologist Robert Zybendos, recently published in "Monsoon", the journal of the South Asian Studies Association. 

Just like Buddhism, Jainism is often described as an "atheistic" religion without gods or goddesses, in which each human must work out his or her own salvation. While there is some truth in this (the liberated beings or Tirthankaras of Jainism being former humans who managed to break free of samsara), really existing Jainism also includes temple priests, magic, and worship of gods (yakshas) and goddesses (yakshis) who are paired with the Tirthankaras. The usual reaction when faced with this reality is to blame it on later Hindu influence. Zybendos, by contrast, believes that deity worship and belief in the magical efficacy of mantras was present in Jainism from the start (or even in proto-Jainism). I admit that I have no particular dog in that fight...

Padmavati is associated with the Tirthankara Parshvanatha or Parshva, who Zybendos regards as a real historical figure predating Mahavira, who is usually regarded as the founder of Jainism. In a popular myth, two snakes are hurt by fire when a wayward king is doing penances sitting between burning logs. Before the snakes die of their injuries, Parshva preaches the Jain message to them, which apparently makes the reptiles be reborn in the underworld as nagas (supernatural snake-spirits). One of these nagas is none other than Padmavati. She becomes the protector of Parshva, and is associated with powerful mantras. In Karnataka, where Zybendos carried out his research, the goddess is worshipped in her own temples or in shrines inside temples dedicated to others. The main temple is found in the village of Hombuja or Humcha, once the seat of a Jain royal dynasty. Each year in spring, a major religious festival in honor of Padmavati takes place in Hombuja, attended by about 20,000 people. Her idol is paraded through the streets, the temple priest is apparently possessed by the goddess, and the rituals look "Hindu" in character (at least from my perspective). Indeed, most participants in the festival are presumably Hindus!

Zybendos also tries to analyze the structure of Jain beliefs in gods and goddesses. Each Tirthankara is associated with one god and one goddess, but very often, the goddess is the most prominent, making the pair "male Tirthankara - goddess" similar to the pairing of male gods and their female consorts in Hinduism. It´s also interesting to note that while the Tirthankaras are (of course) cool, serene and detached from the world, the goddesses are involved in it. This is reminescent of how the divine dyad Shiva and Shakti are portrayed in certain forms of Shaivism. While some will no doubt see this as additional evidence for heavy Hindu influence on Jainism, Zybendos rather wants to see it as reflecting a shared understanding of spiritual realities which in some sense might be real (the author seems sympathetic to parapsychology and PSI). 

I found the article interesting, since it shows that Jainism is at bottom just like any other religion, for good or for worse...  

Meditation until death

 

More crazy Jain stuff. Yes, this old lady is an ascetic who has decided to starve herself to death. Don´t watch this content if you´re a sensitive person! I mean it. 

Frontiers of understanding

"The Frontiers of Peace" is a BBC-Wales documentary from 1986 about Jainism, a minority religion in India with certain similarities to both Buddhism and Hinduism. After watching it, I have to say that I´m tempted to insult the religious feelings of these particular life-bodies. Jainism must be the most silly religion in the world! Or is it just my bad karma talking?

Jainism was founded by the sage Mahavira about 600 BCE. Mahavira is often considered to be a contemporary of Buddha. The religion preaches "ahimsa" (strict non-violence) and extreme asceticism. The monks and nuns showed in the documentary belong to the Svetambara sect, considered to be the "moderate" wing of the religion. Jain ascetics must always walk on foot, barefooted. They sleep on the ground, frequently fast, and only eat simple vegetarian food offerings. Some wear masks in order not to accidentally kill insects by inhaling them. All ascetics sweep the ground before them for the same reason - they don´t want to stomp on any insects by accident. Monks and nuns are only allowed to drink water which have been cooked and distilled, once again to remove any insects. If a monk or non have become too old to keep the Jain rituals and rules, they are allowed to "meditate until death", that is, starve themselves to death. 

You would think a religion like this couldn´t possibly be compatible with worldly success. You would be wrong. The Jain community is among the richest in India, many Jains being succesful businessmen with a Western education! These are of course not monks, but lay people. "The Frontiers of Peace" interviews a super-rich Jain industrialist, who admits quite freely that there is a contradiction between traditional Jain precepts and his capitalist activity, based on "accumulation". He doesn´t have any good solution, but plans to eventually retire and live a simple life...when he becomes really old, and has bestowed his considerable property onto his children and some charities. The documentary shows the industrialist walking around in his textile plant together with an advisor, who turns out to be a Jain monk...

This in itself is weird, but more is to come. The Jains operate a number of animal rescues, where cows and other beasts destined for the slaughter house are allowed to live out their lives, unhindered. The specimens in question are clearly in very bad shape, some are actually dying. However, ahimsa means a strict prohibition even against mercy killings of clearly suffering animals. The "animal rescue" turns out to be a place of wanton cruelty to animals. Apparently, the Jains formally protested when Mahatma Gandhi had a suffering calf killed at his ashram in Ahmedabad. The documentary even features a Jain whose father was part of the delegation the Jains sent to Gandhi to argue against him! 

"The Frontiers of Peace" features interviews with several girls, aged around 20, who have decided to become Jain nuns. One of them comes from a very rich family and has even spent some time in the United States, while the other is probably an orphan who sees no prospect for herself in the secular world. The intiation ritual is shown. Even more perplexing is the interview with a Jain who left the monastic order after hearing about the launch of Sputnik. This made him realize that the Earth is round, while Jain scriptures explicitly teach that its flat. Ironically, the man now works as an astrologer and palmist! I suppose Sputnik didn´t disprove them... 

The contradictions and sheer hypocrisy of this religion seem legion. Monks are obsessed about not killing bedbugs and mosquitoes, while letting cows die horrible deaths. Meanwhile, laymen are succesful capitalists. (Do they even let their workers unionize, I wonder?) No, I can´t say I became more understanding towards Jainism after watching this.

Final point. The documentary is only about 40 minutes long. For some reason, this particular YouTube channel has uploaded it twice in the same video clip.  

Idol of the Week

 

Veckans avgudabild

 

Swastika Awareness Day

 

How the world loved the swastika...until Hitler stole it

The link above goes to a peculiar article at BBC News trying to rehabilitate...the swastika?! I don´t think such an article could have been published, say, 30 years ago, and I´m surprised it can be published now! Maybe it can´t, since the piece is from 2014, long before the BLM-Antifa riots and the storming of the Capitol... 

One thing not mentioned by the writer is that the swastika is still officially used in Finland. It forms part of the design of the flag of the president! Otherwise, I think the hakenkreuz will remain off limits in the Western world for another 100 years or so, since most people using it aren´t nice old ladies from the Theosophical Society or harmless Raëlian cranks, but...ahem...actual Nazis. 

India and Tibet is another matter entirely. Perhaps an ironic consequence of Western multi-culturalism is that Hindus, Jains and Buddhists will be permitted to use the swastika at their temples in the middle of London or New York? 

Holy cow!

“The Myth of the Holy Cow” is a controversial book by Dwijendra Narayan Jha, an Indian historian. It was published during the first BJP government, the BJP being a right-wing Hindu nationalist party. The author and the original publisher were threatened by both BJP supporters and the even more extreme VHP. The Indian edition was banned by the Hyderabad Civil Court, ironically after a complaint by a Jain (a peaceful religious group). Eventually, a new edition was published abroad after well-known leftist intellectual Tariq Ali had intervened to aid D N Jha. What caused all this uproar?

The central argument of Jha's book is that the cow hasn't always been considered holy in Hinduism. This is a politically contentious claim, since the BJP and other Hindutva groups use the sanctity of the cow as a rallying point for (sometimes violent) anti-Muslim mobilizations and also as a marker of communal identity. For Hindu nationalists, it's also important to claim an unbroken cultural continuity from Vedic times until today. If the sacredness of the cow is a modern construct, the entire Hindutva worldview falls apart.

Jha's book is dry and scholarly, with lengthy and tedious references to various Hindu scriptures. He also takes on Buddhism and Jainism (which explains why a Jain filed a complaint against the work in Hyderabad). However, Jha does succeed in demonstrating his point. The cow was certainly not sacred to the original Aryans, who both sacrificed and consumed cattle. They also used cow hides and fat. Later, Hindu tradition became more mixed, but never completely pro-cow nor strictly vegetarian. There is ample evidence from various scriptures that cattle was sacrificed in honor of prominent Brahmins, who then partook of the meat. Medical texts recommended various forms of meat for their curative effects. The Hindu epics (regarded as holy writ by pious Hindus) often mention meat-eating, including beef-eating, without questioning the practice. It wasn't until the period we call the Middle Ages that the Brahminical authorities began to question cow-killing. Even then, they indirectly admitted that cattle hadn't always been sacred: cow-killing was only prohibited in the present “dark age” (kali yuga). In some places, the ritual slaughter of cattle didn't end until the 19th century, and the slaughter of the buffalo continued well into the 20th century.

Jha claims that early Buddhists and Jains weren't completely opposed to meat-eating either. While they opposed animal sacrifice and preached “ahimsa” (non-violence) towards all living creatures, the Buddhists in particular often adapted to local cultural norms which included such sacrifice and meat-eating. The Jains were more strict, but nevertheless allowed meat-eating under some circumstances, for instance if the ascetic lived among robbers or in isolated villages where no vegetarian food was available. Jha also points out that the Buddhist emperor Ashoka never prohibited the killing of cattle. This is intriguing, since Ashoka prohibited the killing of many other animals, including parrots, bats and ants! Nor was Ashoka himself a vegetarian. The Mauryan emperor consumed both peacocks and deer.

While “The Myth of the Holy Cow” is intended as a counterblast to Hindu nationalism, it also pops another myth: the often-heard Western claim that Hindu and Buddhist civilizations are “vegetarian”. This is a common canard in vegetarian and vegan circles, including animal rights activists. Any remaining militant vegans would do well to procure a copy of this work. Religious injunctions aside, archeological excavations prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the common people of India have always been omnivores…

I suppose many people's reactions to this book could be summarized in two words: Holy cow!