Me Tarzan, You Jain

Deeps' and I are attending a series of lectures on Jainism - one of the oldest surviving religions in the world, and Deepti's own religion. Very interesting; I'm sure I must have ended up taking a few things out of context - I had to surpress a number of questions, didn't want to get a reputation of being a troublemaker. I'll save that for the next lecture!

I'm sure none of you want to hear the details - read on for a brief summary of what we learnt:

1. Vardhamana Mahavira (Lord Mahavira) popularised Jainism. Many believe he was the founder of the religion, although Jains believe the religion goes further back - dating all the way through to antiquity - Lord Mahavira was the 24th teacher.

2. Mahavira and Siddhartha Guatama, the founder of Buddhism, lived at the same time. In fact, it's assumed that when Siddhartha Guatama left his family to renounce worldly possesions, he took refuge at a Jain monastery. Several Buddhist teachings refer to Jain teachings, and Mahavira himself - evidence that Jainism was in fact an established religion at the time of Mahavira.

3. The cycle of life and rebirth (samsara) and moksha (liberation from the cycle) are central beliefs in Jainism. There is no all powerful God as such - rather, every soul may reach a Godlike state, which allows the eternal soul to attain infinite wisdom.

4. Through lives of discipline, the soul can be reincarnated as a tirthankara - a 'teacher'. Each tirthankara, like the islamic rasul may form a new religion.

5. Jains believe the universe was not created, but has always existed, and will last for an eternity. The only quality that reality has is the fact for change. The concept of infinity and eternity are common in Jainism - after all, what could possibly exist outside of an finite universe, or before a non-eternal timeline?

Who knows, I may end up getting some certification points from Birkbeck (U of London) - my PhD in theology may not be a pipedream after all!