Jainism

According to our reading this week I learned that like many other Indian religions, Jainism also viewed life in terms of reincarnation. This is where people live their lives, die, and sre born again. Jainism views people as bound to life because of the karma they acquire. According to Jainism there are two essentially two substances, soul, and matter. Soul is life- it is eternal and valuable. Matter is lifeless, material, and evil. Thus, it is the goal of Jainism to liberate the soul from matter. This belief is also found in some form in Hinduism, Buddhism,Christianity, Islam, and nearly every other major religion in the world. Jainism maintains that release from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth must be acquired by the individual. The soul can only be freed from matter by the actions of the person involved and not from help. Although Jainism may be acknoeledge the existence of gods, it does not rely on them for help. Jainism will go to great lenghs to avoid harming any living creature, that is why they are vegetarians and and avoid leather products. Jainism and Buddism both deny the validity of the Vedas as inspired scripture, and both reject the religious implications of the Indain caste system.