Jaina Rituals of Death

Jaina Rituals of Death PDF

Author: Peter Flügel

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-02-08

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9781138232693

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In this book, the author presents recent, somewhat unexpected, findings on the thriving cult of bone relic stupas and the ritual role of the materiality of the dead amongst contemporary Jains. Based on extensive fieldwork in India, clear evidence is offered for the ubiquity of bone relic stupas and relic veneration across the Jain sectarian spectrum, although classical Jain doctrine rejects the worship of material objects. The unique analysis applied in this book juxtaposes field-based ethnographic materials with textual analysis. Additionally, the author adds a broad comparative scope by systematically comparing Jain textual sources with the relevant sources from the Brahmanical and Buddhist traditions. This groundbreaking work will significantly reshape the field of Jain studies and its relationship with other South Asian religious traditions. It also offers is a major contribution to the history of religions.

Sallekhana

Sallekhana PDF

Author: Christopher Key Chapple

Publisher: DK Printworld (P) Ltd

Published: 2022-09-23

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 8124611793

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Jainism regards life to be eternal. Recognizing that the soul can never die, but merely takes a new body, a careful tradition welcoming death through intentional fasting developed more than two thousand years ago. A legal challenge Rajasthan was put forward in 2013, suggesting that this practice is harmful and coercive and targets women in particular. For a short while SallekhanÀ, which means the “thinning of existence,” was declared illegal. In response to this controversy, three conferences were convened by the International School for Jain Studies to explore the legal, religious, and medical aspects of this practice. Experts discussed the long history of the practice, attested to in epigraphs throughout India; the ways in which fasting to death has become an acceptable practice in the Western world; and contemporary instances of its observance in India. This volume presents an interdisciplinary approach to thinking about the end of life, from biomedical, historical, religious, and legal perspectives.

The Jaina Path of Purification

The Jaina Path of Purification PDF

Author: Padmanabh S. Jaini

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 9788120815780

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The religious tradition of the Jainas, unique in many respects, presents a fascinating array of doctrinal and social structures that stem from the anti-vedic movements of ancient times. Drawing extensively on primary sources, Professor Jaini provides a comprehensive introduction to the Jaina experience. Beginning with the Life of Mahavira the author elucidates the essentials of Jaina cosmology and philosophy as well as of the path of purification through which the soul may escape from its Karmic defilements and attain eternal salvation. This path constitutes the integral element within the broader frame-work of Jaina literature, lay ritual and the socio-historical factors, which enabled Jainism to survive and prosper to the present day. In particular, the author has examined the cardinal doctrine of ahimsa (non-harming), both in its impact upon Jaina religious consciousness and as a standard in applying its sacred principles to the conduct of every day life.

The Jains

The Jains PDF

Author: Paul Dundas

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9780415266055

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"This revised and expanded edition takes account of new research into Jainism as carried out over the last ten years."--BOOK JACKET.

Nine Lives

Nine Lives PDF

Author: William Dalrymple

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2010-06-07

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1408801248

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A Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet - then spends the rest of his life trying to atone for the violence by hand printing the best prayer flags in India. A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment as she watches her best friend ritually starve herself to death. Nine people, nine lives; each one taking a different religious path, each one an unforgettable story. William Dalrymple delves deep into the heart of a nation torn between the relentless onslaught of modernity and the ancient traditions that endure to this day. LONGLISTED FOR THE BBC SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE

Insistent Life

Insistent Life PDF

Author: Brianne Donaldson

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2021-08-17

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0520380568

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"Insistent Life is the first full-length interdisciplinary treatment of the foundational principles and principles of application for engaging contemporary bioethics within the Jain tradition. The book fills a significant gap in both the fields of bioethics and Jain studies since Jainism, perhaps more so than any other South Asian tradition, is strongly focused on the ethics of birth, life, and death, with regard to humans as well as other living beings. Brianne Donaldson and Ana Bajželj analyze a diverse range of Jain texts and contemporary sources on Jain doctrines and practices, alongside bioethics, to identify Jain perspectives on bioethical issues while highlighting the complexity of their personal, professional, and public dimensions. The book also features extensive original data--represented in visual graphs--based on an international survey the authors conducted with Jain medical professionals in India and diaspora communities of North America, Europe, and Africa"--

Communities and Courts

Communities and Courts PDF

Author: Manisha Sethi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-12-30

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 1000537854

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The entanglement of law and religion is reiterated on a daily basis in India. Communities and groups turn to the courts to seek positive recognition of their religious identities or sentiments, as well as a validation of their practices. Equally, courts have become the most potent site of the play of conflicts and contradictions between religious groups. The judicial power thus not only arbiters conflicts but also defines what constitutes the ‘religious’, and demarcates its limits. This volume argues that the relationship between law and religion is not merely one of competing sovereignties – as rational law moulding religion in its reformist vision, and religion defending its turf against secular incursions– but needs to be understood within a wider social and political canvas. The essays here demonstrate how questions of religious pluralism, secularism, law and order, are all central to understanding how the religious and the legal remain imbricated within each other in modern India. It will be of interest to academics, researchers, and advanced students of Sociology, History, Political Science and Law. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of South Asian History and Culture.