The Buddhist Path to Enlightenment (study)
by Dr Kala Acharya | 2016 | 118,883 words
This page relates ‘Jainism and Buddhism’ of the study on the Buddhist path to enlightenment. The Buddha was born in the Lumbini grove near the present-day border of India and Nepal in the 6th century B.C. He had achieved enlightenment at the age of thirty–five under the ‘Bodhi-tree’ at Buddha-Gaya. This study investigates the teachings after his Enlightenment which the Buddha decided to teach ‘out of compassion for beings’.
4. Jainism and Buddhism
Both Jainism and Buddhism belong to the Śramaṇa tradition, which, it is amply proved, had been at variance with the Brāmanical tradition. (cf. the expression samaṇa-brāhmaṇa as reflecting the totality of the population devoted to spiritual matters). The Jaina view is that the Śramaṇa tradition had taken root in the Indian sub-continent long before the Brāmanical tradition was introduced with the coming of the Vedic Aryans. The fundamental difference is that the Vedic Brāhmanical cult invoked the authority of the Vedas, placed its foremost emphasis on rites and ritual and based social stratification on birth, whereas the Śramaṇa tradition ignored, if not rejected, the Vedas, upheld the path of moral, mental and spiritual development, founded on non-violence and truth, and admitted everyone irrespective of cast, creed, colour and social position to pursue the spiritual goal of salvation and deliverance from the cycle of birth and death (saṃsāra).
As both Jainism and Buddhism were taught within the same geographical area during the same historical period, a high degree of mutual ideological influence was inevitable. The wandering of the Buddha for six years in search of enlightenment also would have brought him into contact with Jainistic dogmas.
Some ideas are found to be common to both Jainism and Buddhism. Buddhism is based on the four noble truths (cattari ariyasaccāni), viz. the truth of suffering (dukkhasaccā), the truth of the arising of suffering (dukkhasamudayasaccā), and the truth of the path leading to the annihilation of suffering (dukkhanirodhagāmini paṭipadā ariyasaccā). Jainism, too, teaches substantially the same doctrines. During the twelve meditations (dvadasanupreksa) a Nigaṇṭha thinks of the nature of the world and soul. In this way he tries to abstain from attachment to anything so that he could attain the state of Vitaragatva (freedom from all desires). Avidyā (ignorance), as in Buddhism, is the root cause of Karmic bondage, and release is possible through right vision (samyagdarsana), right knowledge (samyagjnana), and right conduct (samyagcaritra).[1]
Buddhism extols the four meditations (bhāvanā), viz.
The Jain Scripture declares that these should be meditated upon by everybody—
(Maitripramo dakarunyamadhyasthani ca satvagunadhikaklisyamana-vinayesu).
They are realizable through con-centration (yogakkhamani nibbanaṃ ajjhagamam), and are free from ageing (ajaraṃ), Salvation can be attained with the cessation of the chain of causation. Liberation (mokṣa), in Jainism, is a condition of the pure soul, free from all bondage of karmas, peaceful, enlightened and eternal.[3] Both religions believe that every being experiences fruits of his good and bad deeds in the present or future life and rebirth continues till the attainment of salvation.
Non-violence (Ahimsa) is also a common feature of both Jainism and Buddhism. Buddhism, like Jainism, stipulates that its adherents should abstain from all forms of violence (himsa). But Jainism appears more strict in this respect. The eating of flesh, which is not altogether forbidden in Buddhism, is completely forbidden in Jainism. In other words, non-violence is the foundation of Jain religion and philosophy. Syādvāda and nayavāda, the spirit of reconciliation, is an integral part of its theme.
Both Jainism and Buddhism hold that the Universe came into being without the intervention of the creator-God. Worshiping of the images of their sages is a common feature in both religions. As regards the dissimilarities between them, they are so fundamental that any positive influence of Jainism on Buddhism or vice versa in difficult to establish. Buddhism does not believe in soul, whereas Jainism regards it as an essential part of human personality and its purity is essential for the attainment of salvation.
According to Buddhism, a thing which comes into being perishes in the next moment. All the psychical factors like feeling, cognition, names and concepts are discrete and momen-tary. The first moment is regarded as the material causes (upadāna) and the second the effect (upadeya). The combined stream of upadāna and upadeya give rise to the false notion of a permanent self.
On the other hand, Jainism, in spite of admitting the obvious psycho-physical changes, adheres to the belief that both jīva (soul) and ajīva (matter) are eternal. It maintains that only the modes (paryayas) of a substance are subject to change while the substance with its essential quality (guṇa) is unchanging and abiding. The Buddhist theo-ry of flux has been, therefore, criticized bitterly by the Jain philoso-phers.
These two religions resort to a common terminology. For instance, the word Nigaṇṭha is used for Jainism in both scriptures. Buddhism also regards " sabbaganthappahina"[4] as the nature of nibbāna, pudgala is used only in these two religions but with different meanings. In Jainism it means as inanimate thing, while Buddhism gives it the sense of atma or jīva. Likewise, arahant, buddha, āsava, saṃvara, sammādiṭṭhi (samyagdrasti or samyagjnana) micchādiṭṭhi. Tisaraṇa, naraka, etc. are common to both the religious systems.
Footnotes and references:
[2]:
MN III, Mahāmālunkya sutta
[3]:
Bandhahetvabhavanirijarabhyam krtsnakarmavipramokso moksah, Tattvartha Sutra, 10. 2; SS. p. I.