Jainism Religion in Managing Globalization Pressures

Introduction 

Jainism religion was established in about 500 B.C by Mahavira. The Name ‘Jainism’ was derived from the name ‘Jina’ – a name that Mahavira used to be called with. ‘Jina’ simply means He who has conquered love, hate, pleasure and pain, attachment and aversion and thereby freeing ‘his' soul from karmas obscuring knowledge of the truth, perception, and ability (Caillat, 2013). Followers of Jainism believe that everything including stones, sand, and trees has life and they thereby do everything possible to prevent hurting any living thing on earth. They also go to extreme cases of covering their mouths to prevent themselves from swallowing mall invisible microbes. Jains also avoid walking in fields to avoid the possibility of stepping on insects. Jains believe in reincarnation which would eventually lead to liberation from rebirth or kevala while putting a lot of emphasis on non-violence. The basis of Jainism religion is made up of five cardinal principles which include: Ahimsa (non-violence), Anekantavada (multiplicity of views and relativism), Aparigraha (non-possessiveness), non-stealing, and Brahmacharya (chastity). The golden rule of the Jains is nonviolence and showing deep compassion for all forms of human life by living an ecologically responsible way of life. In the Jain, Philosophy Tirthankara takes the place of God and is believed to possess infinite knowledge, infinite bliss, and infinite power (Gaer, 2016) . The religion is considered unique because, during more than 5000 years of its existence, it has upheld the principle of nonviolence in practice. Teachings of Jainism are derived from the holy texts of Tattvartha Sutra which emphasizes on the perspective of equality of souls ranging from human beings, animals, insects, and all living microscopic organisms. The concept of compassion for living things has made the Jains adopt a vegetarianism way of life as an instrument for the practice of non-violence and peaceful, cooperative co-existence. The Jain religion code of conduct is made up of vows such as Ahimsa Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Aparigraha (non-possessiveness), and chastity. A lot of emphases is directed on the code of non-possessiveness towards material things. Non-possessiveness is achieved through self-control, abstinence from over-indulgence, consequent subsiding of an individual’s aggressive urge voluntary curtailment of one’s needs. I argue that Jainism religion is changing in the face of Hinduism and it is doing so in ways such as Social Justice, adopting new technological advancement, and matters of environmentalism. 

Jainism Response to Globalization Pressures 

Terrorism and Social Justice 

The globalization pressures experienced by the big five religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism are numerous and include cases such as violence and terrorism which is continuously afflicting the modern world. There is relevance to stick to the Jainism principles to tackle these problems. Jainism principle is based on non-violence and environmental centric development. The religion, therefore, advocates that world leaders should engage in politics that underline the importance of these values to help end and reduce the darkness of war and terrorist problems that threaten the core existence of humanity. Jainism religion also calls for the respect of the life of all living things and hence leaders should push for democratic values that teach on the respect of others' beliefs to ensure that human being co-exists harmoniously with one another. Jainism religion believes that there are no gods or spiritual beings that will help human beings has been important to the world in ensuring that the world community is able to solve their problems only through cooperation and self-help (Balcerowicz, 2015) . The principles of Jainism religion are transforming the way individuals view each other religion wise and people have come to learn that there is no need to hate on each just because we do not belong in the same religion. 

Adoption of New Technology 

With the rise of technological advancement in both the communication and transport sector, the new generation of Jains has been left with no option but to mix things up to ensure that the religion survives. Despite the fact that the religion only focuses on non-violence and respecting the soul, there are many rules in the religion which have proved difficult to follow. Such rules include; a Jain is not supposed to drive, members are expected to meditate at least 48 minutes a day, and members are not expected to use a cell phone since it wastes energy- bad karma (Mitra, 2016). With the current advancement in the technological world, strict adherence to such rules could have proven difficult for the Jain community to succeed in the current competitive world. The Jains in the United States have now evolved, transforming the centuries-old rules to ensure that their religion continues to blossom as the years pass. The transformation has been brought by the change in perception about technology, a vibrant and educated Jain youth groups, and presence and availability of social media. Embracing the globalization pressures through the transformation of old rules have enabled the Jain to various areas in the United States such as Riverside, Corona, and Fullerton. The Jain religion has thus become one of the fastest growing religions and communities in the United States with over 150,000 members spread across the nation, with the Jain Center in Southern California in Buena Park being the second largest in the world after that of India. 

Environmentalism 

The Jains have been more concerned with in matters involving environmentalism because of their mutual sensitivity towards living things. The Jains believe that the primary means to attain freedom is through the non-harming of living things to disperse the karmas that keep one bound. The strict adherence has however changed slightly as the Jain communities are pursuing livelihoods deemed to inflict a minimum of harm. If the Jains could have insisted on following all the principles of Mahavira, then they could have died of starvation and all of the Jain community could have been wiped out. The Jain now pursue and maintain a vegetarian type mainly of leaves and fruits of plants arguing that it inflicts less harm to the ‘living' plants. Through their motive to protect the life of all living things, the Jains have been in a position to offer a worldview compatible with the main values of bringing environmental activism. The Jains involvement in environmental activism has enabled them to rebuff claims that they only participate in nonviolence and protection of life is for self-benefit to avoid later retribution against oneself (Babb, 2015).  The Jainism religion has therefore been able to syncretize with the globalization pressures of environmentalism to stop the destruction of the environment and national habitat of organisms. The Jains no longer participate in environmentalism as a way to purify oneself but also simultaneously respond to the contemporary dilemma of ecosystem degradation using aggressive measures even when it involves doing harm to other living organisms. 

Jainism Interaction with Hinduism 

Jainism is a religion that originated from India and it thus has close relations to religions such as Hinduism. Jainism is a unique and distinct religion on its own and not a branch of Hinduism as people had once thought. A lot of similarities exist between Jainism and Hinduism. In both, the religion there is the theory of rebirth and salvation and both believe that prophets take birth according to prescribed rules (Bouquet, 2016) . The Hindus and the Jains also share some common religious festivals and fast and it is also common to find vegetarian Hindus spread in various geographical regions of India and the whole world. Marital relations are also maintained between Hindus and Jains section of the same caste to reinforce the interaction and association between the two religions. The two religions also share key concepts derived from the Sanskrit language, for example, the notion of karma as the action of individuals that determine their future rebirth is evident in the two religions. The members of the two religions interact harmoniously and work together to ensure that they deal with global problems such as terrorism and violence to maintain a peaceful society. 

Conclusion 

All religions in the world need to co-exist together to provide a sense of inner peace and personal fulfillment to individual members of varied religions. The violence that stems from a difference in religious beliefs should be shunned and rebuked. Religious leaders should also refrain from inciting their members and encouraging them to engage in radical behaviors that result in violence. Religion is a strong and powerful identity that brings a sense of security and unity in times of crisis as it brings the idea of ‘home' as individuals turn to religion to gain explanation on what is going on in the world. Jainism religion should shun century-old rules and encourage its members to use the easily available form of communication through advanced technology to spread their value teachings of human values. It is only through cooperation with other religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism that Jainism will be able to effectively promote its principle of non-violence to manage religious diversity and avoid violence. For efficient minimization of globalization pressures that stem from technological advancement and environmental degradation, religious communities should begin working together for peace, justice, and social harmony. 

References 

Babb, L. A. (2015).  Understanding Jainism . Dunedin Academic Press. 

Balcerowicz, P. (2015).  Early Asceticism in India: Ājīvikism and Jainism . Routledge. 

Bouquet, A. C. (2016).  Hinduism . Hutchinson's University Library (1919). 

Caillat, C. (2013). Jainism. In  The Religious Traditions of Asia (pp. 105-118). Routledge. 

Gaer, J. (2016).  How the great religions began . The American Library (1929). 

Mitra, D. (2016). A survey of Jainism and Jain art of eastern India with special emphasis on Bengal from the earliest period to the thirteenth century AD. Pearson.