Post 5

Jainism so far appears to be the most difficult to understand as an outsider. There are three types of everything and each has its own name, meaning and place in the lifecycle. Despite the difficult specifics that need to be known IF an individual choose to follow Jainism the basic principles behind the religion seem to be fairly straight forward. Jainism is as old as nature itself. This is because Jain followers (monks, nuns & householders) believe that every living creature contains a soul. Each soul may be at different levels of complexity, but each living specimen has a soul. Each of these soul-containing things (animals, plants and so forth) deserves to be treated with respect. Jainism does not necessarily honor a specific God, unlike other religions, Jainism followers feel that each soul contains 4 elements; infinite knowledge, infinite cognizance, infinite power and the last is that “worldly” souls cannot attain the last three items until they have become liberated. A minor difference that separates Jainism from most western religions is that Jainism separates its followers into two distinct groups liberated jivas and non-liberated jivas. The first group, liberated jivas, is a group that karma cannot touch; they are above karma and worldly issues. The latter group, non-liberated jivas, has karma and is stuck in the cycle of life (birth and death).

Jainism can be described as nature in its simplest form. Jivas believe that there are two kinds of energies in the universe; intellectual and mechanism. The technical term for the energy of intelligence is life; jivas refer to it as Chetana. Chetana is described as the more powerful energy because it is an emotional energy. The energy of intelligence embodies silence, prayer, love, dedication and sympathy. Jada used to describe the energy of mechanism or matter. Jada is the scientific energy that sustains the universe. There are three main forces that make up this energy; the energy of gravitation, magnetism and electricity. These two energies combined, Jada and Chetana, create the universe and the beings that are held within.

David Lane’s approach to eating meat parallels the beliefs in the Jainism religion. I am not entirely sure that every aspect matches perfectly but Lane hits on some very important topics that should raise questions in any humans’ mind. One argument presented is the fact that animals have a central nervous system as humans do. When I was reading this section, I realized that I simply had never thought about what I was actually eating. On a personal note, I used to attend pig roasts at my Uncle’s house in northern Michigan when I was younger. I never would eat the ham from the pig (even though I LOVE ham) because I could see the pig intact, cut open, and grilled. I was disturbed that I was eating an animal. I could never eat meat when I was at his house because he lived on a farm and killed all the animals for food. I was so disgusted, yet on the way home I would always ask for a hamburger from McDonalds. When people actually take the time to understand what they are actually eating, they might loose their appetite or understand Lane’s argument better.