Jains

Jainism is a minority religion in India and of all the new religions I’ve encountered so far, its ideals appeal to me above others.

The most important principle of Jains—which is a branch of Hinduism—is that violence is prohibited. This means they are vegetarian; in fact they don’t even eat garlic or onions which could damage insects in their removal from the ground. Yes, that verges on the radical, but. Can you IMAGINE if the whole world were Jain? Well, besides being overrun with insects, violence wouldn’t exist. Fantastic idea.

The other principles include

Tell the truth without offense

Do not take that which is not willfully given

Sexual celibacy or chastity

Non hoarding (unattachment to possessions)

They reject the idea of caste and claim all living beings are equal. Jain monks go around absolutely naked to renounce materialism. Of course there’s much more to it than this but that’s the basic fundamentals.

The trouble with this religion is I hear that Jains will get up and leave if you eat meat in their presence. Having strong beliefs is all well and good, but that sounds a bit snobbish to me. Anyway I suppose I can understand… when you have strong moral/ethical convictions it’s always difficult not to try and enforce those on others…something I have a weakness for myself.

I visited a Jain temple complex and literally was laughing in delight. It was like being in Candyland. Check out what I saw: