(a)

What appeals to me most about Jainism is its high similarity to Buddhism. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

It also acknowledges the existence of "karma" and "samsara", and likewise advocates "non-attachment", "non-attachment" and "non-violence". Moreover, compared to Buddhism, Jainism seems to insist on "non-violence" more thoroughly, more extremely, to the point of nearing a total denial of human nature.

For example, in terms of non-killing, Jains are far more than just emphasizing not killing animals and not eating animals, in the view of Jains, non-living things do not exist, even rain, air, mountains, rivers, soil, and metals are all living things, and they all need to be cared for.

The Jain religion of non-killing is really an attempt to care for the microbial level.

They think that walking and kicking a stone is a harm to the life of the stone, that swimming will hurt the body of the river, that walking in the rain will hurt the body of the rain, and that they cannot light a fire, because lighting a fire means that the fire will eventually face the fate of extinguishing, and they can't turn on the fan, because the fan will hurt the body of the air, and they can't step on plants, and they can't touch plants that are not dead.

Jain monks believe that you should not move around when you have nothing to do, because when you meditate, you have much less chance of accidentally hurting the air stones and accidentally stepping on microorganisms.

They don't eat anything after dark because it is possible to kill more invisible bugs, they also wear masks to reduce the microorganisms they kill during breathing, and even, they can't move their eyes too fast, because this will cause violent turmoil in the microbial world.

Jainism also does not advocate farming or animal transport, as that would harm bulls and horses, as well as their microorganisms.

So Jain families usually work in quieter professions such as publishing, education, law, banking, trade, film, etc.

Mr. Larry believed that his heavy construction career was harmful because of his belief in Jain, and he gradually shifted his investment to publishing and film industries from middle age, and even gave up business altogether at the age of 60.

Regardless of whether his beliefs are infallible, at least, Mr. Larry's spirit of faith and practice, and the unity of knowledge and action is worthy of our respect and learning.

(b)

I was amazed by the compassion and love of the Jain monks for all things and their extreme simplicity.

Later, I met a Jain nun who had become a lawyer in India, her name was Shamani, she spoke English fluently, and she also knew a little Chinese.

Before she became a monk, she lived a wealthy life, her parents were Jain, and when she was a child, the family fasted every month to reduce the temptation of desire. She even went to China for 10 months to study.

From an early age, she accepted the saying that appetite is the greatest source of upset. It is in order to satisfy this mouth and this stomach that people create countless cruel and negative karma.

When she grew up, she was determined to become a monk and practice, and refused to marry on a blind date, which was opposed by her family. But her parents, after all, were devout Christians and could understand her white and flawless desire for enlightenment. Later, seeing that she was determined, it was the result of careful consideration, not the girl's romantic impulse, and the family turned to support her. Her parents hugged her and said goodbye, with reluctance and heartache, watching her resolutely and resolutely go to the extremely poor and difficult life of a monk.

Now she lives by begging with the monks every day, and she has to go to at least 20 homes to collect food for three meals a day, and the food is good and bad, and sometimes there are spoiled or moldy food, which is provided by the homeless or poor families, but this is not to be picky, whether the food is good or bad, salty or light, all of them must be eaten respectfully.

After eating, I went to class to study, do homework, and meditate.

Her belongings consisted only of 3 changes of clothes and 4 rolls of yarn.

At night, she spread the long yarn on cardboard and slept without covering the quilt in the cold or heat, and sometimes the temperature in the summer was as high as 40 degrees, and they did not turn on the electric fan, even if it was so hot that they could not sleep.

She doesn't even turn on the lights.

She believes she has chosen the right way to live.

She told me that if our needs were so simple and scarce, there would be no need for large-scale industrial production, and our environment would be much cleaner and more beautiful.

She thinks that she lives in happiness every day, and that she has far more freedom and joy than many, many people who live in affluence.

Although I was skeptical that her teachings could solve the problem of life and death, I admired her ascetic spirit and her compassion for self-denial.

As a wealthy woman with a good education, and as a female lawyer who can achieve success in the modern society, she can resolutely drop everything and focus on seeking the right way like Mr. Larry, and this kind of perseverance and determination is what I yearn for and admire.

In front of her simple and unpretentious, I feel very ashamed of my bejeweled self.

(c)

There is another thing about Jainism that really appeals to me.

Although Jainism also has temples, and because there are many wealthy people among the believers, the temples are clean and very luxurious, but the Jains come to the temples only to pay homage to the ancestors who have attained enlightenment, only to show respect and follow-up to their wisdom and courage, and the believers never pray to God for personal help, never tell God about their personal desires, and never expect God to help them achieve them.

In contrast, the prayers of some religions are obviously bribing the gods, offering stingily to the gods, but greedily asking for them, and the content of the prayers is of low character.

Jains believe that enlightenment and happiness depend on one's own dedication and hard work. God can't give you anything ready-made. God can only motivate you to persevere in your pursuit with their previous successes.

God means example.

In the Jain temple, I saw that they enshrined 24 ancestral statues.

Each statue is exactly the same. Because the Jains believe that imperfect souls have their own flaws, but there is no difference between perfect and perfect souls.

In order to distinguish who is who, they will use a number of markings to aid identification. For example, the symbol of Rashpa is a bull, and so on.

Jains do not believe that there is a heaven, nor do they advocate a love for a personal God. Because that kind of love for God is also a kind of concern and attachment, it is necessary to eradicate not only the attachment and covetousness to worldly pursuits, but also the covetousness of God.

Like Buddhism, Jainism seems to belong to the category of atheistic religions.

(iv)

The emblem of Jainism is a pattern: the open palm of the hand reads Non-Violence; The swastika is inherited from the ancient Indian cultural markers, representing the wheel of reincarnation; The three dots represent wisdom, knowledge, and guidance; The uppermost crescent moon and dot symbolize the liberated soul at the highest point of the universe.

I heard a Jain song with lyrics like this: "I beg for forgiveness from all things, and may all things forgive me." I am a friend of all things, and there is no malice. ”

In the lyrics, the feeling of sorry for my survival to all things is very soft and humble, and I am very touched to listen to it.

Although I feel sorry for overemphasizing one side and ignoring the other: I am also a link in the chain of all things, and although people have caused many things to be hurt and died because of their survival, people also nourish and supply many other things, but I am still very moved by the sincerity of the phrase "never malice".

Whenever I hear the phrase "never malicious", I am reminded of how Larry said to me and Kaohsiung in the flowers: "I need to show that I love you guys so much." ”

That's all that has been written about Jainism.

I respect Larry's choice and I respect Larry's faith. I hope he finds a life of purity in this faith. But I myself will not stop there, this religion has not yet been able to solve the problem of life and death.

I also hope that myself, just as Larry has found a resting place for his soul, and that eventually, he can find the way through all suffering.