Universal History and Jain Cosmology

According to Jain beliefs, the universe was never created, nor will it ever cease to exist. Time is divided into Utsarpinis (Progressive Time Cycle) and Avsarpinis (Regressive Time Cycle). An Utsarpini and a Avsarpini constitute one Time Cycle (Kalchakra). Every Utsarpini and Avsarpini is divided into six unequal periods known as Aras. During the Utsarpini half cycle, ethics, progress, happiness, strength, age, body, religion, etc., go from the worst conditions to the best. During the Avsarpini half-cycle, these notions deteriorate from the best to the worst. Jains believe we are currently in the fifth Ara of the Avsarpini phase, with approximately 19,000 years until the next Ara. After this Avsarpini phase, the Utsarpini phase will begin, continuing the infinite repetition of the Kalchakra. JAIN is an activity within the Java Community Process, developing APIs for the creation of telephony (voice and data) services. ... Universe is a word derived from the Old French univers, which in turn comes from the Latin roots unus (one) and versus (a form of vertere, to turn). Based on observations of the observable universe, physicists attempt to describe the whole of space-time, including all matter and energy and...

When this cycle reaches its lowest level (in the current half-cycle: the sixth Ara), Jainism, as well as all religions, will be lost entirely. During this time, all humans will be sinners with short life spans, ugly appearances, and no sense of ethics. Due to this, all individuals during this time will be born in Hell. The world will be a rotting wasteland with little food or water. Then, on the next upswing (start of the Utsarpini half-cycle), the Jain religion will be revived and reintroduced by new Tirthankars (literally "Crossing Makers" or "Ford Finders"), only to be lost again at the end of the next downswing. The 24 Jinas carved on a rock in Ginjee, Tamilnadu In Jainism, a Tirthankar (Fordmaker) (also Tirthankara or Jina) is a human who by adopting asceticism achieves enlightenment (perfect knowledge), thus becoming a Jina (one who has conquered his inner enemies - anger, pride, deceit, desire etc. ...

Jains also believe that at the upswing of each time cycle, people will lose religion again. All things people want will be given by wish-granting trees, and all people will be born in sets of twins with one boy and one girl who live with each other for the rest of their lives.

The first Tirthankar of this era was Lord Rishabh Dev. In our ara, the twenty-third Tirthankar was an ascetic teacher named Parshva, whose traditional birth and death years are set at 877-777 B.C.E., i.e., 250 years before the liberation of the last Tirthankar, Lord Mahavir, in 527 B.C.E. Jains regard all Tirthankars as reformers who called for a return to beliefs and practices in accord with the eternal universal philosophy upon which the faith is based. The title Bhagavan ("Lord"), applied to Mahavir and all other Tirthankars, means Venerable. Rishabh Dev (Lord Rishabh) was the first of the Jain Tirthankars , the founder of Jainism in the present half cycle of time, in this part of the universe. ... The word ascetic derives from the ancient Greek term askesis (practice, training or exercise). ... A 1097 representation of Parshvanath from Smithsonian Institute’s collections In Jainism, Parshva (877-777 B.C.E.), (more correctly Parshvanatha; occasionally spelled Parswanath) was the twenty-third Tirthankara. ... This article or section should be merged with Mahavir Swami Mahavir or Mahavira (the Great Hero -- Also, Vardhamana (increasing) or Niggantha Nathaputta -- 599 BC - 527 BC) was the 24th, and last, Jainist Tirthankara. ... Bhagavan, also written Bhagwan or Bhagawan (भगवान् in devanagari script, Bhagavān in IAST) is a Sanskrit word originating from the term Bhagavat (भगवत् in Devanagari script, pronounced as bhəgəvət), and its nominative singular form under nominal declination is Bhagavān. ...

Bhaktamara Stotra: ATirthankara is a shelter from ocean of rebirths

The twenty-fourth and final Tirthankar of this Avsarpini was named Vardhaman but was called Mahāvīr, the Great Hero (599-527 B.C.E.). A wandering ascetic teacher, he recalled Jains to the rigorous practice of their ancient faith. ImageMetadata File history File links Bhavajale. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Bhavajale. ... In Jainism, a Tirthankara (Fordmaker) is a human who achieved enlightenment, became a Jiva, and whose religious teachings have formed the canon of Jainism; although not Gods, statues of Tirthankaras are found in temples. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Jains believe that reality consists of two eternal principles, jiva and ajiva. Jiva consists of infinite identical spiritual units (life); while ajiva (non-jiva) is matter in any form or condition: time, space, rest, matter and energy, and movement. These five, together with Jiva, are known as the Six Substances. Matter and energy were known by Jains to have been interchangeable long before Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. In Hinduism and Jainism, a jiva is the immortal essence of a living being, subject to maya. ... Ajiva - the nonspiritual or polar opposite of jiva. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Albert Einstein ( ) (March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is widely considered to have been one of the greatest physicists of all time. ... Two-dimensional analogy of space-time distortion described in General Relativity. ...

Both jiva and ajiva are considered eternal; they are never born or created for the first time and will never cease to exist. Much of the world is made up of jiva trapped in ajiva; there are jivas in rocks, plants, insects, animals, human beings, spirits, etc.

Any contact between jiva and ajiva causes the former to suffer, and Jains believe that worldly existence inevitably entails some suffering. Neither social nor individual reform can totally stop suffering. Every organism, including humans, has jiva and suffers because of its contact with ajiva. To avoid suffering, jiva must leave the four gatis (stages) of Human Life, Heavenly Bodies, Plants/Animals/Insects/Fish Life, and Hell, while remembering the ultimate aim of liberation.

Karma and transmigration keep jiva in contact with ajiva. Liberation from the human condition is difficult. Jiva suffers during its infinite reincarnations. Jains believe that every action, good or evil, opens up sense channels (sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell), through which karma adheres to the jiva within, affecting its body, obscuring the mind and senses, and determining the conditions of its next reincarnation. Karma (Sanskrit act, action, performance[1]; Pāli kamma) ( ) is the concept of action or deed in Dharmic religions understood as denoting the entire cycle of cause and effect described in Hindu and Buddhist philosophies. ... Reincarnation, literally to be made flesh again, is a doctrine or mystical belief that some essential part of a living being (in some variations only human beings) survives death to be reborn in a new body. ... Reincarnation, literally to be made flesh again, is a doctrine or mystical belief that some essential part of a living being (in some variations only human beings) survives death to be reborn in a new body. ... Karma (Sanskrit act, action, performance[1]; Pāli kamma) ( ) is the concept of action or deed in Dharmic religions understood as denoting the entire cycle of cause and effect described in Hindu and Buddhist philosophies. ...

The consequence of evil actions is negative karma (Pap), which weighs the jiva down, forcing it to continue reincarnating at low levels. Good deeds lead to positive karma (Punya), allowing jiva to rise higher in its next life with less suffering. However, good deeds alone can never lead to liberation, as liberation requires for there to be no karma, not even Punya, bonded to the soul. As the soul becomes more and more advanced, it progresses through fourteen steps to liberation called Gunasthanaks.

The fylfot (a.k.a. swastika) is among the holiest of Jain symbols. Worshippers use rice grains to create fylfot around the temple altar.

The way to moksha (release or liberation) is believed to be withdrawal from the world. Karma means cause-and-effect and hence every action has consequences which can only be escaped by penance, or Tapascharya. All Karmas, good or bad, must be shed to attain moksha, since all Karma, good or bad, has consequences and keeps jiva chained in endless reincarnations which lead to suffering to a greater or lesser extent. Liberation warrants prevention and eradication of new karma. Image File history File links Swastik4. ... Image File history File links Swastik4. ... A right-facing Swastika in a decorative Hindu form In the Western world, since World War II, the swastika is usually associated with the flag of Nazi Germany and the Nazi Party. ... Moksha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Moksha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

At the end of his or her life, a liberated soul (in the Jain belief, a Siddha), with no karma to weigh it, will rise free of ajiva, free of the human condition and of all future embodiments. Jain doctrine states that it will rise to the highest place in the universe, Siddhashila, where jiva, identical with all other pure jivas, will experience its own true nature in eternal stillness, aloneness, liberation and eternal bliss. The way to discard karma is to withdraw from worldly involvement and close the senses and the mind to prevent karma. Such eternal liberation frees Jiva from Pudgala (matter) so that no new reincarnation occurs. Thus one attains moksha or the final liberation. Ignorance (mithyātva) causes attachment, while true knowledge (Kevalgnān) leads to liberation. Jains believe that moksha is possible for humans in the third and fourth Aras of every Utsurpini and Avsarpini. A Siddha in Sanskrit means One who is accomplished and refers to perfected masters who have transcended the Ahamkara (Ego or I-maker), have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies composed of dense Rajo-tama Gunas into pure Satvic light. ... Siddhashila is an area in Jain cosmology which is where Jains believe people who have become Arihants, or people with infinite knowledge, go after they die and attain moksha or nirvana. ... Moksha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Moksha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...