Posted on: 21 June 2012

JAIN COSMOLOGY is the description of the shape and functioning of the physical and metaphysical Universe (loka) and its constituents (such as living, matter, space, time etc.) according to Jainism, which includes the canonical Jain texts, commentaries and the writings of the Jain philosopher-monks. Jain cosmology considers the loka, or universe, as an uncreated entity, existing since infinity, having neither beginning nor end.[1] Jain texts describe the shape of the universe as similar to a man standing with legs apart and arm resting on his waist. This Universe, according to Jainism, is narrow at the top, broad at the middle and once again becomes broad at the bottom.[2]

Mahāpurāṇa of Ācārya Jinasena is famous for this quote: "Some foolish men declare that a creator made the world. The doctrine that the world was created is ill advised and should be rejected. If God created the world, where was he before the creation? If you say he was transcendent then and needed no support, where is he now? How could God have made this world without any raw material? If you say that he made this first, and then the world, you are faced with an endless regression."

Read more at the Wiki:

http://bit.ly/KAGlkE


 View Post on Facebook

Comments from Facebook

God created the world becoz nothing is automatic, and he was in his spiritual abode before this material creation pls reger Srimad Bhagavat Maha Puran if you have any respect for vedas all Jainism is just stolen from there..even history of Rishabhdeva is there in 5th chanto go and read..first before making comments about god...God is not your brain product that you want to know him and capture him or its creation, in fact your brain is also his creation but since it is not devetailed with devotion not thus you are challenging its presence..if God is not there now..then why are challenging its existence in first place..that means you god is every where but dont want to accept it is like you are trying to challenge and discuss of existing and asking to disprove its existence so the onus is on you to disprove that he does not exist remember to do that you need to prove that creation is also not existing since we are within his creation..

all stolen from Srimad Bhagavat puran..

arent your own statements a little contradicting...

The lower portion (legs) represent the 7 hells, the one in the middle (round globe) is the earth, where we live. The chest is the heavenly adobe and the head is where Arihant is...

@hemangi jain agree...@nilesh thakkar Scholars roughly date the Bhagavad Gita to the period between 200 BCE and 200 CE, the Gita having been influenced by the soteriologies of Buddhism, Jainism, Samkhya and Yoga.[5] Though the Bhagavad Gita, as a smrti, has no independent authority from the Upanishads (sruti), the Gita is in many respects unlike the Upanishads in format and content.[6]

Oh dear. :-) Couple of points if any of the above participants is checking back. 1) The dating of both ALL Indian texts is highly problematic. However for certain Bhagawat Gita was not around 200 BCE. (That is old scholarship linked with the Xism mythology of god creating the world in 7 days around 6000 years ago etc) 2) However it may be safe to say that the main philosophical strands of Dharmic philosophies were fully fleshed out before the specifics were further elaborated in details and differentiated later. 3) As such the above discussion of -- where is God -- a direct next step of the Nasidiya Sukta of Rik Ved -- ।आस्याध्यक्ष: परमॆ व्यॊमन्त्सॊ आंग वॆद यदि वा न वॆद 4) Though no Adi Shankarachayra -- I would love to engage the Jain scholar above in debate as well :-) 5) Everyone interested in this topic must read up on Godel's incompleteness theorem. Cheers....

The question is, what one defines Man? What one defines God? what what one defines Being and non-being? Darkness, Chaos and Evil Or Good, order and Light? These relative concepts all are nothing but images and mental patterns in the mind(s). There is an 'edge' though where even this very mind which is the source of every manifestations can not realize anymore with just the help of the analytical and exoteric philosophical approach. This very point or edge is exactly where the world of Mysticism or the Perennial philo-sophia begins, where Logos meets Sophia, Where Atman begin to remember that it is identical to Brahman (Advaita). Duality worlds and all its qualities and quantities remember their substance which is the primordial ocean of Oneness, where the Light and Darkness meets their own parent, where Love meets Hate, where the primordial Feminine archetypes meets their Masculine counterparts through the Alchemical processes. Its ineffable Absolute so it is almost impossible to put it into the words, in actuality it is beyond being and non-being, so it is even beyond the existence itself so we simply can not even say it exists or not. Some ancient Taoist text mentions this experience like this: "I am you and what I see is me". But to look beyond this edge one need to reach the edge itself first by any possible means. Ishvara, the perfect embodiment of Brahman in the Maya emanated/manifested/created the world. But its not his first nor last manifestation. In other words, the MAYA is infinite and eternal and is emanated as a shadow or magic from the Brahman or Absolute truth, but the universes/worlds SEEM finite and created because Ishvara (somehow the gnostic Demiurge) is manifesting them in Maya in infinite cycles. Brahman (absolute truth or Supreme eternal God) can not be proved or disproved, because the man-made concepts and interpretations such as Being, Non-being do not apply to Brahman. Brahman manifested both being and non-being, therefore God does not exist as God is beyond existence (appearance) and non-existence (disappearance). So how can any human being limited to being and non-being prove the existence or non-existence of God? In fact, the only way to realize the Absolute Eternal Truth is by realizing that this delusioned individual self is not real and in the same moment the truth will be realized. This truth can not be put into words as it is ineffable. The Mundaka Upanishad says: "Auṃ- That supreme Brahman is infinite, and this conditioned Brahman is infinite. The infinite proceeds from infinite. If you subtract the infinite from the infinite, the infinite remains alone."

OUCH! Why can't we just accept that different belief systems exist? Mankind tries to explain the Universe as best it can - over the centuries, several explanations have been offered. That's all there is to it! Why do we need to fight, argue, challenge any belief-system that is not precisely our own??

jainism lead human being to attain the power of god. all the 24 tirthankar were human beings but they sacrified all the worldly happiness to attain eternity. they did tap, jap, meditation. then they had kevaldyanan and went to moksha.