The religion I am interested in and always wanted to know about is a religion called

Jainism which is a minority religion in our nation. There are about 3000 Jains in Malaysia
and its believed that they settled in Malacca during the 15th century. This religion is also
known as Jain dharma. Jainism origins are unclear. Jainism is a philosophy if eternity and it is
believed to be iternal. Jain originates from a Sankrit word jina which means conquerer
This religion is an ancient religion originating from India and main principle is
ahimsawhich is non-violence and love towards all living beings. Ahisma( non-violence ),
satya( non-absolutism ), and aparigraha( non- attachement ) are the 3 main principles of
Jainism.

Ahisma or non-violence is the fundamental and infamous principle of this religion. All
typle of harm through speech, actions, and through thoughts are all avoided by Jains. Jains
not only practice this towards humans but also towards all living beings and this makes them
vegetarians. They also take up lacto vegitatianism as extracting dairy product from animals
are considered as violence. Furthermore, Jains also take a step further and make efforts to not
injure plants but accept the fact that plants need to be destroyed so that it can be consumedas
food. However Jains do not consume monostatic vegetables such as potatoes, onions and
even garlic. They belive other organism in the soil will be destroyed when this plants are
pulled up from the soiland the ability for this plants tubers to sprout is consistent with other
livings.

Non- absolutism or satya is the next principle in Jainsim. Non- absolutism is defined as
open mindedness to Jains. Jains are thought and believe that they should open minded and
accept other believes and religions. They believe that no human can claim the absolute truth.
This concept is further elaborated through a story called the blind men and elephants. This
story shows that a few blind men are asked to touch different parts of an elephant like the
trunk, tail, and the tusk , then the men are all asked to explain the appearances of the
elephant. The men all claim to understand the appearance of the elephant but due to lack of
perspective this can only be partly succeded. The third principle in Jainsim is non-
attachement to physical or worldly possesions. Jains are thought to not to have or take more
than what is necessary. Eventhough possession of objects and wealth is allowed Jains are
thought to always donate wealth to the less fortunate and they belive that unchecked hoardind
of possesions may cause harm to oneself or to others.
 Jains are pioneers into cosmology. They believe that the universe is eternal and it was
never created nor will be destroyed. Jains also believe that the universe does need a supreme
being to govern it as it is independent and self-sufficient. They believe that universe is
divided into three parts the upper, the middle, and the loser worlds. According to Jainism they
reject the concept of god and believe in the eternal universe. Souls in a body are called
Arahant and should without a body are called Siddhas in Jainism. This religion is known as a
transtheistic religion as it does teach in being dependant to a supreme being.

As a conclusion, this is some of the main aspects the Jainisms as it is an beautiful religion.
I chose this religion because it is lesser known religion and felt that should be known. I have
learnt more about this religion and i understand and respect its principles and believes.