Review of Parveen Jain's an Introduction to Jain Philosophy
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Title page with all author information Review of Parveen Jain’s An Introduction to Jain Philosophy Jeffery D. Long Professor of Religion and Asian Studies Elizabethtown College Blinded manuscript Click here to access/download;Blinded manuscript;Review of Parveen Jains Jain Dharma.docx Click here to view linked References 1 2 3 4 5 Review of Parveen Jain’s An Introduction to Jain Philosophy 6 7 8 Parveen Jain has done a great service to the Jain tradition, and to scholars and students of Jainism, 9 10 by making the teachings of Acharya Sushil Kumar, until now accessible mostly to Hindi-speakers, 11 available to the English-speaking world. This book will no doubt serve as an important primary 12 13 source for scholars for generations to come, as well as a most useful teaching tool for instructors 14 15 who wish to incorporate a Jain voice into their curriculum. In the context of a course on Jainism, 16 or on the Dharma traditions as a whole, this book would serve as an excellent companion piece to 17 18 a strictly academic introduction to Jainism (such as The Jaina Path of Purification, by Padmanabh 19 S. Jaini, The Jains, by Paul Dundas, or this reviewer’s Jainism: An Introduction). And for the lay 20 21 reader, who is not taking a course, but simply wishes to explore Jainism from a Jain point of view, 22 23 it stands on its own as a clear and thorough introduction to Jain thought. 24 25 26 Jain prefaces his translation of Acharya Sushil Kumar’s Jain Dharm with a biography of Acharya 27 Sushil Kumar, who is himself a fascinating and transformative figure of the modern Jain tradition. 28 29 Rather than abide by traditional Jain strictures that forbid a monk from travelling abroad–strictures 30 31 that are rooted in the injunction of non-violence toward all living things, thus forbidding things 32 like air travel or travel in a motorized vehicle–he brought the wisdom of his tradition to a, for him, 33 34 foreign shore and established an ashram at Siddhachalam, near Blairstown, in rural New Jersey 35 (not far from the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam ashram later established by Swami Dayananda Saraswati 36 37 in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania). The Siddhachalam ashram has provided a haven in North America 38 39 for those who might feel drawn to the Jain path, and even more so for Jain immigrants from India 40 wanting to maintain a connection with Jain traditions in their new environment. Parveen Jain, a 41 42 disciple of Acharya Sushil Kumar, in translating his book, Jain Dharm, into English, sees himself 43 to be carrying forward his guru’s vision, and spreading knowledge of Jain thought to an audience 44 45 that might not otherwise become aware of its profundity and its importance. 46 47 48 The translation itself, which makes up the vast majority of Jain’s Introduction, covers an enormous 49 50 range of topics, giving the reader a thorough introduction to Jain thought from the perspective of 51 a practitioner of this tradition. It begins with a commentary on the Sthānāṅga Sūtra, which is one 52 53 of the most ancient portions of the scriptural or āgama literature held to be authoritative by the 54 Śvetāmbara, or ‘white clad,’ Jain tradition, of which Acharya Sushil Kumar was a member. The 55 56 focus of this commentary, as of the Sthānāṅga itself, is ethics: specifically, the ethics of ahiṃsā, 57 58 or nonviolence in thought, word, and deed. The ethos of nonviolence is absolutely central to Jain 59 thought and practice. Acharya Sushil Kumar underscores this fact by discussing it from the outset 60 61 62 63 64 65 1 2 3 4 5 of his work, establishing the foundational nature the practice of ahiṃsā for Jain philosophy. This 6 emphasis on praxis, as scholars of Indian philosophy will know, is a characteristic of most Indian 7 8 systems of philosophy–or darśanas–and tends to differentiate Indian philosophy from traditional 9 Western philosophy, which, since at least the time of Aristotle, has tended to emphasize the idea 10 11 of a disinterested pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. As scholars following in the footsteps of 12 13 Pierre Hadot have emphasized, though, ancient Western philosophy, too, had a practical dimension 14 that later became marginal as the Aristotelian approach gained dominance. 15 16 17 The next section of Acharya Sushil Kumar’s book, and of Parveen Jain’s translation, explores what 18 19 might be called the pre-history of Jainism–or at least of Jainism as it is known today, in the post- 20 Mahāvīra era. The stories of the earlier Tīrthaṅkaras, or ‘ford-makers’–the twenty-four awakened 21 22 beings of our current cosmic epoch who, according to Jain teaching, have appeared to make the 23 24 path to liberation available to other living beings–are examined, and possible references to them 25 in Hindu texts are discussed. Acharya Sushil Kumar’s attitude toward the Vedic traditions is of 26 27 particular interest, reflecting, as it does, the Jain ethos of ahiṃsā. While premodern Jain thinkers 28 often wrote as disparagingly and aggressively about non-Jain systems of thought as the adherents 29 30 of other systems wrote about Jainism and one another, Acharya Sushil Kumar insists upon the 31 32 complementarity of different paths of belief and practice. This reflects the view of many modern 33 Jain thinkers that ahiṃsā needs to be extended to the intellectual realm, and that the traditional 34 35 Jain doctrines of anekāntavāda, nayavāda, and syādvāda can be viewed as reflecting this. Indeed, 36 after chapters dealing with the stages of enlightenment, the substances which make up the cosmos, 37 38 and the seven core principles, or tattvas, of Jain teaching, the text goes into an exploration of these 39 40 three doctrines, emphasizing their capacity to act as a method both for achieving a fuller view of 41 truth, but also for reconciling the seemingly incompatible views of diverse systems of thought. In 42 43 his treatment of the stages of enlightenment, the substances, and the tattvas, Acharya Sushil Kumar 44 closely follows the template of Umāsvāti’s Tattvārtha Sūtra, the one text on which all of the varied 45 46 sects of Jainism agree. Acharya Sushil Kumar’s elaboration upon concepts which are often simply 47 48 enumerated in the Tattvārtha Sūtra makes these concepts available to a wider audience, and stands 49 as a fine, modern example of the ancient Indian genre of the bhāṣya, or philosophical commentary. 50 51 52 Jain Dharm is a comprehensive overview of Jain philosophy and, with Parveen Jain’s translation, 53 54 it makes the subtlest, most difficult Jain concepts understandable to the average educated reader. 55 I believe this book will become important both for scholars of Jainism and Indian philosophy as a 56 57 whole, and for laypersons wishing to better understand these teachings. 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 1 2 3 4 5 One could argue, even from a non-Jain perspective, that our world today is very much in need of 6 Jain wisdom. While the Jain teachings of ahiṃsā, anekāntavāda, and aparigraha (non-grasping, 7 8 or non-attachment to material things) have always been deeply relevant to human existence, there 9 is a particular urgency today in getting these teachings out to the wider world. Our environmental 10 11 crisis, brought on by heedless consumption of the earth’s resources, and facilitated by our greed 12 13 and by our lack of regard for life forms other than ourselves, as well as our political crisis, in which 14 there is an ever growing lack of respect for the other–whether that be another nation, another ethnic 15 16 group, another religion, or another political party–all make the Jain message of peace an especially 17 important and timely one. 18 19 20 The author of this review declares no conflict of interest. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 Journal of Dharma Studies Review of Parveen Jain’s An Introduction to Jain Philosophy --Manuscript Draft-- Manuscript Number: Full Title: Review of Parveen Jain’s An Introduction to Jain Philosophy Article Type: Book Review Funding Information: Abstract: A brief review of the book 'Introduction to Jain Philosophy' by Parveen Jain. Corresponding Author: Jeffery Long Elizabethtown College UNITED STATES Corresponding Author Secondary Information: Corresponding Author's Institution: Elizabethtown College Corresponding Author's Secondary Institution: First Author: Jeffery Long First Author Secondary Information: Order of Authors: Jeffery Long Order of Authors Secondary Information: Author Comments: Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporation.