The Jain Tradition (RELH3140)

Time: Thursday 3:30 -6

   Instructor:  Karen Lang  klang@virginia.edu

Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays   10-11am and by appointmen,t  Gibson Hall 436,

 

Course description: This course examines the religious beliefs and practices of the Jains in India. Beginning with the teachings of Lord Mahavira and basic doctrines of Jainism, the course will consider the historical foundations of the Jain tradition through philosophical and doctrinal texts, and the rich Jain narrative tradition.  The second half of the course will focus more on contemporary Jain life and religious practice, both monastic and lay, through examination of the religious lives of ascetics and Jain laity, ritual practices of temple worship and pilgrimage, as well as modern sectarian movements within the tradition and the emerging Jain interest in environmentalism. 

 

Course objectives:  (1) Introduce the history, doctrines, philosophy, ritual and worship,

of this ancient Indian religion. (2) Provide a basis for  distinguishing between what is unique to the Jain tradition and what it shares with Hinduism and Buddhism  (3) Explore the ways in which Jainism has changed over

the last century and social and ethical concerns of the contemporary Jain community.

 

Requirements: (1) Regular attendance and active participation in class discussions, (2) take-home mid-term examination (due via email by 11:59 pm Oct 16th  and (3) term paper 10-12 pages (due via email by Dec 8th )

 

Grading: mid-term 35%, class participation 25%, final paper 40%

 

Class presentations: Students will lead discussions and/or give presentations on topics of interest to provoke your fellow classmates into thinking critically and creatively about the material. These presentations might also include invited guest speakers and discussions of issues not covered in the assigned readings.

 

Discussion reporter

At least once during the semester you will be called upon to make summary of the highlights of the previous class discussion and post it on the web site under “discussion groups” by Monday of the following week. During the session on which you are reporting you will need to take good notes and be especially attentive to the twists and turns of the discussion. You should plan to write your report soon after the class session, while the discussion is still fresh in your mind. Your report, in addition to summarizing briefly the key points of the discussion, may include reminders of points to which we want or should return, areas and issues we did not cover in the discussion (either due to lack of time or oversight), and suggestions for new directions to head in our continued study of Jainism.

 

Books:

 

Long, Jeffrey, Jainism: An Introduction .

Vallely, Anne, Guardians of the Transcendent

*articles on the collab web site (under “resources”)

 

Schedule of Classes:

 

Aug. 29  Introduction and Planning Session : Why Study the Jains? 

Reading: Long, chap 1: “What is Jainism?”

 

THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE JAIN TRADITION

Sep 5  The “Fordmakers” (Tirthankaras) and the Origins of the Jain Tradition

Readings: Long, chap 2: “Mahavira and the Origins of Jainism”;   *Kalpasutra selections (”The Life of Mahavira”); and *Jain Storybook, 15-34 (Mahavir, Adinath, Mallinath, Neminath, Parshvanath)

Sep 12 Jain History: Svetambara (“White-Clad”) and Digambara (“Sky-Clad”) Teachings

Readings: Long chap, 3; *Jaini, “Jaina Debates on the Spiritual Liberation of Women”; and    *Jaini, The Strinirvanaprakarana of the Yapaniya Acarya Sakatayana.”

JAIN PHILOSOPHY

Sep  19 The Jain world view

Readings: Long, chap 4; *Jacobi, “Sutrakrtanga”, and *Ulrich, “Food fights” 

Sep  26 Jain Philosophy: Karma, Nonviolence, Morality 

Readings, Long, chap. 5 ; *Shah, “Jainism: Religion of Compassion and Ecology”

Oct  3 Jain Philosophy: Relativity,  Yoga and Tantra

Readings: Long, chap 6; * Chapple, ”Haribhadra’s Analysis of Patankala and Kula Yoga in the Yogadrstisamuccaya”; *Hemacandra’s Yogasastra, (chapter IV); and *Qvarnstrom, “Jain Tantra”  (Hemacandra’s Yogasastra, chapter V).

JAIN RELIGIOUS PRACTICE

Oct 10 Jain Temples and Pilgrimage

*Cort,” Going to the Temple”; *Fohr, “Jain worship and prayer”*; Granoff, “Jain Pilgrimage”; and *Kelting,  “Daily Worship, Improvisation, and Individual Devotion.”

take home mid-term due via email: Oct 16th

Oct 17 The Religious Lives of Jain Lay people

Readings: *Fohr; “Preserving Tradition: Jain Women”; *Kelting, “Candrabala”; *Reynell. “Renunciation and Ostentation” and *Shah, “Jain Business Ethics.”

Oct 24: The lives of contemporary Terapanthi Ascetics

Reading:  Vallely, pp. 3-139.

Oct 31 Lives of contemporary Terapanthi Ascetics, cont.

Reading: Vallely, pp., pp. 141-240.

JAINISM AND CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

Nov 7  Nonviolence and Animal Rights

Readings: *Book of Compassion”;  *Chapple, “Nonviolence to Animals in Buddhism and Jainism” and *Francione, “Ahimsa and Veganism.”

Nov 14  Nonviolence and Ecology

Readings: Long, chap 7 “ The Jain Vision and the Vision of Humanity”; *Satish Kumar, “Jain Ecology”” and *Vallely,  "From Liberation to Ecology: Ethical Discourses among Orthodox and Diaspora Jains.“

Nov 21 Student presentations

Nov 26  THANKSGIVING BREAK   

Dec 3:  Student presentations, Conclusions

Dec 8th Final paper due 

 

Course description: This course examines the religious beliefs and practices of the Jains in India. Beginning with the teachings of Lord Mahavira and basic doctrines of Jainism, the course will consider the historical foundations of the Jain tradition through philosophical and doctrinal texts, and the rich Jain narrative tradition.  The second half of the course will focus more on contemporary Jain life and religious practice, both monastic and lay, through examination of the religious lives of ascetics and Jain laity, ritual practices of temple worship and pilgrimage, as well as modern sectarian movements within the tradition and the emerging Jain interest in environmentalism.