New Path To Enlightenment

I think I'm starting to like Jainism.

Jainism traces its roots to a succession of 24 Jinas ("those who overcome", or conqueror) in ancient East India. The first Jina is traditionally believed to have been a giant who lived 8.4 million years ago. The most recent and last Jina was Vardhamana (a.k.a. Mahavira, "The Great Hero") He was born in 550 BCE) and was the founder of the Jain community. He attained enlightenment after 13 years of deprivation. In 420 BCE, he committed the act of salekhana which is fasting to death. Each Jina has "conquered love and hate, pleasure and pain, attachment and aversion, and has thereby freed `his' soul from the karmas obscuring knowledge, perception, truth, and ability..."

Jainism is a syncretistic religion, which contains many elements similar to Hinduism and Buddhism. The world's almost 4 million Jains are almost entirely located in India. There are about 1,410 in Canada (1991 census).

Even some in Canada...can't be that bad then, eh?

Anyway, reminds me of a woman I heard on the radio this morning explaining that if you are a "true" Catholic, you cannot have sex for any reason other than to have a child. Even in marriage. Hence, no contraceptives and all that. Apparently, because our sole purpose here is to serve God and atone for our original sin--which is, of course, sex. [Caveat: I'm no Catholic--and no Catholic expert...just sayin' what I heard.]

See? See? Conquer pleasure and pain...no (earthly, anyway) attachment. I ask you, similarities, or what?