100 Naked Words — Day 53
Jain? What’s That?
Reflections, Ripples and Ramblings of a Restless Mind
Today I thought I’d write a quick piece to explain a little bit about my cultural heritage.
As I have previously mentioned, I am of East African Indian descent but my family originally came from Gujarat in North India.
They would have been farmers or merchants and moved across to Africa to escape famine in the early 20th Century. Who I am today started with an ocean crossing over a hundred years before.
India is a big place, and there is a huge diversity of peoples and beliefs. Everyone (ok most people) have heard of Hinduism and Buddhism both having spread throughout the world and including large communities amongst their numbers.
I, however, am a Jain. That is to say, I come from a family, a community of Jains. And though I don’t practice, I identify strongly with many of the core beliefs.
Jains believe in the sacred nature of all life, and that the way to liberation is to break from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth by purging the soul of karma.
Jainism is, to me, more of a philosophy than a religion. It’s abiding principles of non-violence in thought, word and deed are sacrosanct and ones that I strive to adhere to.
There are no gods, only humans.
It is up to us, no-one else.
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