Common characteristics Jainism shares with Hinduism and Buddhism

¶ … familiar with the religions of Buddhism and Hinduism but the religion of Jainism, although enjoying nearly as many members, is not as well-known. Similarly, most know something about the practices and beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism but very individuals know anything about Jainism.

Jainism is a well-established religion that is largely based on the concept of non-violence which is one of the five great vows of the religion (Long, 2009). The other four vows are non-attachment to material things, no lying, no stealing, and promotion of sexual restraint. As to sexual restraint, celibacy is considered to be the ideal.

Followers of Jainism view the world as a highly integrated unit. They believe that all living things, including animals and plants, possess a living soul and that humans, animals, and plants all operate on an equal level. This belief places a strict duty on the part of its followers to treat all living things with equal respect.

Jainism believes in the process of reincarnation. This process of reincarnation is defined by the goal of attaining a state of ultimate liberation which enables one to escape the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. One remains involved in this process until such time as ultimate liberation is achieved and once such state is achieved one lives on in an eternal state of bliss.

Jainism is practiced without the benefit of a clergy. This is a common arrangement in Eastern religions. Neither Hinduism nor Buddhism have priests or minister. Also like Buddhism there is no deism in Jainism. Each individual member of the religion is responsible for his or her own progress toward ultimate liberation and there is no concept of god.

There is a very close relationship between Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. As the three religions have co-existed beside each other for so many centuries the fact that there are significant similarities between them is not surprising.

Both Hinduism and Jainism have similar theories in regard to reincarnation and the concept of salvation (Cush, 1999). They also share similarities in regard to dress and ornamentation, culture items such as games and other forms of amusement, their outlook on life and daily behavior, and superstitions. Many of their holidays and religious festivals are quite similar and occur at approximately the same time of the year. Both religions maintain a vegetarian diet as part of their daily ritual. Although Jainism does not recognize the strict caste system that is observed by Hinduism there does exist an informal system similar to Hinduism. This system limits the marital possibilities and social contacts for members of Jainism.

There are also dissimilarities between Jainism and Hinduism. Neither religion recognizes the sacred books of the other. In fact, Jainism differs significantly from Hinduism in that it does not have any concept of a creator. Janism lacks any concept of god while Hinduism offers worship to several different forms of god. In Jainism there is no ritualistic sacrifice of animals like there often is in Hinduism.