2.  Jains believe that animals and plants, as well as
human beings, contain living souls. Each of these
souls is considered of equal value and should be
treated with respect and compassion.
 Jains are strict vegetarians and live in a way that
minimises their use of the world's resources.
 Jains believe in reincarnation and seek to attain
ultimate liberation - which means escaping the
continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth so that the
immortal soul lives for ever in a state of bliss.
 Liberation is achieved by eliminating all karma from
the soul.

3.  Jainism is a religion of self-help.
 There are no gods or spiritual beings that will help human
beings.
 The three guiding principles of Jainism, the 'three jewels',
are right belief, right knowledge and right conduct.
 The supreme principle of Jain living is non violence
(ahimsa).
 This is one of the 5 mahavratas (the 5 great vows). The
other mahavratas are non-attachment to possessions, not
lying, not stealing, and sexual restraint (with celibacy as
the ideal).

4.  Mahavira is regarded as the man who gave Jainism
its present-day form.
 The texts containing the teachings of Mahavira are
called theAgamas.
 Jains are divided into two major sects; the
Digambara (meaning "sky clad") sect and the
Svetambara (meaning "white clad") sect.
 Jainism has no priests. Its professional religious
people are monks and nuns, who lead strict and
ascetic lives.

5.  Dharma
 Jains believe that non-injury is the highest religion.
 Jains aim to live in such a way that their jiva (soul)
doesn't get any more karma, and so that the karma it
already has is either eliminated or helped to decay. They
do this by following a disciplined life path.

6.  Karma
 Karma theory is the theory is the scorecard of life and your
actions. Karma is the mechanism that determines the quality of life.
The happiness of a being's present life is the result of the moral
quality of the actions of the being in its previous life.
 A soul can only achieve liberation by getting rid of all the karma
attached to it.
 Karma is a logical and understandable way of making sense of
good and evil, the different qualities of different lives and the
different moral status of different types of creature, without having
to involve rules laid down by a god.
 Karma works without the intervention of any other being - gods
or angels have no part to play in dispensing rewards or punishments.

7. Jain beliefs about the soul
Jain ideas about the soul differ from those of many other religions.
The Jain word that comes closest to soul is jiva, which means a conscious, living
being. For Jains body and soul are different things: the body is just an inanimate
container - the conscious being is the jiva.
Jains believe:
 the soul exists forever
 each soul is always independent
 the soul is responsible for what it does
 the soul experiences the consequences of its actions
 the soul can become liberated from the cycle of birth and death
• not all souls can be liberated - some souls are inherently incapable of
achieving this
 the soul can evolve towards that liberation by following principles of behavior

8.  The universe
 Jain beliefs about the universe
 Jains believe that the universe we perceive really exists
and is not an illusion. It contains two classes of
thing: jivas - living souls, and ajivas - non-living objects,
which include everything else, including space.
 Nothing in the universe is ever destroyed or created, they
simply change from one form to another.
 Jains believe that the universe has always existed and will
always exist. It is regulated by cosmic laws and kept going
by its own energy processes. This concept of the universe
is compatible with modern scientific thinking.
 Jains do not believe that the universe was created by any
sort of god.

9. Jainism and the divine
 Jains do not believe in a God or gods in the
way that many other religions do, but they do
believe in divine (or at least perfect) beings
who are worthy of devotion.
 This makes it difficult to give a straight answer
to the question "is Jainism atheistic?" The
scholar Heinrich Zimmer suggested that a new
word was needed: transtheistic, meaning
"inaccessible by arguments as to whether or not
a God exists".

10. Reincarnation
 When a being dies the soul (jiva) goes to its next body
instantly. This body may not be human or even animal.
 The quality of its next life is determined by its karma at
that time.
 The mental state of the being at the moment of death is
also important: a calm and contented death, with the mind
focussed on spiritual matters, is the best.
Deliverance
 A being achieves deliverance when it is free from all
karma.

11. The Three Jewels of Jainism
 The aim of Jain life is to achieve liberation of the soul.
 This is done by following the Jain ethical code, or to put it
simply, living rightly by following the three jewels of Jain
ethics.
 There are three parts to this: right faith, right knowledge
and right conduct. The first two are very closely
connected.

13.  The goal of every Sikh is to build a close, loving
relationship with God. Deity: Sikhs believe in a single,
Formless God, with many names, who can be known
through meditation. his concept is similar to Islam whose
followers believe in a single God who has 99 names.
God
 There is only one God
 God is without form, or gender
 Everyone has direct access to God
 Everyone is equal before God
 A good life is lived as part of a community, by living
honestly and caring for others
 Empty religious rituals and superstitions have no value

14. Living in God and community
 Sikhs focus their lives around their relationship with God,
and being a part of the Sikh community. The Sikh ideal
combines action and belief. To live a good life a person
should do good deeds as well as meditating on God
God and the cycle of life
 Sikhs believe that human beings spend their time in a
cycle of birth, life, and rebirth. They share this belief with
followers of other Indian religious traditions such as
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
 The quality of each particular life depends on the law of
Karma.

15. The God of grace
 Sikh spirituality is centered round this need to understand
and experience God, and eventually become one with
God. Sikhs believe that God can't be understood properly
by human beings, but he can be experienced through love,
worship, and contemplation.
Getting close to God.
 When a Sikh wants to see God, they look both at the
created world and into their own heart and soul.
God inside us
 Sikhs believe that God is inside every person, no matter
how wicked they appear, and so everyone is capable of
change.

16. Living a good life in this world
 Sikhs don't think it pleases God if people pay no attention
to others and simply devote themselves slavishly to
religion.
The five vices
 Sikhs try to avoid the five vices that make people self-
centred, and build barriers against God in their lives.
 Lust
 Covetousness and greed
 Attachment to things of this world
 Anger
 Pride
 If a person can overcome these vices they are on the road
to liberation.

17.  The three duties
 The three duties that a Sikh must carry out can
be summed up in three words; Pray, Work, Give.
 Nam japna:
 Keeping God in mind at all times.
 Kirt Karna:
 Earning an honest living. Since God is truth, a
Sikh seeks to live honestly. This doesn't just
mean avoiding crime; Sikhs avoid gambling,
begging, or working in the alcohol or tobacco
industries.
 Vand Chhakna:
 (Literally, sharing one's earnings with others)
Giving to charity and caring for others.
