Biography of Mahavira

Navigation Menu Gina Mahavira Buddhism and Jainism Gina Mahavira, also known as Nigantha Natava, lived at about the same time as the Buddha-in the 6th century BC-was apparently a little older than Buddha. Mahavira was the founder of Jainism. The life of the Mahavira and the life of the Buddha are somewhat similar: like the Buddha, Mahavira was born in a noble family, received a brilliant education and military training.

He received his name “Mahavira” in his youth for the taming of a cobra and a wild elephant, it means “a great warrior”. When Mahavira was 30 years old, his parents died, and he, leaving the principality of his brother, left the world and became a wandering ascetic. In search of his path, he studied various spiritual practices of that time. Mahavira became Gina - the winner of suffering, those who defeated their karma and left the cycle of birth and death.

After that, he founded his direction, Jainism - the tradition of “the organizers of the crossing”: ascetics who depleted his body with long posts, motionless standing with his hands raised, and other exercises that were aimed at rejecting the temptations of rebirth by developing an incomplete will. The basis of the Mahavira’s preaching was the principle of “Achims” - the non -objection of harm to living beings, including animals and plants.

Mahavira was an extreme ascetic, which had only occasionally and only because it was mined without violence, such as fruits that have fallen from a tree themselves. He walked naked and was often subjected to persecution for this, or even the beatings from the village inhabitants, but the torment was not broken, but only strengthened his goodwill to all living beings. Mahavira preached the truth, relying on the personal experience of comprehension.

He described the universe as a wheel of time, whose hubs are the highest worlds of liberated creatures, and the rim of the worlds of suffering. He spoke of the absolute value of a friendly attitude to living beings. He also described the theory of five bodies that form a human being: a body-form composed of material elements; The body of the mind is subtle, capable of magical transformations; Samskar's fiery body or body, residual impressions; The body of the qualities of consciousness or the body of the will.

Mahavira died at the age of 72, dissolving the shape in rainbow light and leaving behind only hair and nails. Jainism, the teaching founded by Mahavira, as it turned out, had a strong basis and still has many followers in India. One of the most famous followers of Jainism was Mahatma Gandhi. My teacher, Vova Pyatsky, so commented on this story the history of the relationship between Buddhism and Jainism.

The history of the attitude of Buddhism towards Jainism and Mahavira is important for understanding the role of heritage in Buddhism. There are many negative references to ascetics in the sutors, in particular, the niganthe ascetus, but it is worth remembering that the soutras were written after the death of the Buddha by his followers. Buddhism and Jainism existed at about the same time, and Buddhism inherited many concepts from Jainism: the concept of five bodies, the theory of the Ecumenical Wheel of rebirths, the concept of dissolution of the body in a clear light, the theory of inconsistency were presented by Mahavira; Buddha developed and complemented them.

Denying this connection, the early commentators of Buddhism wanted to contrast Buddhism Jainism, to prove its advantage, absolutism in relation to other, shorter religions. But it is impossible to practice Buddhism, denying its roots: there is nothing but ambitiousness, the desire to stand out, the claims to be the only right. Follow Buddha is great, but these concepts need to recognize their heritage, in gratitude, because without gratitude there is no way.

At one time, a misunderstanding of this led to the division of Sangha into the warring camps: the words of the Buddha, their interpretation, was given absolute meaning, common sense was cut off; It was believed that everything that the Buddha taught was not known before him, that his insight completely turned over the knowledge that existed at that time, that there were no other masters who at that time reached the implementation.

In fact, this is not so, it is important to remember this and, reading sutras, use common sense. When self -criticism appears in the teaching, it develops, lives. The sutras are not sinless, their commentators are often blind, and an important part of the growing up of the Buddhist practice occurs when he learns to take responsibility for how he perceives meaning, learns the attentive, thoughtful reading of sutr and other texts.

When what has been said or written is simply blindly accepted, it is proclaimed as the best, absolute - it turns into fanaticism. In Buddhism, as in other religions, there are thoughtless fanatics who carry their stupidity, and this does not give life to the teachings. Fanaticism can only be overcome by gratitude. When there is gratitude, we do not undermine the roots of our own teaching.

If you remove the Jainist roots from today's Buddhism, then there will not be so many from it. When we try to reinter everything, do everything with sterile, clean - it undermines the roots.There are a lot of influences that Buddhism has absorbed, but perhaps the main feature of Buddddism, which distinguishes it from other religions and schools, is non -competing for owning its own essence.

The ripened fruit also differs from the immature: it does not hold on to the form and is ready to be food for others. Doubt is the finest of the barriers.

There are two ways to overcome doubts: inept - we suppress doubts by absolute authority: our teaching is better, our guru is the best; We form a sense of elected ones, restore ourselves against the world and remain alone - there is an attempt to construct enlightenment, and not to recognize it in our own nature. Skillful path: we understand all the shortcomings and still follow the path, choose it, led by gratitude.

Knowledge is inherent in everyone - a beetle, a cat, a dog, but you can only recognize it by recognizing your shortcomings, weaknesses, doubts and learning them as the nature of the mind. It makes no sense to construct an absolute faith, it makes sense to find out your nature. The question of a legacy is a matter of status: do we feel better than other people, smarter.

The story of the attitude to Jainism is an attempt to construct the Buddha as an absolute, to make it think that he is better, smarter than dirty jains. This is stupidity that is found everywhere: Zen followers believe that they are special; The followers of Vajrayana - that they are more advanced than the followers of Hinayan. This is an inept construction of status.

A sense of own limitedness is felt as sadness, sadness brings closer to the knowledge of the nature of the mind. When we understand that our nature is not exceptional, we feel quiet joy in this-we do not have to strain and do something, we need, remembering gratitude, to explore our own nature. Jaina - Builders of crossing. Buddha continued their legacy and began to build better, discovered the middle path.

An attempt to build status only removes a person from the origins. Marina Sherman and Vladimir Pyatsky.