Sullivan, Religions of the World (Fortress Press, 2013)
Chapter 4- Jainism Teaching Tips
Approach to Teaching
Since Jainism is a small and relatively unknown religion to most people, this class could start
with a site visit to a Jain temple. Policies of schools and temples will vary, so permission should
be secured in advance. This site visit could be done either as a class or as groups of students.
In preparation for the site visit students should develop a series of questions that they hope to ask
the leader of the temple. Some such questions might concern rituals and practices, beliefs and
symbols. A fruitful area for exploration could also be the similarities and differences between
Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. It should be noted that both Jainism and Buddhism arose
from Hinduism, consequently there will be similarities. The differences however would give rise
to the reasons they separate in the first place.
If this is not possible then a video such as Around the World in 80 Faiths (see below) might be a
good way to introduce the class.
Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsMxWNvsv7Q
(Produced by VYSHAK JAIN K.V) This video covers the main teachings of Jainism. It
is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. The
origin of Jainism is dated by historian as being sometime between the 9th and the 6th
century BC. The triple gems of Jainism - right vision or view (Samyak Darshana), right
knowledge (Samyak Gyana) and right conduct (Samyak Charitra) - provide the path for
attaining liberation from the cycles of birth and death. This video gives a brief overview
of Jainism.
www.jainworld.com
Jain world is a site that gives information about the history, philosophy, teachings,
festivals, scholars, and literature of Jainism. The student will find helpful information on
Jain diet, books and articles on Jainism. Jainism, though numbers over four millions
adherents in the Indian subcontinent is relatively small in comparison to other major
religions, consequently much of what is available is in Sanskrit. This site however gives
English resources
www.cs.solostate.edu/~malaiya/jainhlinks.html.
Sullivan, Religions of the World (Fortress Press, 2013)
This site organizes Jainism resources categorically. It covers areas such as music, food,
prayers, meditation exercises and the concept of non-violence (Ahimsa). The students
will find information of Jain text, images and organizations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZYgpYM2DYs&feature=related
Around the world in 80 faiths is an eight-part BBC production that focuses on Jainism,
Hindusim, Sikhism and Buddhism. It explores their beliefs rituals, philosophy and
practices.
Gandhi
This film was directed by Richard Attenborough. It chronicled the life of Mahatma
Gandhi, who was a Jain Adherent. His basic stance against non- violence was a strong
teaching of Jainism- a concept that is called ahimsa.
Music of Asia
This is a recording of Asian religious music, including Jain puja.
Articles on Jainism
http://jainology.blogspot.com/
Jainology is a site that gives scholarly information on the Jain religion. It covers a
diversity of subject matter relative to the Jain religion. The student will find materials on
the sociology, structure, art, symbols and temples of Jainism. Focus is given to the
subject of Tirthenkaras, with specific attention to the life of The Mahavira.
http://www.jaincentre.com/articles.htm
The Jain center is a scholarly site with a number of articles on the Jain community. The
student will find interesting articles on monks and nuns in Jainism, the function of
laymen and laywomen, the concept of God and the destiny of the soul.