r/Jainism

I have a sales job and I keep visiting different cities in India. Hotels are too expensive in India. So I prefer staying at dharamshalas.

However, living conditions in some of the dharamshalas are too pathetic to stay.

I hope that this issue is faced by many others like me and thus such a list would be too helpful for other people.

In this list, I would also prefer that people add which sect to which the dharamshala belongs to.

I could not find any ask jains sub so here I am. I wanted to gift one to a peer but I do not want to gift a fabric she can not wear. So, what kind of fabric for sarees is allowed?

Hey if anybody is going to Palitana on 24 may ..pls txt me up ..we are females and need company for us to stay with.

I have been wanting to do Darshan at Kundalpur for quite some time. I will be visiting in August, but I don't know how to make the most of it!

Have only known and followed Shwetambar rules and rituals, not very sure about the Digambar etiquettes, and hence don't know how to make the most of my visit.

A few questions to start with - How do I get to perform Pakshal (abhishek)? Or puja?
What to wear? Will they allow us a room there?

Also, are females allowed inside the temple? What all can my wife participate in?

Hello everyone, I'm 23/M Perfectly Healthy young male. For Context : I was born in a Hindu family however I don't label myself a hindu or associate w/ anything hinduism related nor my parents do, Both of my parents were very open minded spiritually from the very beginning which definitely left an impression on me since childhood leading me to explore literally every other religion & spiritual traditions that exist in the world, for the past 6 years I have traveled extensively, living in various religious places all over India to find the right path for my ultimate liberation, I came to a conclusion that Jainism & Theravada Buddhism gives us the best odds of getting liberated from the endlessly & meaninglessly repeating cycle of sansaar.

Why I want to do Santhara? Because based on my calculations, I'm genuinely contemplating that Santhara might just be a shortcut way of Liberation only if done right and I think it's worth giving it a shot especially on the top of the only remaining real teerth shertra on Earth : Sammed Shikhar Mountain.

Lord Vardhman Mahavir said that 'yuvavastha' Youth is the best time for Sadhna/Tap.

But my problem is that I don't know who or which jain monastic institution to contact / approach for this? Will they even allow me (a non-jain) to do this? because it's not worth it if I do it alone then it will not work because it's a very sophisticated ritual and has to be done properly right to give us best shot at Moksha otherwise I will reborn again which I do not want at any cost.

I did get to personally know one Digambar Jain Kshulak and have his number from the time I went to Shikharji for the first time in March 2025. Reason I have not contacted him about it is because I don't think he will give me proper guidance regarding this, he just gives me Diksha advice.

Please give me proper guidance on how to do this / I'm asking for directions :)

And please don't write comments giving me reasons why I should not do this, if you do, I will give you 100 plus reasons why not to continue living in Sansaar and look for ways to get out of this miserable cycle of death & rebirth.

[Pravachan Parivaar]

[Tirthankar Aagamvani ]

Veralayam (Here from there YouTube bio, you can find link for whatsApp, they have a group called as "Jain Dharma General Chat", along with other sub-groups. The group that i mentioned is very active group.

[Prem Bhuvanbhanusuri Namah]

This are few whatsApp groups, which shares various information, which helps us stay in touch with Jainism, activities & knowledge.

The intention is to share such groups so that one can be connected with the knowledge and activities.

It is advisable to speak with your Guru / Sahebji to cross-check any information or go ahead following whatever gets shared / discussed here.

You can can add other whatsapp groups links below, which are active & good ones, so that it can reach someone who might find it useful.

Edit: I have removed the link from there, as recommended by one of the comments. Please DM, and I will share the links, which I earlier posted here.

As a jain, many of my non jain freinds ask many basics questions like why you dont eat in night ,curd has lactobaccilus then why you eat , what reason behind not to eat online garlic etc...(i just give example , i also know these basic question answer )

But my point my sometimes there are questions where i cant have a correct or satisfiable answer

So i just want to know where i learn these things , in which shastra and agams these jainism things explains

Also how it realted to science !

Please help a brother. My girlfriend is Jain and we both are deep in love and want to marry and have a future together. The thing is that I am a Hindu (upper caste, if it matters) and from a different region. She says that her family will only agree to marry her to a Jain guy. I told her that I would gladly accept Jainism myself and also follow the complete lifestyle and practices as her culture.

My question is how to convert to Jainism and how to slowly and gradually have a deep understanding of the practices and culture. And does Jain religion even accepts converts? Other than that do families and relatives still discriminate or bad mouth if someone is a new convert and doesn't come from a Jain lineage?

Kindly help.

I imagine it is generally pro-life, but I am asking to be sure.

It seems to me that Jainism is the religion that takes ahimsa most seriously.

On another note, is veganism common in Jainism? I have read that some Jains consume milk. Thank you.

Hey guys! Living in GK2 and desperately looking to treat myself to a premium dinner outside because I'm totally bored of home food.

Since I observe strict Jain rules—absolutely no root veggies, onions, or garlic—I need a place with immaculate kitchen practices and exceptional taste.

What are the best pure-veg fine-dining restaurants or highly-rated spots near the M-Block market that handle strict Jain requests flawlessly? Drop your recommendations or DM me if there's a hidden gem I should check out!

 

Brian Tomasik is a negative utilitarian philosopher. Negative utilitarianism is a kind of "algorithm" for reaching decisions on how to minimize suffering as much as possible, given any situation.

Jainism shares influences with the Vedic tradition while Utilitarianism is a product of the Enlightenment. They are separated by 2500 years and as such are informed by vastly different metaphysics. Despite that, there are many similarities in how they are practiced. Many suffering focused people for example practice non-violent communication, a communication approach that's invented by the clinical psychologist Marshall Rosenberg. He was of course, obviously inspired by Ahimsa. Perhaps, the most striking parallels can be found between Brian Tomasik and the Jain ascetics. Below is a table I made for illustration. Note that it's overly simplified, combining ascetics, laypersons and various sects across different time periods.

 

Brian Tomasik	Jains
Minimization of suffering is the final goal in of itself	Minimization of suffering is in service towards liberation from rebirth
Expansive moral circle that includes animals, insects, plants, microorganisms, AI	Expansive moral circle that includes animals, insects, plants, microorganisms
Moral weight is based on sentience	Moral weight is based on the number of senses. From microorganisms that only have the sense of touch to humans possessing five senses plus a mind
Childfree	Childfree
Lacto-vegetarian	Lacto-vegetarian
No alcohol as it impairs judgement	No alcohol as it impairs judgement
No honey and almonds; replace grains with beans, nuts and potatoes	No honey, multi-seeded fruits and root crops
Rinse the bugs off veggies into a container. Gently dump the water outdoors	No vegetables where the processing involves injuring many small organisms
Place food in the fridge instead of leaving it out to prevent fruit flies	No fermented and stale foods
Don't compost. Instead: avoid wasting food, dispose of food scraps in a sink grinder, or seal food in plastic bags and then put in the garbage	Fasting and consumption of unflavoured food known as ayambila
Limit water use to avoid killing zooplankton	Filter water and wear face masks to avoid ingesting microorganisms
Limit the use of light at night to avoid attracting bugs. Go solar to reduce killing of fish by power plants	No cooking at night. Skip dinner
Limit travel especially when the road is wet to avoid crushing worms, slugs etc.	Historically limited travel. A reason why unlike Hinduism and Buddhism, Jainism never spread to East and Southeast Asia
Avoid stepping on grass and move bugs stranded on roads out of the way	Paryushana — four month monsoon retreat intended to avoid stepping on creatures
Clean often to minimize food for organisms thereby curbing infestations	Sweep the ground to avoid stepping on insects
Use a bed sheet with very small holes to avoid accumulation of dust flakes which is food for dust mites; flush dust in the toilet so dead skin decomposes mostly via bacteria	The Digambara sect does not wear clothes
Pioneered the concept of Earning to Give, as in earning money to give away to charity	The laypeople is an affluent class, well known for philanthropy. Historically prohibited from farming so they became merchants
Austerity. Believes holiday gifts are a deadweight loss. If you want to give him a gift, he instead requests a donation to his preferred charity in his name	Some sects like the Sthanakavasis reject temple worship and it's rituals. Some ascetics only own a bowl and a broom
Honesty is a good policy	If honesty results in great harm, laypeople are to lie. Ascetics must remain silent even if there's a threat on their life
Reduce aggressive impulses	Equanimity is one of the six obligatory actions
Promote cooperation between different value systems	Anekantavada or literally non-one-sided. Note that tolerance and pluralism is a modern interpretation. Early Jain texts were polemical, with some exceptions like Haribhadra
Suicide should be a human right	Sallekhana — death by ritual starvation

 

By the way, this might encourage scrupolosity. In Jainism, there are different expectations for the ascetics vs laypeople. And Tomasik will probably say that charity and movement building is far more impactful so don't fuss and just do the best you can !

 

My main sources are Jains: An Introduction by Jeffery D. Long and The Jains by Paul Dundas as well as Brian Tomasik's website

Such a wonderful playlist 🙏🏻

Hello,
I’m a Marwari jain girl who came to the US to study and explore the world and I am finally ready to get married. The issue is that according to the market, I don’t get any matches because I’m “too old”.
My family is primarily looking for me through their network but they don’t know people in the US as I don’t have much family here. I’m not sure what I should do next ?
I do have my non-negotiables and preferences well thought out but I don’t know where to begin looking.
Being from such a small community makes it really hard to think about my future and ideally I would want to be a part of the community but options seem grim. I do appreciate any questions or advice you have for me here !!

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