365bet娱乐

In the rationale world of knowledge, the illuminated scholars and researchers with their reasoning mind came up with new theories in the field of religion, philosophy and spirituality. Jainism, a philosophy and a religion, is claimed to have abiding values and universal significance. It is a vast subject or consists of a number of subjects each of which is immense in its extent and content. The profoundity and vastness of Jaina literature are conceded by all, but there still remains a huge field unexplored with great potentialities, deserving the attention of enthusiastic researching scholars. Jaina scholars have used their experience and expertise to put their (Jains) concepts or explore the contemporary issues in modern fashion. So, we can find the seeds of modern theories in Jaina philosophy.

Mysticism is such a concept which was developed in western and eastern philosophies and became the modern issue of philosophical world. A huge literature has sbeen written exploring the concept of mysticism. This has led various theories and conceptions on mysticism. The question does Jainism which declares itself as perfectly in tune with the demands of the new theories and issues have the concept of mysticism too? Secondly, a big question haunted me that, why many encyclopedias such as Encyclopedic of Religion And Ethics, Encyclopedic of Occultism and many other and in many books the book World Religion, does not mention Jaina mysticism, while Hindus, Muslims, Buddhist and Christian mysticism are referred to. There also arises a curiosity regarding the conception, whether mysticism is a western concept or it has roots in east also? Does the form of mysticism that exists in east and west is same or different? Do the western and eastern explanation of mysticism and its types express the Jaina mysticism? Does the vast Jaina literature contribute the concepts of mysticism? And there are many instances of extra-ordinary yoga or spiritual experiences by 罢墨谤迟丑补峁卥补谤补, 膧肠腻谤测补蝉 and other personalities but the question is -are they to be considered as mystical representations? It is this thinking that inspired me to undertake the study on 'Jaina Mysticism'.

The main objectives of the proposed research work titled as 'Traces of Mysticism in Jainism: A Study' is

1. To know the origin and development of Mysticism is east and west.
2. To unearth the Jaina Mysticism from its ancient and modern literature.
3. To study the subtleness of Jaina spirituality or Jaina concepts from mysticism perspective.
4. To compare Jaina mysticism with other theories or philosophies.

The entire research work consists of six chapters and ends with the concluding remarks.

The Chapter One is titled as 'Introduction to Mysticism'. It highlights the nature of mysticism and then gives a brief sketch of varied definitions of mysticism. The definition of mysticism has been studied from two aspects vix, from descriptive and derivative. The descriptive definition has been explored from three perceptive namely, psychological, metaphysical and ethical perspective. Mysticism as a concept includes mystic, mystical experience and mystic path as its necessary elements to be known. This chapter one by one deals with all these elements thereby. The general characteristics of mystical experience are discussed from the study of various cases in general and particularly from Jaina Mystical point. Further the chapter introduces and defines mystic and its type鈥檚 ason journey mystic and mystic who have attained their goal, with their characteristics. Exploring the typology of mysticism discussed by various authors, the chapter also introduces two categories of mysticism: one is pure or absolute mysticism and relative mysticism, and the other is epistemological, metaphysical and ethical mysticism. The mystic path that leads to mystical experience is also briefly discussed. Moreover, the historical explaination of mystical tradition in east and west is thrown light. Lastly the relation of mysticism with other fields such as occultism, myth, religion and spirituality has been explored.

叠谤腻丑补尘补峁噄肠 and 艢谤补尘补峁噄肠 are the two well-known spiritual traditions that flourished on the land of India. The study of Chapter Two entitled as 鈥楳ysticism in 叠谤腻丑尘补峁噄肠 尝颈迟别谤补迟耻谤别鈥� will throw light on the mystical aspects of 叠谤腻丑补尘补峁噄肠 tradition as present in the 叠谤腻丑补尘补峁噄肠 濒颈迟别谤补迟耻谤别鈥搕丑别 Vedas, the 鲍辫补苍颈峁�a诲蝉 and the Bhagavad G墨t膩. It introduces the 叠谤腻丑补尘补峁噄肠 or Hindu mysticism as the union with the ultimate reality -'The Brahman'. It highlights the mystical creation, mystical reality -'The Brahmans' and the mystic-path to reach or become Brahman as elaborated in all the three texts.

As this research work primarily focuses on Jaina mysticism it becomes necessary to investigate the literature which mainly deals with the mystical concepts. In the Chapter Three namely 'Mysticism in 艢谤补尘补峁噄肠 Literature' the attempt is made to present the traces of mysticism in Jaina 膧驳补尘补蝉 and in the literature work of great 膧肠腻谤测补蝉. The chapter is divided into two parts, the first part deals with the canonical literature of 艢惫别迟腻尘产补谤腻 tradition that includes 础峁単补 膧驳补尘补 and selected 惭奴濒补 膧驳补尘补. These Canonical texts being the teachings of Lord 惭补丑腻惫墨谤补, the Great Mystic reveals many facts of mystical state i.e., the state of omniscience and the liberated state with mystical practices and life of great mystics. The chapter will figure out the traces in all these contexts. The part two deals with the literature of great 膧肠腻谤测补蝉 such as 膧肠腻谤测补 Kundakunda, 膧肠腻谤测补 笔奴箩测补辫腻诲补, 膧肠腻谤测补 Yogindudeva and 膧肠腻谤测补 驰补艣辞惫颈箩补测补. The effort is made to trace out the description mystical state, mystical path and explanation of the mystical reality.

The Chapter Four 鈥楥oncepts of Jainism and Mysticism鈥� uniquely deals with the Jaina concepts and their direct and indirect relation with or their significant role in the mystical attainment. The chapter is divided in two parts; the part one explores the concept of nine Tattvas, three jewels, three states of soul and 骋耻峁嘺蝉迟丑腻苍补, which explains the metaphysical and ethical aspect of mysticism. Through the explanation of nine-tattvas, the short story of mystic鈥檚 journey from the state of 膧迟尘腻 to 笔补谤补尘腻迟尘腻 is dealt. Further the chapter highlights 鈥榯hree jewels鈥� that constitutes the mystic path. It also explores the three metaphysical states of soul. Moreover, the endeavor is also made to highlight the fourteen mystical stages that soul gradually ascends with the elevation of moral and spiritual values and ultimately attains the mystical state. In the second part, the direct and immediate cause and also the mystical state of 诲丑测腻苍补 (meditation) and 箩帽腻苍补 (knowledge) are explored.

The Chapter Five 鈥楳ysticism at the Level of Body and Mind鈥� deals with the concept of Labdhi, 峁歞诲丑颈 and 厂颈诲诲丑墨, super natural power are attained during the spiritual journey. These supernatural powers are many times recognized as mystical experience and as the end of the spiritual journey. The chapter brings out the relation between labdhi and mysticism. It defines Labdhi, 峁歞诲丑颈 and 厂颈诲诲丑墨 and their inter-relation and then lists out the survey of various labdhi as mentioned in canonical and other non-canonical texts. Along with this, the labdhis are classified into three categories such as spiritual labdhis, mental labdhis and physical labdhis. Moreover, the chapter brings into discussion the issues of labdhi as support or obstacle in the mystical attainment. It also highlights that who can possess labdhi and also briefly discusses, are labdhis attainable today?

I have drawn discussion on 鈥�Direct and Indirect Views on Jaina Mysticism鈥� in the Chapter Six. The chapter deals with the comparative study of Jaina mysticism and other theory of mysticism. The attempt has made to bring into light the Jaina mysticism as explored by the modern Jaina scholars such as A.N. Upadhye, T.K. Tukol and K.C. Sogani. Further the great Indian scholars R.D. Ranade and S. Radhakrishnan鈥檚 direct and indirect views on Jaina mysticism have been recorded. Along with this their theory of mysticism is compared with identity and difference with Jaina mystical concept. Moreover, the chapter also represents the study of western scholars E. Underhill and W.T. Stace, and their direct and indirect views on Jaina mysticism.

Finally, the heart of the thesis, the 鈥楥辞苍肠濒耻蝉颈辞苍鈥� summarizes the key points and the critical observations of the research. It also justifies the new findings.

At the end, the compact bibliography of the literature list related to the research work that was referred to, in developing this work, is provided. The bibliography is divided into two parts: Original Sources and secondary sources. Secondary sources contain: General books, Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Journals, and Website visited.

Research Methodology

The proposed study is based on descriptive research design. For the research various libraries of the universities and other ideological institutes have been consulted where ample opportunities were available to share the view and to organize discussions with scholars of the institutes. Its data collection was dependent upon primary and secondary sources, i.e., 腻驳补尘颈肠 and non-腻驳补尘颈肠 literature. The research is based on the original works of Jainism and is pure research. The thesis introduces a number of Sanskrit and Prakrit Jain technical terms wherever needed. Each of this is italicized and defined at the point of its appearance in the thesis. The Standard Research Methodology has been followed for the thesis, in preparing the bibliography, in citing references, footnotes and finally the thesis setting as a whole.