Jainism and Buddha.

DaftChris

I've read up on this religion and with the the exception of a few key beliefs ( Jains believe in souls and reincarnation as opposed to rebirth), it almost seems like Buddhism and Jainism are both sides of the same coin. Both value monks, both teach non-violence (although in Orthodox Jainism, the non-violence is very extreme), both teach compassion, both put an emphasis on meditation, and both are more concerned with action rather than beliefs.

What do you think of this religion?

TheEccentric

Well if I had to be a religion other than Buddhism it would be Jainism or maybe (Confucianism or Daoism)

DaftChris

Anyone else?

kashi

I highly respect it. From the little I know of it, I can see what it has in common with buddhism.

MontrealMonk

kashi said:

I highly respect it. From the little I know of it, I can see what it has in common with buddhism.

I agree with kashi on this.

I'm a VERY strict vegan, by the way.

jll

jains existed during buddha's lifetime.
they were referred to as naked ascetics.
buddha considered their ascetism too extreme
and unnecessary.

DaftChris said:

I've read up on this religion and with the the exception of a few key beliefs ( Jains believe in souls and reincarnation as opposed to rebirth), it almost seems like Buddhism and Jainism are both sides of the same coin. Both value monks, both teach non-violence (although in Orthodox Jainism, the non-violence is very extreme), both teach compassion, both put an emphasis on meditation, and both are more concerned with action rather than beliefs.

What do you think of this religion?

Dakini

DaftChris said:

I've read up on this religion and with the the exception of a few key beliefs ( Jains believe in souls and reincarnation as opposed to rebirth), it almost seems like Buddhism and Jainism are both sides of the same coin. Both value monks, both teach non-violence (although in Orthodox Jainism, the non-violence is very extreme), both teach compassion, both put an emphasis on meditation, and both are more concerned with action rather than beliefs.

What do you think of this religion?

I think Jainism was part of the cultural "soup" the Buddha incubated in, and probably inevitably took some ideas from.

Arthurbodhi

Also one of the teachers that the Buddha try before his enlightenment was Udraka Ramaputra that some scholars identify like Jainist.

Florian

It would be an interesting project to find a major religion that did not have much in common with Buddhism. If the Buddha's objection to Jainism was simply that the asceticism is too extreme then presumably the doctrine is fine, at least as far as it goes.

Chrysalid

I think Jainism takes asceticism a little too extreme. Other than that it's very similar to Buddhism.
Historically Buddhism and Jainism are related, they're both Shramanic religions, alongside two or three others (that I can't recall or be bothered to google ;P). If people think Buddha actually just sat under a tree and developed his system ex nihilo they're naive, he was part of a spiritual milieu of traditions that shared many core concepts. If I were a betting man, I'd wager Buddha was once a Jain who created his own (and improved IMO) offshoot philosophy.