In Exploration of the Ultimate Truth

When we look through the prism of Jainism, it is very easy to comprehend the entire universe, living beings, non living beings, life cycles, time cycles and the journey of every soul. Given the complexity and diversity of the topic, I will be splitting the topic in four blogs, describing abode of humans, demi-Gods (Heavenly beings), Narkis (Hellish beings) and the overall shape/size of entire universe each. The entire universe as per Jainism, is split into 3 parts: * Urdhva Loka (the upper world) - abode of the demi-Gods or Heavenly beings * Madhya Loka (the middle world) - where humans/triyanch reside * Adho Loka (the lower world) - the world of the hellish beings The goal of every soul is to reach the 45 lakh yojan long Siddh Shila, where infinite Siddh Gods are residing. But in the series of Jain Cosmology blogs, this one talks about Devtas (or Heavenly beings, or Demi-Gods), Devloka - their abode (or Heaven as it is known), their lifecycles and characteristics. Please dont confuse ...

There are infinite living beings in this universe, present in 8.4 million different life forms. Each one has a soul. During the cycle of thousands of births and re-births every soul by virtue of various interactions and thoughts keeps adding karmic bonds . The 'pure atoms' of soul are deeply entrenched by interaction with karmic atoms - forming layers of  'not so pure' molecules engulfing the soul (aatma).  Original nature of all souls is that of peace, happiness and eternal bliss.  Who is Parmaatma? The ultimate aim of all souls is to 1) Not create new karmic bonds and 2) Shed away all the old karmic bonds created over several births. Once the Soul gets rids of all these karmas and attains the supreme knowledge, it attains salvation and becomes Parmaatma (or the Supreme aka God as some say)! So all of us are capable of being Parmaatma ourselves and essence of Jainism is to follow such path and help others in the journey too. What is Karma? How do we shed it? Are ther...

Modern science has indeed walked a long way. But I fear mankind may have not even discovered a grain on a sandy beach yet! Today, its hard to believe that when Albert Einstein was working on the Theory of Relativity, science wasn't even aware of life in plants. It was as late as 1901, that Jagadish Chandra Bose proved plants are like any other life form - a concept known to Jainism since time immortal ! Similarly, when we look at our universe, our scientists still grapple with questions like what is the size of our universe ? Is it expanding? If it all started with a Big Bang, will there be a Big Crunch re-collapsing us all? The observable universe alone (which is a very miniscule part of the entire universe) is 93 billion light years in diameter! Jain Cosmology explains all the hidden wonders to us, the exact size, dimensions and shape of the universe. Yes, as per Jainism, the universe is indeed finite and has a well defined shape (neither is it circular nor is it flat)! I will...