Cross-corpus Synthesis: Does Jainism share common beliefs with other religions?

Abstract

Jainism shares significant common ground with other religions, particularly those of Indian origin, by addressing universal problem-spaces related to ethics, moral causality, the nature of existence, and the ultimate human goal. The corpus of prior syntheses reveals that Jainism participates in a shared architectural framework for organizing spiritual life, including pillars of authoritative teachings, an ethical path, ritual practice, and a defined ultimate purpose. Convergences are most pronounced with Hinduism and Buddhism around the concepts of samsara (the cycle of rebirth), karma (the law of action), and moksha or nirvana (liberation). However, Jainism’s specific doctrinal formulations present profound and defining divergences. Its strictly non-theistic worldview, its unique conception of karma as a physical substance, its dualistic metaphysics of soul (jiva) and non-soul (ajiva), and its radical and meticulous application of ahimsa (non-violence) distinguish it sharply from nearly all other traditions. Therefore, while Jainism shares a common vocabulary and engages with a common set of existential questions, its answers are uniquely its own.