Deck 4: Jainism

Question 1

What does the following Key Term mean:
-ahimsa

Answer 1

The principle of not harming living beings (often referred to as the "nonharm" or "nonviolence" principle).

Question 2

What does the following Key Term mean:
-jina

Answer 2

"Conqueror"; one who has overcome samsara.

Question 3

What does the following Key Term mean:
-kevala

Answer 3

Omniscience, absolute knowledge of reality; enlightenment that terminates samsara.

Question 4

What does the following Key Term mean:
-tirthankara

Question 5

Approximately what proportion of Indians are estimated to be Jains?

A) 0.5 percent
B) 2 percent
C) 10 percent
D) 7 percent

Question 6

Which of these religions is/are not generally practiced in India?

A) Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism
B) Islam
C) Sikhism
D) Taoism

Question 7

Jainism has had a series of great teachers, called ________ or founders, throughout the current cosmic era, a period that is to last twenty-one thousand years.

A) Bodhisattva
B) Priest
C) Tirthankara
D) Brahmin

Question 8

Mahavira is said to have been an approximate contemporary of what other religious leader?

A) Muhammad
B) the Buddha
C) Jesus of Nazareth
D) Guru Nanak

Question 9

Mahavira's _________ was extreme, consisting of severe fasting, meditation, and nakedness, all exposing him to the elements and to insects, which he refused to harm.

A) ritualization
B) devotion
C) consciousness
D) asceticism

Question 10

The cardinal principle of Jainism is ________, which means: do not harm any living thing.

A) ahimsa
B) bhakti
C) tirtha
D) samsara

Question 11

Mahavira attained kevala, which is ________, the absolute knowledge that destroys samsara.

A) total faith
B) omniscience
C) self-knowledge
D) absolute presence

Question 12

The _________sect of Jainism holds that their monks remain "Sky-clad" during their life.

A) Indobara
B) Digambara
C) Shvetambara
D) Sthanakvasi

Question 13

The Shvetambara sect's adherents are called

A) Umber-Clad
B) Red-Clad
C) Skin-Clad
D) White-Clad

Question 14

In Jainism, ________ are conscious and eternal; they are distincrom each other and independent of the body, though capable of controlling the body.

A) an-atman
B) atman
C) jivas
D) bodies

Question 15

For Jains, ________ is a material substance.

A) karma
B) dharma
C) jiva
D) bhakti

Question 16

Most Jains refuse to eat _______ because they contain many microscopic lives.

A) seed fruit
B) grains
C) root vegetables
D) flowering plants

Question 17

Which of these is not one of the Five Great Vows taken by monastic Jains?

A) Follow the life of Mahavira.
B) Renounce all possessions.
C) Do not steal.
D) Speak the truth.

Question 18

Women lead the key Jain religious activities such as ________ and often have principal roles in performance of worship, particularly singing hymns.

A) meditation
B) sacrifice
C) fasting
D) ahimsa

Question 19

The sectarian dispute over whether the nineteenth Jina, ________, was male or female symbolizes disagreements abouemale liberation.

A) Mallī
B) Satī
C) Parvati
D) Kali

Question 20

Which of these texts do both the Digambaras and Shvetambaras consider to be true scripture?

A) vedas
B) sutras
C) purvas
D) Upanishads

Question 21

Jain adherents are urged to combine their devotion to correct behavior with a sense of community and cultivation of noble feelings such as ________.

A) courage
B) love
C) generosity
D) tolerance

Question 22

Which of these texts do these lines come from? "I renounce all killing of living beings, whether subtle or gross, whether movable or immovable. Nor shall I myself kill living beings (nor cause others to do it, nor consent to it). As long as I live, I confess and blame, repent and exempt myself of these sins, in the thrice threefold way, in mind, speech, and body."

A) The Five Great Vows
B) Book of Tirthankara
C) Digambara Sutra
D) The Four Great Truths

Question 23

In the Hindu Bhagavata Purana, the first Jain Tirthankara is mentioned as a partial incarnation of ________.

A) Kali
B) Krishna
C) Shiva
D) Vishnu

Question 24

Whaorm did the asceticism practiced by Mahavira take?

A) severe fasting, meditation, and nakedness
B) meditation and nakedness
C) Buddha's Middle Path
D) partial fasting and meditation

Question 25

Jainism embraces a distinctive set of core doctrines that have remained substantially unchanged for twenty-five hundred years.

Question 26

Worldwide, Jainism has about twenty-five million adherents.

Question 27

The great teacher Jains revere most is the last one, the twenty-fourth, known by the title Mahavira.

Question 28

After twelve years of ascetic practice, Mahavira attained kevala, or omniscience.

Question 29

Mahavira did not allow women to become Jains.

Question 30

The Digambara sect of Jainism holds that their monks (but not their nuns) should always be unclothed.

Question 31

The Shvetambara sect is the largest Jain faction.

Question 32

A major sect of Jainism holds that men cannot attain enlightenment until they are reborn as women.

Question 33

Jains think the soul can become dimmed, dirtied, and weighed down by particles of lifeless matter.

Question 34

Misdeeds, especially acts of violence, cause bad karma and the accumulation of impurities.

Question 35

Jains believe in multiple gods, some of which they borrowed from Taoism.

Question 36

Goddesses are significant cultural and religious figures for Jains.

Question 37

The capacity of women to achieve liberation from the cycle of rebirth has been hotly debated for around two thousand years, and relates to whether nudity is necessary for salvation.

Question 38

The two schools of Jainism claim the same canon, but practice differently.

Question 39

The Quatrains are an assemblage of verses on meditation.

Question 40

Jains are atheistic in the sense that they deny the existence of a creator God.

Question 41

Ahimsa is considered the single eternal law.

Question 42

Sadhvi Vicaksana, a Jain nun, was known for her keen mind, powers of expression, and uplifting effect on those around her.

Question 43

Just like Hinduism and Buddhism, Jainism has made adjustments to its doctrines to cope with modern changes in the world.

Question 44

Although they are in separate religious traditions, both Jains and Sikhs in India are governed by the law applying to Hindus.

Question 45

Discuss the Five Great Vows of Jainism and how they have an impact on the lives of monastic Jains.

Question 46

Examine the main tenets of the Digambara sect and the Shvetambara sect, pointing out differences and similarities.

Question 47

Explain the meaning of ahimsa and how it is integrated into the lives of both lay and monastic Jains.

Question 48

Using examples, describe three forms of Jain devotional practice.

Question 49

Describe why it might be hard to be Jain in the contemporary world. Remember to use examples to support your statements.