“So, wait, you’re Hindu, right?”
A common conversation starter. As much as I want to groan over how many times I’ve been asked this question, I can’t really blame anyone for the misconception. While Hinduism has over a billion adherents worldwide, which is around 15% of the world’s population, less than 0.37% of India’s population alone follows the Jain faith. But, even though we don’t have a lot of company, we are proud folk. Like any other religious individual, we wear our faith on our sleeves -- we strictly adhere to the vegetarian diet our faith has established for us. Our religion has shaped us and our outlook on life.
I often liken Jainism to a spiritual shade of grey (definitely not 50 of them). It identifies with Buddhism’s practice of ahimsa, or nonviolence, while it extols Hinduism’s idea of reincarnation until moksha, or salvation. Yet, despite the religion’s crusade towards enlightenment and equality, Jain women are often chained to cultural norms and gender spheres that religious leaders disguise as essential for liberation and proper religious protocol. Because women are deceitful, women are treacherous, women are temptresses who lure “innocent” men into sin.
Our menstrual blood is impure -- just looking at a photograph of an idol while bleeding is a sin in itself. Like in many religions, Jain dogma states that you have to be clean to pray, which means that all menstruating women are barred from even entering a temple. Ever since the day my mother told me this in the sixth grade, I just couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that menstrual blood could be considered “dirty.” Even to this day, I’m still confused -- I still think that the taboos behind menstruation are absurdly exaggerated. Because it just happens; it’s as natural as perspiration. While many perceive menstrual blood as something the body just rejects, the blood is actually a uterine lining that protects and nourishes the embryo if an egg is fertilized. So, in reality, menstrual blood isn’t impure -- in fact, it has the capability of creating life.
Yet, the discrimination doesn’t end there. According to the Jain faith, every soul is entitled to liberation from the human body, but why is it that women cannot reach salvation unless they are reborn as men? Certain sects of Jainism consider nude prayer as a prerequisite to nirvana, but why is it that women aren’t allowed to pray naked? Is it for our protection, or is it because we’re “distractions?” Because when someone else makes a mistake, women are always scapegoated, even if we aren’t the ones at fault.
But, unfortunately, these issues are present in every religious group, not just mine.
Before I conclude, I would like to point out that the problem does not lie within religion itself. Rather, it is the way we manipulate the sacred words of religion to further our own self-interest and dominance, to promote an agenda that justifies the mistreatment of others for our own personal gain. Religion is no excuse for bigotry and oppression. Religion is no excuse to persecute individuals for who they are. Religion’s purpose is to uplift all, to promote inner and outer peace for everyone. By blinding ourselves from this reality because we don’t want to rock this antediluvian boat, we lose track of what religion should stand for.
As for me, I am Jain, and I am proud. But, as a woman confined to gender norms, I plan to chart my own salvation.
