Jainism (Nudity in Religion).

[David77]

Have you ever seen on TV, nude religious people casually appearing outdoors in India? They were probably the Jainians.

The founder of Jainism, ages ago, was a compassionate man who believed in respect and reverence for all life. He tried to help to alleviate the suffering of the poor. He finally decided to give the poor his own clothes and henceforth went around naked. His followers followed his example and also gave their own clothing to the poor and they all went naked.

The Janiens in St. Louis Missouri rent facilities from the relatively new, very nice Hindu Temple in St. Louis County, in which to hold their religious services. The newspaper article did not say whether their services were in the nude.

A man originally from India, Dr. Satish Nayak, a retired engineer and currently an Adjunct Professor of Business Management at a local University, will give a lecture on "The Principals and Ethics of Janism" on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at the Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Road, St. Louis MO at 7:30 PM.

Those of you near St. Louis MO who wish to learn about this group's success with nudity, their attitude and experience with nudity and about their religion, now have a chance to attend this free lecture and to ask him questions.

(Each week, nearly, a person of another religion is invited to speak, mostly about the ethics of their religion).

[David77]

Have you ever seen on TV, nude religious people casually appearing outdoors in India? They were probably the Jainians.

The founder of Jainism, ages ago, was a compassionate man who believed in respect and reverence for all life. He tried to help to alleviate the suffering of the poor. He finally decided to give the poor his own clothes and henceforth went around naked. His followers followed his example and also gave their own clothing to the poor and they all went naked.

The Janiens in St. Louis Missouri rent facilities from the relatively new, very nice Hindu Temple in St. Louis County, in which to hold their religious services. The newspaper article did not say whether their services were in the nude.

A man originally from India, Dr. Satish Nayak, a retired engineer and currently an Adjunct Professor of Business Management at a local University, will give a lecture on "The Principals and Ethics of Janism" on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at the Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Road, St. Louis MO at 7:30 PM.

Those of you near St. Louis MO who wish to learn about this group's success with nudity, their attitude and experience with nudity and about their religion, now have a chance to attend this free lecture and to ask him questions.

(Each week, nearly, a person of another religion is invited to speak, mostly about the ethics of their religion).

[wannabenaked2001]

I had never heard of Jainism. If I lived closer to St Louis, I would attend the lecture. Sounds interesting. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[Vin]

quote:

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Originally posted by David77:
[qb]A man originally from India, Dr. Satish Nayak, a retired engineer and currently an Adjunct Professor of Business Management at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, will give a lecture on "The Principals and Ethics of Janism" on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at the Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Road, St. Louis MO at 7:30 PM.[/qb]

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Wish I were closer to St. Louis. Are you planning to attend? It'd be great to have a brief [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] summary of the lecture here for discussion's sake.

[David77]

Vin,
Yes, I will surely attend, as I attend nearly every week. It is easy for me to attend, as I live 25 miles from there. As you suggested, I will try to give a (brief) summary here by the end of next week.

[Jochanaan]

So will anyone give us news on Dr. Nayak's lecture?

[David77]

Here is the report which you asked for regarding the lecture I attended at the Ethical Society yesterday evening to enlighten the audiance as to what is the Jain religion and it's ethics.

I will first discuss the subject of nudity in that religion. The Janian monks of the Digambora sect own no clothing or anything else except a broom and a water bowl. They walk the country completely naked, sometimes up to 30 miles in a day. They will not ride a vehicle, thus we will never see a Digambora monk in the USA, as he would not ride an airplane. He eats only one meal a day and drinks water one time a day. Dr. Nayak states that the population there takes no special notice of his nudity as they have a different attitude toward the naked person from what they do here in the USA. They will invite him into their house for a meal. He always eats standing up. He speaks only when he is asked to speak. He does not do this walking in the Monsoon season, however. When he becomes a monk, he leaves his family household and becomes a bachelor. The soul is always in journey, so he is doing this for his own souls journey and not for anyone else. He will sleep on a mat filled with hay, and he meditates, reads Janian Scripture and practices detachment and discipline.

There are nuns too, but they are not allowed to appear naked, and this would do nothing for their salvation, as some Digambora believe women are not capable of salvation. I suppose they must wait to be reincarnated as males, possible.

There is one Jain holiday where it is obligatory to remain nude for four days. Dr. Nayak states he realizes that people in the USA think a person is crazy if they are naked in company of others. He states that he has no problem whatever with his being naked in front of others. He states that when he holds a conversation, naked, with someone else naked, he just looks them in the eyes. (Sound like some people's posts here on the bulletin board).

This post is getting long, so if you want to read the rest of my report of this lecture, you may continue reading by going to the web page I just finished at;

http://community.webtv.net/NatureReg...AYAKSLECTUREON

[Hokienudist]

Thats an amazing story David, i cant believe people actually do that. They are not nudists in that they dont prefer to be naked cause they feel more comfortable that way. They are naked cause they feel they should give there clothing to more needy people.

Dont think i totally understand that religion.