Jainism is an ancient religion with roots in India. This month, Jains are celebrating Paryushan, a week long holiday to remind them of the principles of their faith. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.
During Paryushan, Jains pay homage to their leaders of the past who have achieved a kind of spiritual purity. For seven days, they’ll strive to remember and practice the doctrines of their faith, including non-violence, a non-attachment to the material world, and a belief that every living thing has a soul and spirit.
“‘Paryu’ means the soul or the spirit, and ‘ashan’ means to connect your self to your spirit and establish yourself into spirit.” Jayant Desai is a Jain living in Queens, New York.
“We are supposed to leave all mundane life. Like a lot of devotees here, they have taken a vacation for seven days. And on those days, some of them fast, by which they are constantly reminded of the purpose. You are connected to your goal, your purpose for the seven days. You learn that how you overcome your anger, how you develop tolerance, how you learn to be cheerful in the worst of circumstances, and how you deal with so called mundane life, without losing your equanimity. And then it is supposed to linger on, even with your mundane life– if not for the whole twenty-four hours, at least for one or two hours every day. So it becomes part of you. And once it becomes part of you, you don’t have to do it. It just happens”
Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I’m Jim Metzner.