Religion and Theology-Monastics Meals & Uncooked Food
Explain why Jain monastics eat uncooked food and describe how they obtain food for themselves
Jainism is among the religions with unique beliefs. Voorst (2016) defines religion as the pattern of practices and beliefs that enact and express what a community considers ultimate or sacred about life. Jain monastics’ practice of eating uncooked is categorized under the ethical dimension of religion. According to Voorst (2016), the ethical dimension includes moral expectations. Religions create norms, values, and behavior patterns based on moral rules. For example, Jain monastics eat uncooked food because of the ahimsa moral command that prohibits individuals practicing Jainism from harming other living beings, including plants, humans, and other microscopic organisms.
The ahimsa moral command also requires individuals to demonstrate compassion for all life, including nonhuman life. Therefore, Jain monastics have a special diet because they believe that many plants and all animals have souls, and killing them leads to the reincarnation of their souls. They also eat uncooked food because they believe that the cooking and heating process is violent to small creatures and drinking water and chopping vegetables also subject small creatures to violence (Voorst, 2016). Jain monastics do not consume unfiltered water to avoid hurting the organisms in the water. They use bilchhavani or jivani to filter water by using a cloth to filter water from a water source to return organisms to the primary water source. However, this practice is no longer applicable in many regions because of piped water supplies. The practice is embraced by all Jain monastics and is among the most critical practices taught to anyone joining the religion.
The unique nature of the Jain monastic diet influences how they obtain food for themselves. They visit Jain households once daily and receive a small amount of uncooked food from every household for raw consumption (Voorst, 2016). They do not accept any food offered outside a house because they have to see where the food is kept or cooked to ensure that there is no violence to small creatures in the storage and preparation of the food. The food collected from the households is consumed in one main meal, and sometimes, they retain some small amounts of unheated snacks or meals. According to Stevens (2014), Jain monastics divide food into three categories. One of the categories is Tamski. The category includes food prepared with no form of violence toward microorganisms and animals. The second category is Satvik. The category contains foods prepared with the least violence to microorganisms and animals and awakens compassion, morality, spirituality, and bliss. The third category is Rajsik. This category includes food prepared with the aim of creating flavors to nourish the body. It includes fried foods.
In the modern era, Jain food has been embraced in society, leading to a rise of restaurants offering Jain food in different places in India. However, the restaurants are strictly monitored to avoid preparing food without considering Jain practices. The restaurants are also prohibited from serving food stored overnight because strict Jains believe that food stored overnight has a high concentration of microorganisms. According to McConnell (2014), the kitchen is viewed as a holy place. The people preparing food for the Jain monastics must remove their shoes and a straining cloth, a ceremonial dress that ensures that microorganisms do not get in the water used in the kitchen (McConnell, 2014). Therefore, Jain monastics may also get food from Jain restaurants after Jain religious leaders authorize the hotel to serve Jain food based on adherence to the ahimsa moral command.
References
McConnell, K. (2014). Food And Identity Formation Among Jain Laywomen (dissertation). Independent Study Project Collection.
Stevens, R. (2014). Jain Food Traditions And Beliefs: Fieldwork, Film, And Flavor In Jaipur, India (thesis). Chico.
Voorst, R. V. (2016). RELG: World. Cengage Learning.
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Explain why Jain monastics eat uncooked food and describe how they obtain food for themselves.
Religion and Theology-Monastics Meals & Uncooked Food
(S) World RELG4 Introduction to World Religions
Robert E. Van Voorst, 2020
Cengage
ISBN.13: 978-1-337-40505-8