While Jainism emerged as a protest against the Hindu caste system, Hinduism came to accept Jain asceticism and ahimsa. Still, Jainism doesn't claim many adherents, with slightly less than 4 million followers in the world today. Perhaps the strict requirements of Jainism keep it a minority religion.

Jains acknowledge no transcendent beings. In fact, they have no need for gods, since they embrace a secular ethic. They worship the twenty-four spiritual leaders, or Tirthankaras, who embody their philosophy. To what extent are they still worshipped? Some 40,000 temples in India worship these figures. One of the temples — erected on Mount Abu — is considered one of the seven wonders of India. In addition to temple worship, Jain worship extends to rituals in the home. This includes a broad variety of activities, including reciting the names of the first Jinas (or saints), bathing their idols, and making offerings of flowers and perfume to these idols. Home ceremonies typically include meditation and the observance of vows, too.

Dualism

Much of the moral content of karma and Jainism is due to its dualistic metaphysics. According to Jainism, the world is comprised of two kinds of substances: soul (jiva) and matter (ajiva). The two substances — as Western philosopher René Descartes would elaborate on in his Meditations two millennia later — possess opposite attributes. Soul is vital, alive, immaterial, eternal, and valuable; matter, by contrast, is lifeless, material, and evil. People themselves are the best example of this combination of attributes.

In one way, people can be looked at as spiritual selves surrounded by a material shell. If a person's soul cannot separate from the body, it is because of past actions weighing it down, keeping it sealed in the prison of the body. Jainism is about getting the soul liberated from evil flesh. The answer is a life of hyperausterity and renunciation of the flesh.

If a Jain has too many worldly responsibilities and is thus unable to dedicate himself to an ascetic life, he has less chance for liberation than one who practices asceticism. Because he was able to turn his back on wealth and because of his indifference to pleasure, Mahavira is the Jain model for spiritual advancement.

One story tells that Mahavira, whose name means “great hero,” was meditating one day when people lit a fire beneath him to test his powers of endurance. True to his ascetic ways, Mahavira did not resist.

Another aspect of the Jain metaphysic is its indifference to and lack of the use of gods. Only the individual can free his soul. The means to that end is right action; outside help is of no use. In addition, there is no need for a creator, since matter always was and always will be. Gods, if they do at all, exist on a realm separate from that of humans, and they don't affect human lives. A person's search for release is solitary, far more a matter of character and self-denial than of religion. Prayer is of no use; individuals must rely on themselves for spiritual advancement, not on a transcendent being.

The Jain's only religion is a kind of ethic, a way of life. The Jains might fall into two camps: a majority, who are immersed in their material lives, who cannot give up their homes and accept the rigors of an ascetic life; and a minority, who become monks — quintessential Jains whose lives are guided by five vows.