Outlines of Jainism

Outlines of Jainism by Subramania Gopalan, 196 pages

Jainism is one of the four great religions which originated on the Indian subcontinent, and perhaps the least familiar to Westerners - even Sikhism is probably more prominent in Western consciousness.  The "founder" of Jainism (or, as Dr Gopalan maintains, its reformer), Mahavira, was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha, and like him rejected the Vedic tradition in favor of an inward-looking ascetic path of spiritual liberation.  As with Buddhism, two and a half millennia of development have produced a wealth of philosophical and religious thought, complete with its own competing schools of epistemology, psychology, and metaphysics.

These subjects are the focus of Outlines of Jainism.  Perhaps a more accurate title would have been "Outlines of Jain Philosophy" - it is not concerned with the basic beliefs, daily practice, or social reality of the faith.  It is neither an introduction nor a comprehensive treatise, but an academic ordering of topics with which the reader is already presumed to have some basic familiarity.  Technical terms are used freely throughout and complex issues are raised without being expanded upon.  In a classroom setting this book might be useful, but for the solitary reader it is virtually impenetrable.