a, Cosmos and the Heavens) and then the elevated teaching of the Buddha - Four Noble Truths (ie. suffering, recognition of it, cessation of suffering, middle way - eightfold path.) Jainism was also part of the Samana tradition and a contemporary of both Buddhism and the Brahmanical renouncer tradition. The Jains believed that everything was animate, and had a jiva ( life principle or soul - similar to the atman and Dharma). Jiva was everything that was sentient, and ajiva was everything that was non-sentient, in life these two have become associated with each other (ie. body and mind). The Jains believed that this association prevented jiva from realising its true nature - ie. immortality, omniscience, and absolute completeness. The aim was to liberate the jiva from the rounds of rebirth, by freeing it from its bondage with Karma (action) and ajiva. This was done through extreme asceticism - ie. plucking hairs out of ones head, fasting etc. They believed that to avoid a new generation of karma one had to practice; non-violence, no killing, and vegitarianism. In some respects, the Buddhism agreed with the Jains basic teaching, such as the idea of rebirth and non-violence - however, they believed the Jains idea of karma to be inflexible, and they opposed their practice of extreme asceticism. (vi.) Another tradition of the Samana group was Ajivaka, that opposed both Buddhism and Jainism. They believed in something called niyatti (impersonal destiny) that governed all. Humans did not have the ability to effect their own destiny through karma, their karma was not freely done, everything was determined. However they did believe in rebirth - but again, Karma did not determine it, the soul was driven by niyatti. Both Vandhamana (Jainism founder) and the Buddha criticised Ajivaka on its ideology of fatalism, because it was a denial of human potential and responsibility. Another two traditions of the Samana movement were the Mater...
