Jainism originated in the Ganges River Basin in Northeastern India. It was founded by Mahavira in the 6^th century B.C. As for the origin of man, Jainism teaches that the universe is eternal, and anything that is living now was never created.

 The goal of Jainism is to rid oneself of karma completely, so everything rests on the individual. Karma is activity and desire; one must rid the soul of karma by being inactive without desires. Even good actions can have bad consequences so they must be avoided also as much as possible. One will reincarnate until the soul is rid of all karma.

 It is difficult to say that Jainism is coherent because it teaches to live without actions which is impossible. If no one did anything, everything would fall apart. Moreover, Jains desire to rid themselves of all karma, to not sin, to not harm anything, etc., but the goal of Jainism is to desire nothing.

 Jains believe that the body is the flawed part of everything and the soul is trying to free itself from the body and its desires and actions. But how can we do anything without a body? It just doesn’t work because we have to have a body and we have to do things to live and survive and accomplish anything, but Jains teach us not to do any of these things.

 Jainism’s morality is unclear because it basically teaches you to do nothing. If you don’t do anything, you cannot be moral or immoral. Jains do desire to bring pain to nothing which would be a prominent moral aspect of Jainism. It should probably be viewed as having more morality than immorality because it is terrible to sin or to bring harm to anything.

 Jains would most likely die for their beliefs because they believe that after you die you are reincarnated into a new form. Also, just by following their worldview, Jains sacrifice everything and make their lives miserable. If you have lived a life that is completely detached with no desires or actions, your soul will go to heaven. They also admire suicide because that is the ultimate demonstration of having no attachment to the world.

 Sikhism originated in 1500 A.D. in India. It was founded by Nanak who was born into a family with a Hindu father and Muslim mother. Sikhs believe that a single god created the world, and that man is a sinful creature that needs to be united with god.

 God is somewhat personal and can be looked to for help. In Sikhism, Sikhs try to overcome themselves and their desires and be united with god. This union with god happens when god graciously chooses to unite with the individual. It will end reincarnation, but there is no heaven or hell.

 Sikhism teaches that you must do good works to have good karma which will lead to a sooner union with god, but the union with god is only a result of god’s grace. So it does depend on good works but it doesn’t at the same time.

 There is no condemnation for sin. If you are not united with god in this life, you can be reunited with god in your next life. Also, as a Sikh, it has to be somewhat difficult to witness to others because you have not experienced the reward of your beliefs yourself.

 Sikhism is moral because it encourages good living to produce good karma, but there is really no huge punishment for sinful living besides bad karma so motivation to live a good life may be a little weak.

 No Sikh knows if he or she will be united with god or reincarnated after he or she dies. Only god knows and chooses, but if you are reincarnated you get another try.