AJIVIKA PAGE

You may already be an Ajivika without realizing it. If you like our screed, adopt our creed!

Ajivika is an ancient religion that originated in a group of naked mendicant monks in ancient India. Although Ajivika became obscure for centuries, the history was maintained by Jains, to whom we are indebted.

Ajivika was founded by Maskarin Gosala over 2,500 years ago, about the time that Gautama Buddha founded Buddhism. As was typical for religious figures, Gosala was born in a cow barn. (A gosala is a cow barn. Maskarin means "of the pilgrim staff".) Other notable historical figures are being recorded at our liturgical calendar.

Ideally, Ajivikas are atheists, determinists, pacifists and vegetarians. In the tradition of our founder, Maskarin Gosala, we favor truth and insincerity. We condemn all of the following:

• violence;
• ownership of scarce resources, including land, gems, and precious metals;
• waste;
• derivation of profit from monopolistic enerprises;
• derivation of profit from the service performed by others in relieving misfortune;
• participation in involuntary labor;
• destruction of healthy trees, which have spirits recognized by various religions;
• creation of opportunities for undetectable fraud, such as computerized voting;
• the exclusionary principle, by which religions pretend they know everything; and
• marriage, between people of different sexes.

We recognize the subordination of master to slave, of male to female, of heterosexual to homosexual, and of believer to skeptic.

In the ancient tradition, we seek to develop an encyclopedic theory of nature.

As with most Eastern creeds, Ajivikas are free to join other religions, as long as they live in accordance with Gosala's example. (Monotheists tend to slight gods other than their own, which is their loss.)

LIVING THE PRINCIPLES

• Ajivikas are obligated to expose truth.
• Ajivikas are obligated to maintain nominal integrity.

Non-violence

• Ajivikas are morally compelled to protect life and limb, whether or not it is legal.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to consume the flesh of animals (or surface water, which may contain animal flesh).
• Ajivikas are forbidden to consume unhealthy or stale food.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to consume genetically altered food.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to suffer by denial of the necessities of life.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to die by means of electrocution, injection, exposure to poison gas, hanging, gunfire, decapitation, or vehicular trauma.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to consume food while in captivity.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to support or particpate in athletic activities that involve or promote violence, such as professional boxing and American football.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to poison themselves or others with food or medicine containing toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and manganese.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to contribute to the punishment of people for acts that harm only themselves, such as criminal prosecution for drug addiction. As biometric data are often shared among government agencies, this may be interpreted as prohibiting participation in fingerprinting or genetic testing.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to participate in the marketing of involuntary labor, either as a manager, laborer, owner, agent, user, or consumer.

• Ajivikas are forbidden to own materials of limited supply or objects that cannot be produced through labor. Hoarding scarce resources denies them to others, creating poverty elsewhere. Thus, Ajivikas are not permitted to own land, precious metals, or rare gems. Gem-quality diamonds are subject to extreme prohibition, as their consumption creates demand for conflict diamonds.
• Gosala saw marriage as a form of ownership, which violated the principle of poverty. Some have interpreted our opposition to heterosexual marriage as limiting us to homosexual relations. However, Gosala appears to have allowed heterosexual activity, as long as it took place without marriage. It is unclear whether either was preferred. Pregnancy and its consequences should be avoided.
• Of course, ajivikas are not allowed to own animals. However, ownership by an animal (an arrangement preferred by cats) is tolerated.

Avoiding waste

• Ajivikas are compelled to disobey unjust, unwise, or destructive laws.
• If unjustly imprisoned, Ajivikas are compelled to escape by nonviolent means.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to eat produce that contains seeds that cannot grow.
• Ajivikas are discouraged from wearing clothing when it is unnecessary to do so. Swimming, running, and volleyball are among the sacred activities that Orthodox Ajivikas perform in the nude. The spirit must be free to travel through the pores of the skin.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to participate in the involuntary removal from society of people who pose no harm to others.
• Ajivikas are discouraged from proliferating excessive human life, which has a tendency to strain natural resources. Toward this ideal, fertile Ajivikas are compelled to use healthy forms of birth control.

• Ajivikas are forbidden to do business with private monopolies.
• Ajivikas are forbidden to participate in health insurance schemes run for the profit of non-practitioners.

• To assure that power is distributed as widely as possible, Ajivikas are required to vote to displace incumbents from office at every opportunity.

Having little extant scripture of its own, Ajivikas look elsewhere for guidance.

Rather than reject all scripture from other religions, Ajivikas interpret much of it according to Ajivika belief.

Here is how Ajivikas interpret the Judeo-Christian Bible.

SHRINES

All venues of efficient transportation are shrines, including bicycle racks and railroad and bus stations.

All venues of prayer are shrines, including polling places, courthouses, hearing rooms, and government offices where applications are made or processed.

• Ajivika encourages practices of food and fiber production that minimize impact in deforestation, soil erosion, pollution, global warming, and disease.
• Ajivikas favor the use of more renewable fiber, such as hemp, over less renewable fiber, such as wood and cotton.
• The sacred texts of Ajivika must not be printed on wood pulp, which requires the destruction of trees. Renewable hemp fiber is acceptable. (Warning: Do not print this page on virgin paper from wood pulp.)
• Reflecting our commitment to the value of all life, we are now attempting to develop standards for organic agriculture. We hope to develop an inspection system similar to the Kosher certification of Judaism, so that Ajivikas and others who uphold our principles can be assured of upholding somatic purity and of not contributing to the ruination of life.
• Suggestions for the development and administration of our standards are welcomed at by e-mail at aloe@rev.net.

Join us in promoting freedom of religion around the world.

We are attempting to convert people in Russia who are being deprived of their religious rights. We are also trying to reach nudists in Arkansas. If you e-mail to Russia, Arkansas, any totalitarian society, or imprisoned populations, please mention this page.

If you have a website with an international or prison audience, please link it to this page.

Contact aloe@rev.net for more information.

 

                               

Last updated: 15 July 2008