Zydenbos Robert J 2006 Jainism Today and Its Future M nchen Manya Verlag In the view of so many basic differences between the two traditions Jain and Vedic it is amazing that there are still people who speak of Jainism as a heterodox sect of Hinduism An impartial study of the literary evidence both Jaina and Brahamanical leads to a conclusion that the latter offshoots of the Vedic tradition have borrowed a lot from Jainism the theory of karma and re birth the vegetarianism of the higher Hindu castes perhaps also temple worship Page 59 Jainism is one of the oldest living religions of the world Perhaps it is the oldest living religion that has served as a major civilizing force giving birth to roughly 2 000 years of written literature to wonders of art and architecture and to a system of philosophy and ethics that gave inspiration to political giant like Mahatma Gandhi Several Religious ideas that are today considered typically Indian either originated in or were spread by Jaina teachers This ought to be common knowledge but as with many other things in the world this is not the case Page 11