He traveled for the next 30 years, teaching the insights he learned until he died at age 73 and passed into ''moksa,'' the liberation of the soul from the burdens of karma and reincarnation. Jains believe every soul is potentially divine and can escape the cycle of reincarnation and achieve moksa by a life of discipline and purification. Those disciplines or vows include speaking the truth, sexual monogamy and detachment from material things. Another discipline central of Jain religion is ''ahimsa,'' nonviolence toward people, animals, even plants. Some Jains build asylums for old or sick animals and care for them until they die a natural death.
Vegetarianism is the norm.
Some interpret that to mean consuming only those foods that can be harvested without killing the plant or animal. Nuts, milk and fruit are examples. Jainism always has had a monastic tradition where individuals become monks to devote their lives to attaining moksa. One tradition of Jain monasticism wears white robes as a sign of the striving for purity. Another branch interprets the ascetic life to mean rejection of clothing altogether, even in public.