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Why 24 if the Truth of one *Tirthankar* is Absolute?

Why 24 if the Truth of one Tirthankar is Absolute?

Growing up as a Jain, my world was shaped by a specifc set of traditions. The most prominent was the belief in Tirthankars - spiritual teachers who appear periodically, twenty-four in each half-cosmic cycle, to (re)organize Jain Sangh.

As a kid, my curiosity was mostly a math problem. Why twenty-four? Why not a nice, even number like twenty? or a round number like twenty-five? As I began studying Mathematics, I had more numbers to play with: why not a hundered or even ten-thousand? By high school, I was wondering why we did not just have Infinite Tirthankars. I imagined how much easier life would be if we had a 24/7 spiritual concierge service to answer every question as soon as we thought of it.

But now that I have spent some time actually looking at the logic, my question has flipped. Now, I find myself asking: why not just one?

The Cost of Curiosity

There is a common myth that spirituality is for the elderly - probably because they have run out of other things to do.

People assume the youth are not interested. But the reality is simpler. Questions are dangerous (pun intended). Asking deep, fundamental questions creates confusion. And if you let that confusion spiral, it creates chaos. Most people are too busy trying to build a career to invite that kind of chaos into their schedule.

So, generation by generation, we learn the art of avoiding "unnecessary" questions - the ones that do not help us pay the rent or fix the Wi-Fi. We prioritize stability over inquiry. We follow more, assume more and ask less until the spirit of genuine philosophy dies a quiet death. Replaced by a comfortable, copy-paste of traditions.

Until Next Time

My own foray into formal philosophy began last August. For a while, it was actually fun. I got introduced to a fancy new vocabulary and discovered that "Philosophy of Philosophy" is a real thing people spend time on. It is a great way to learn reasoning and logic, and it taught me how to question [outside] the box.

But while I have scratched the surface of handful of ideas, becoming a philosopher was never the objective. Philosophy is excellent at giving me options. But it is terrible at giving me the answers I was actually looking for. It offers a buffet of "probables" when I want a single, functional explanation.

Like many of my other disposable habits, the season one of my philosophical journey ends here. I am still keeping an eye on a few topics, but the spark is gone. At the end of the day, I have come to view philosophy as yet another impressive, but ultimately not-very-useful, human skill.

TLDR; Nothing serious, I have just run out of topics to write on. Will likely be back soon with another wierd thought.