Jain Spirit 2001 06 No 08

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/528988/1

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Issue 8
Xune 2001 - August 2001 Non Profit International Quarterly Publication
JAN SPIRIT
ADVANCING JATNISM INTO THE FUTURE
www.jainspirit.org
Special Issue JAINA CONVENTION Chicago - July 5-8, 2001
MARK TULLY
PADMANABH JAINI SHITUL SHAH ARUNDHATI ROY INGRID NEWKIRK CHITRABHANU
Jainism: A Timeless Tradition
d
a
tional 2010_03

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WELCOME
JAIN SPIRIT
Dear Readers,
Jain Spirit was launched in July 1999 at the JAINA convention in Philadelphia. It is now two years, and we will be going to Chicago in July 2001 to encourage the Jains to take it seriously and get excited about it. We will be competing for the eyes and ears of the 7,000 attendees, alongside hundreds of other Jain organisations and leaders trying to promote their project and raise vital funds. The JAINA convention is now the largest conference held outside India and has developed quite a reputation as a social gathering and educational event. It brings together speakers, artists and delegates from all over the world. It is a huge Jain Mela. If you wish to
Deepak Haria commenting on Jain Spirit Strategy attend, visit www.jaina2001.com for information and registration.
We are happy to spend huge sums of money on A lot of effort goes on behind the scenes to produce temple building, but not on Jain education or this magazine. Articles do not just appear on our communication. Pujyashri Chitrabhanuji writes that doorstep - we have to invite them, find new and varied this "Jain Spirit temple which enters all households in writers, different angles, and fresh perspectives for each the form of one-to-one communication, giving readers issue. Similarly, photos and artwork, which are even space and time for introspection is no different from more important, have to be compiled and collated. The a physical temple. In both places, we are in silent right photo to illustrate each article is very difficult to communication with the inner consciousness, and find, but we try.
this is considered All this requires a NO CULTURE - NO FUTURE
the most effective very large amount
learning process. of correspondence
This is vital homeand exchange of information. Design and layout have to work for all students of life. May all subscribe, support, be carefully thought out and checked. Proof-reading is
benefit and nourish this unique instrument of peace." an endless activity, and requires tremendous detail and
Please do not wait for us to call you or approach you professionalism. On top of all this is marketing and fund- personally. Simply write a cheque and put it in the post raising, and we only have three full-time staff to do all if you want Jain Spirit to continue giving you vital this. Administering the subscriber database and mailing information. Money has to flow and it needs to be take time and money. It is a miracle that we have recycled and not accumulated. We would prefer your managed to produce such high quality issues on a time rather than your money, but very few of us are able consistent basis with limited resources. We are grateful to give time in this busy world that we live in. That is for the letters of compliments and encouragement that
why we ask for money instead so that we can buy time. we receive regularly from readers all over the world. In terms of accountability, it is there for you all to see - This gives us hope.
every issue tells you about the work that goes on behind Our magazine is at a critical phase in its life. We have the scenes to give you rich and varied information a growing list of subscribers and well-wishers, but this is
Let us come together, and give Jain Spirit a future. As not enough to financially support the magazine. It is a new and innovative social experiment, the results wrong for us to expect such an aesthetic project to break clearly demonstrate the need for such a magazine. Our even in a short time. We are unwilling to back the vision. children really need it, as without it, they will truly get Kenya is the first country where Jain organisations have lost. recently cooperated in the free distribution of Jain Spirit to their members. In no other country, including UK or North America have Jain organisations cooperated in this manner despite repeated requests. Also
Jai Jinendra, paradoxically, although Jain Spirit can unite the
Atul K. Shah community, the present lack of unity is preventing us
Executive Editor from getting off the ground.
editor@jainspirit.org Jain Education Interational 2010_03 For Private & Personal use only

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Jain Education &
We invite our readers to send excellent photos, letters, clippings and reports on events, and encourage others to subscribe. Financial support to enable this magazine to reach every corner of the world and every educational library is most welcome. By supporting Jain Spirit, you will be taking a pro-active step to inform everyone about this ancient and visionary culture. Please contact our Head Office for more information.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Satish Kumar (Chairman); Sulekh Jain (USA); Surinder Jain (USA); Yogendra Jain (USA);
Tansukh Salgia (USA); Surendra Sethi (USA); Atul Shah (UK); Manish Shah (UK); Pankaj Shah (UK).
INTERNATIONALADVISORY BOARD:
Prof. John Cort; Prof. Padmanabh Jaini; Mr. Shashikant Mehta; Dr. Laxmi Mal Singhvi; Mr. Benjamin Zephaniah
Executive Editor: Atul Keshavji Shah
Assistant: Hiren Surti
Consulting Editor: Satish Kumar
Subscription: Tansukh Salgia (USA); Hiren Surti (UK)
Cover Design: Preeti Jain
News: Prakash Mody Proofreader: Eszter Zaborszky
Art Consultants: Raju Shah; Alison Kent Youth Editor: Vishal Sumaria
Printers: Caprin Printers Limited, London Graphic Designers: Arty-Graph Creations, Colchester Tel: +44(0)1206 522759 Mobile +44(0)78 999 333 666 Distribution: Kenya, India, UK, North America Couriers: Planet Couriers 0208 9311111
INTERNATIONAL
DISTRIBUTORS/CORRESPONDENTS: AUSTRALIA: Sunil Jain jsunil@aul.ibm.com FRANCE: Pierre Amiel; Lalit Bhandari (Paris) INDIA: Narendra Kumar Sethi; Lalit Shah-csi@ad1.vsnl.net.in
INDONESIA: Dina & Jayu Shah - dinajayu@hotmail.com IRELAND: Ciaran Reilly - ciaran_reilly@hotmail.com KENYA: Bharat Doshi, Nairobi - bdoshi@treadsetters.com Telephone Nairobi 860660
Vinay Shah, Mombasa-vish10@calva.com MALAYSIA: Dipak Damani - bhavdip@pd.jaring.my SINGAPORE: Mayur Ghelani - mayur.ghelani@wdr.com UGANDA: Abhay Shah-ultratecug@usa.net BELGIUM: Sailesh Mehta - mehta@glo.be
Publishers:
Young Jains (UK), Mahavir World Vision (USA) Headquarters and Editorial Office: 14 Cowdray Centre House, Cowdray Avenue, Colchester, CO1 1QB, United Kingdom Tel: 01206-500037 Fax: 01206-500279 E-mail: office@jainspirit.org North American Office:
Tel: Freephone 1-888-JAINISM E-mail: tsalgia@att.net 1884 Dorsetshire Road, Columbus, Ohio OH43229, USA WEBSITE:
www.jainspirit.org
Full credit card subscription facility is available on the website. ISSN: 1532-0472
Contents
Issue 8 June 2001 - August 2001
GLOBAL NEWS & EVENTS
Mahavir's Birthday Celebrations...4-6 General News.
REGULARS
NEWS IN BRIEF MAILBOX...
.14 ..16 .....17
QUOTES & QUIPS
FESTIVALS & FORTHCOMING ATTRACTIONS ..35 FINANCIAL SUPPORTERS
..63
FEATURES
MARK TULLY PROBES JAINISM Mark Tully.....
JAIN SPIRIT ESSAY COMPETITION SCHOLARSHIP IN DECLINE Paul Dundas...
THE END OF IMAGINATION Arundhati Roy.....
LIFESTYLE
LEARN BY LIVING Abhay Bang
CHOOSE TO CARE
Ingrid Newkirk....
EAT TO LIVE, NOT TO EXPLOIT Pushpendra Jain
DYING OF CONSUMPTION George Monbiot
..7-13
b
..18
aire IEA splay
10)
.21
.22
24
.26
.28
mA ........30
..32
All rights reserved. This entire publication is the copyright of the publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electrical or

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ART & LITERATURE
EAST MEETS WEST Atul Shah
INTER-FAITH EGYPTIANS FLOURISHED THROUGH FAITH Ketan Shah..
.34
IMAGE OF A DREAM Alison Kent ....... STORIES EXPRESS THE SOUL Richard Fynes ......
YOUTH
.........38
NIKE SWEATS Jonah H Peretti ....
.40 A NEW ECONOMICS Maya Gudka .... ...........41 WHY CHARITY
Archna Shah ..........42 brave new economy GET INVOLVED Atul Shah ...
....43
HISTORY KENYA'S DHOW DESCENDANTS Rajiv Bhatia
44
WORSHIP A FESTIVAL OF INTROSPECTION Shitul Shah ...
WORKPLACE I TRUST YOU, TRUST ME Atul Shah .........
......... 48 ENVIRONMENT
..58
STOLEN HARVEST Vandana Shiva ...................50 LAND NEEDS CULTURE A.V Sanghavi ...... ....52
PHILOSOPHY THE MURDER OF CULTURE Jeremy Seabrook ......
VIEWPOINT DO NOT FEAR Chitrabhanu ....
......64
Jan Sorul Jam SPIRITJAN SPIRIT
UN
SPIRIT
AN SPIRIT
The Previous 7 Jain Spirit Issues JAIN SPIDIE JAIN SPIRIT
the
ncluding photocopying or any information storage or retrieval system without the prior permission of the publisher. Original works copyright remain with the respective artists/writers.

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MAHAVIR JYANTI
MAHAVIR’S
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
Friday 6th April saw the launch of special Mahavir Jyanti celebrations all over the world. The events included the Indian Prime Minister's address at Delhi stadium, exhibitions, lectures and seminars all over the world from Dubai to Columbus, from New York, to Kuala Lumpar and Sydney. We tried very hard to get quality
photographs of these worldwide events before going to press but were generally unsuccessful. The photos here show events in London which are representative of what happened worldwide. Children from all over London did a stage production on the life of Mahavir at Oshwal Centre and a seminar on Jainism was hosted by the Victoria
Cou
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Jain Spirit . June - August 2001
For Private
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MAHAVIR JYANTI
and Albert Museum in central London. A new CD of Jain music was launched at the event. The celebrations demonstrated that wherever Jains live, they are proud of their culture and religion and keen to uphold it and celebrate. A lot of effort and resources from local communities were put into the organisation of these events. The photos here are taken by various people including, Bina Shah, Jay Gudka, Nina Shah and the Jain Spirit team.
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MAHAVIR JYANTI
ALL INDIA CELEBRATES
MAHAVIR JYANTI All India Celebrates
WORLD
JAIN CONFEDERATION
The 2600th anniversary was celebrated with great joy and fanfare all over India. The Prime Minister Mr Vajpayee spoke at a rally in the New Delhi stadium on the 6th April. The Prime Minister in his address said that the concept of ahimsa propagated by
NA
Pron SONT E l federation medecom.
Mahavir is more relevant today than ever before. Others present at the function included Union Ministers Sundar Lal Patwa, Ram Vilas Paswan and Dhananjaya Kumar, president of the Mahotsav Mahasamiti Dipchand Gardi and working president of
in Confederate the committee, Ms. Indu Jain. In his message the Prime Minister said: “The celebration of the 2600th Birth Anniversary of Lord Mahavir is of deep religious, cultural and historical significance. Jainism is one of the greatest contributions of Indian civilization to the world.
Wic At a time, when the human race, despite its scientific and technological achievements, is caught in the grips of want, scarcity, suspicion, misunderstand- Dr L.M. Singhvi, the former Indian High ing, conflicts, terrorism and war, by Commissioner to the UK launched a new celebrating the 2600th Janma- World Jain Confederation aimed at uniting kalyanak of Tirthankara Mahavir, Jains. Its principle object is; "To act one of the greatest humanists, we as a world forum for representation, would be reminding ourselves the consultation and co-ordination in the task power of love, compassion and of promoting the Jain way of life, Jain tolerance. The highest value which ethics, Jain culture, art, philosophy, and he set for judging human behaviour Jain heritage, and collaborate with other is man's reverence for life in all its faiths and traditions." forms. These teachings have become more relevant today. If A senior Digambara Acharya Shri practised widely they will add Vidyanandji was refused entry to the meaning to life of every individual stadium by the police and walked out. This thus providing a way for resolving event caused an uproar amongst his various disputes and conflicts and followers and the Prime Minister apologised making universal peace attainable." I and read out the Acharya's written message.
RECEPIENTS
OF “JAIN RATNA” AWARD
Smt. Indu Jain (Delhi) Dr. Hukumchand Bharil (Jaipur)
Dr L.M. Singhvi (Delhi) Shri Ravindra Jain (Artist)
Pandit Gyanchand Jain (M.P.) Shri Shrenik K Lalbhai (Ahmedabad) Shri Shreyansh Shantilal Shah (Ahmedabad)
Shri Vijay Darda (Aurangabad) Shri Surendra Mehta (Madras)
Shri Shantilal Mutha (Pune) Shri Suresh Dada Jain (Jalgaon) Shri Nemu Chandaria (London) Shri C.N. Sanghvi (Mumbai)
Shri Abhay Phirodia (Pune)
Shri Gumanmalji Lodha Dr. Kumar Pal Desai (Ahmedabad) Shri Hulaschandji Golcha (Nepal)
Dr. Dheeraj Shah (U.S.A) Shri Sugalchandji Jain (Madras)
Dr. Atmanandji (Koba) Shri Mafatlal M. Mehta
Shri J.R. Shah Mrs. Aruna Abhay Oshwal (Punjab)
Sri Pinakin Shah (Artist) Dr. Natubhai Shah (U.K.) Shri Mangilal Shethia (Delhi)
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GLOBAL NEWS
Commemorative Animal Testing is Mahavir Stamp Unnecessary Launched
Sacred Cows Golden Geese
Coisas
Recently the winners of the Bhagwan ATT INDIA 300
Mahavir Stamp competition were announced. Ms. Vidhi Sanghavi of Mumbai, India, received the prize for designing the stamp, while Mr. Prakash Mody of Toronto, Canada, won the prizes for the First Day Cover (FDC) design and the text of the Brochure. The competition was sponsored by the Jain Academy, Mumbai, and organized
by the Jain Social Group International परखसेपग्रहोजीबानाम
Federation, Mumbai. The new prize
winning stamp design has not yet been 5 made available; however, the First Day
Cover had the design of the Kalash (the Winning Stamp Design for holy pitcher). Mr. Dhirubhai Mehta, a
First Day Cover Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society, London, president of the Philatelic Society of India, and the editor of the Philatelic Journal of India for forty years, was the judge for the designs. Mr. Sevantilal C. Shah and Mr. Arunbhai Jhaveri, both Jain scholars, evaluated the write-up for the brochure. These designs, along with the text, have been sent to the Department of Post of India for their consideration for a special commemorative issue, which will be released on 6 April 2001, on the 2600th Birthday Celebrations (Janmakalyanak) of Bhagwan Mahavir. Three million stamps will be printed of Rs. 3.00 value each.
A book entitled "Sacred Cows and Golden Geese" has attacked the use of animal testing amongst the scientific fraternity. Written by husband and wife duo Dr C. Ray and Dr Jean Swingle Greek, an anaesthesiologist and veterinary dermatologist, the book uses science and logic to question the primitive and barbaric practice of animal testing. "Those of us who assume that we owe our lives
to animal experiments should The Human Cost of Experiments on Animals
question whether we might have
been helped sooner - and cheaper - C. KAY GREEK, MD, by the many other means
available." Cover of 'Sacred Cows and Golden Geese book by Dr C. Ray
and Dr Jean Swingle Greek. PETA Set to Re-launch Campaign People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have warned that they will re-launch a suspended campaign against Indian leather goods if cattle continues to be mistreated. PETA has imposed a deadline of May 2001 for the government to impose strict, cruel-free methods of slaughter and transport.
JEAN SWINGLE GREEK, DVM
Unique History
An exhibition was held at the Sangat Centre, Harrow, London, charting the history of Asians in Harrow. Asians of Indian descent represent the largest minority group in Harrow. The exhibition was held in February this year and proved a success with all who attended. Mr Kanti Nagda spearheaded the exhibition and said of the Asians of Harrow that they have done well for themselves and also for the community, borough and country at large". Mr Kanti Nagda and Ms. Anila Shah, both Jains, accepted the Quality Mark certificate from the Legal Services Commmision on behalf of the Sangat Centre on 11 December 2000.
SHREE MAHAVIR SWAM
JAIN TEMPLE
New Extension at London Temple
On The Broadway in Harrow Weald London stood a Digambara Temple which has recently been extensively refurbished. On the 1 April an opening ceremony was held at the temple where hundreds of Jains from all over London attended. Anyone interested in visiting the temple should call Mr Laxmichand B. Shah 0208 4283005.
Kanti Nagda and Anila Shah show an MP around the exhibition
June - August 2001
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GLOBAL NEWS
ACHIEVEMENTS
Hira Ratan Maneck, 63, of Calicut, Kerala, India completed his fasting at Ahmedabad in Gujarat, from 1 January 2000 for 411 days with only boiled-cooled water and solar energy. This was a challenge for doctors, and baffled medical administrators. Earlier, from 19 June 1995 to 15 January 1996, he fasted continuously consuming only liquid. Hirabhai, an engineer and a member of Solar Energy Society, told that one could get necessary energy from the Sun with control and practice..
Prof. (Dr.) Rajaram Jain of Arrah, Bihar received the President of India's Award of 2000 for his pioneering exploratory work on nature's genetic secrets recorded in his publications. Dr. Jain occupies an honored position in international arena for his research study on natural sciences and related research of the 27 monolith works; several of which have won global acclaim and honours.
Piyush Gudka, a veteran marathon runner, became the first Indian to run six marathons in six different continents in the space of eleven months.
Rikin Shah from London, UK has been skiing, water-skiing, rock climbing, abseiling and he loves playing football with his classmates. He does this despite being confined to a wheelchair with muscular dystrophy. On 11 February this year Rikin received a "Child of Achievement" award from exBritish Prime Minister, John Major.
Shivam Nalin Shah, London, is only eight years old, but is already an accomplished bridge player. He has won several awards and is about to become a Master in Bridge.
Shivam Naveen Jain: The Bellevue, Washington, USA based Infospace said it has re-appointed its Indian-American founder Naveen Jain as the CEO and unveiled an agreement with Microsoft to integrate the software giant's television platform. Jain is Chairman and Chief Strategist of the Company, which is a leading provider of cross-platform merchant and consumer infrastructure services.
Ms. Deena Mehta became the President of the Bombay Stock Exchange. For the first time in its 125-year-old history, a female heads the organisation.
8
Vikas Jain, 21, recently won the EDCO 2000 Marketing Award of Excellence, an award of distinction for non-traditional promotion by the Economic Development Council of Ontario (EDCO). Vikas is the co-producer of the Enterprise Toronto Radio Show, dedicated to the promotion of youth, small businesses and entrepreneurs. The show features segments on up and coming businesses with new and unique products and services. It also profiles young entrepreneurs, giving them the opportunity to promote through exposure to listeners all over Ontario.
Jain Spirit June-August 2001
in Education International 2010_03
Dr. Sirish L. Shah is appointed to the newly created Chair of Senior Industrial Research in Computer Process Control at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton. NSERC, Matrikon and Alberta Science & Research Authority sponsored the Chair. Dr. Shah's research over the last 25 years has primarily been concerned with the methods to automate, optimise and monitor
manufacturing process so that they continue to operate in the most economically efficient manner. Shah has supervised over fifty graduate students and numerous post-doctoral associates, and published extensively including textbooks. He has been an invited plenary and keynote speaker at several conferences and academic institutions. He has been awarded many fellowships and awards.
Shri L. M. Singhvi, the Chairman of a high-level panel on the Diaspora, described non-resident Indians (NRIs) as the national resource of India. He said that although economics had taken these people away from India, it would be economics that would "rejoin" them with India and its future. Singhvi will shortly be submitting his report on NRIs for a new initiative to connect them across the world through a new university and global centre of culture. The complexity of the diaspora arises out of the history of migration. He said that "the people migrated at different times for different reasons and the pattern of migration varies from country to country." Shri L. M. Singhvi recently chaired the 35th Jnanpith Award Selection Board and presented jointly to two noted writers of Hindi and Punjabi: Normal Verma and Gurudial Singh respectively.
Prof. (Dr.) Chandrakant P. Shah of the Department of Public Health Sciences and a member of the Toronto University Governing Council was presented with a Certificate of Recognition by the Department of Public Health of the City of Toronto for his commitment and dedication towards the pursuit of "Access and Equity at the University of Toronto". Dr. Shah, the convenor of a forum to mark the International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination, cited the need for hiring more visible minority faculty staff.
Jayshree Khimasia "Revealed: Voices of Women" was the theme of a three-day exhibition at the Toronto's Queen Quay to coincide with the International Women Day. Amongst the seven participating artists was Jayshree Khimasia with her several paintings and ceramics. She said, "Women were not fighting for equal rights or suggesting that they were men. Women embody creativity and talent that should be allowed to promote their heritage through arts and culture."

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GLOBAL NEWS
Young Jain of The Year 2000 | Germans Attack
Pakistan Government
Shital Shah was selected as Young Jain of The Year 2000 for his services to the development of the Young Jains website. Shital achieved this rare distinction in spite of his physical handicap.
Animal rights activists have launched an attack on the Pakistan government for not enforcing a ban on bear and dog fights set in 1998. The Deutscher Tierschutzverein, the German Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, are looking to prominent actors and celebrities to aid their campaign to stop such a barbaric "sport". It is said that hungry dogs are pitted against a bear that has had its teeth and claws removed for the entertainment of the poor in Pakistan.
Ancient Statue Unveiled
In Paris
The Asian Arts National Museum of France in Paris (Musee Guimet) has reopened in February 2001. after 4 years of renovation. The museum contains scriptures on Jainism in several languages including Hindi, English, French and German. However, the greatest attraction for Jains will be the 77cm tall statue of Rishabhadev, the first Tirthankara. It is made of sandstone and stands remarkably well considering it was made in the 10-11th century.
Statue of Rishabhadev which is believed to be over 1000 years old at the Musee Guimet in Paris
Rajchandraji's Emancipation Centenary Concluded
as a grand finale to the year-long Centennial Celebrations of the life of Shrimad Rajchandra by Raj Sobhag Satsang Mandal, London. Three exhibitions, consisting of 90 computer-generated images depicting various events in the life of Shrimad Rajchandra were presented in April. The exhibition was opened by H.H Atmaswarup Swami, the head of the Swaminarayan Temple in London. These life size paintings truly bring to life Shrimadji's spirituality and holy conduct.
From 8-15 April 2001, special functions were arranged at the Agas Ashram, concluding the year long emancipation centenary of Shrimad Rajchandraji. Bus-trips were organised every month during the year to different places, wherever Shrimadji had lived or visited, and many people took part in these pilgrimagetirthyatras. Special bhakti, lectures, shibir (camp), special articles in Divyadhwani, visits by other religious leaders and trips were organised under Atmanandji (Dr. Soneji) of the Koba Ashram, near Ahmedabad. Similar functions were held at Deolali and other places. Puj. Rakeshbhai published his four-volume commentary on Atamasiddhi (self-realisation). The other important highlight included the
superb biographical documentary-video in English as well as Gujarati and an exhibition of life-size paintings of events in the life of Rajchandraji. A well-researched and beautifully produced volume in two languages was also published. The Raj-Sobhag Satsang Mandal, Sayla, Vavania's Rajchandra Ashram and the Institute of Jainology, London jointly produced these three valuable items. These videos, an exhibition and the books, were then shown in many other cities of India and abroad.
Globally, Jain Society of Tri-States New York, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco and a few other places had organised the exhibitions, video shows and distribution of books besides special bhakti-pooja. The Jain Society of Toronto had an additional bhakti every month and had published special articles in their newsletter Jain Cultural Centre of Antwerp and the Institute of Jainology, London, also arranged similar activities. Both the exhibition and the film shows were held in a very elegant venue in Central Antwerp and were very well attended. About 50,000 people outside India became aware of Rajchandraji's life and his contribution to the Jain faith and literature. A series of exhibitions and film shows have been planned
Even as a child Shrimad wondered about the nature of life, death and the mysteries of the
soul. A painting shown at the exhibition
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GLOBAL NEWS
Cycling for Life
458
458
Tin Charan
loving memory
2. She w
inner
10 hari
ya
The Jains of Kenya and UK participated in the "Cycle for Life" money raising event held in Kenya during the Easter weekend (13-15 April 2001). The project was organised by the Food for Life Organisation who are the largest vegetarian food relief organisation in the world. Since its inception, Food for Life has served more than 90 million meals. The money raised will be used to serve vegetarian meals to thousands of people in Kenya on a daily basis.
A new CD of Jain songs
and music was launched during Mahavir Jyanti at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Produced by Jayanti, Ravi and Satish Shah with music arranged by the famous musician Ashit Desai, this CD blends the old with the new to provide lively music and traditional rhythm.
Indian Farming Evolves
Animal Rights International (ARI) of India have helped revolutionise field ploughing in India. In accordance with the Bhartiya Cattle Resource Development Foundation, the ARI have developed a new and cow friendly plough that is more efficient for the farmer and less harmful to the cow. The fundamental difference between a traditional plough and the new Bullock-Wala" tractor is that wheels have been added to the conventional plough which will decrease resistance. This will help stop cows getting the deep wounds inflicted from the heavy yokes around their necks when pulling the heavy ploughs.
Eminent Scholar Eulogised
PRADIP VAN
Well-known under-the-pen-name of Kamalmuni, Upadhyayshri Kanhaiyalalji Maharaj, the great Jain scholar of Agams, and etymologist of Prakrit, Sanskrit. Hindi and English, having taken a vow of Santharo, left for abode on 12 December 2000 (the day of Parswanath Kalyanak) at Mt. Abu. With his emancipation, not only Jains but also India has lost a great personality. At the condolence meeting, a big fund in his memory for animal welfare (Jivdaya) was donated. During his 88 years, he has given several volumes of Jain reference books and commentaries on Agams, which other academicians and sadhu, sadhvijis found as important tools in their understanding of Jainism. His popular works included four volumes of Anuyog and many others.
Orphan at four, he was raised by a relative and when he was eight years old, he joined Fatehchand Maharaj and Pratapchand Munishriji. These two gurujis trained him and at age of eighteen, gave him the Diksha. He studied several Jain scriptures and stood first in obtaining the degree of Nyaytirth. For the next sixty years, he studied and edited many publications on Agams. Two sadhvijis obtained their Ph. D. on Jain Yog and Arihant under his guidance, who later became his disciples and helped in his research and scholarly works. His greatest contribution was Agam Anuyog Trust, which published more than six thousand page volumes on four Anuyogs.
Visitors enjoying the exhibition on the Life of Bhagwan Mahavir
at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, India.
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Gujarat Earthquake
It has now been over 4 months since the terrible Gujarat earthquake. The dust has literally settled and the aid and relief has reached all parts of the effected areas. The wider aspects of the disaster have now become apparent such as the plummet in house prices especially flats and the poor shape of the local economy. Nevertheless, the earthquake has brought together communities and has revealed a caring and charitable side from all that have a connection with Gujarat.
Restoration of Jain Temples in Kutch
Muslim Guards Protects Temple Through Earthquake
Haji Bhura, a 70 year old man residing in Kutch, India, has been guarding a Jain temple for the last 20 years. The Mahavir Swami Temple in Kutch, the second most important pilgrim centre for Jains after Palitana, was totally destroyed after the Gujarat earthquake, apart from a 500 year old statue of Lord Mahavir. The guard, who is a devout Muslim, said "My job is to protect this temple. So if it is in ruins today that does not abrogate my duties. I still have to guard Lord Mahavir!" Haji continues "How can I desert him in this hour of crisis? What if his devotees come to see him pray and go back seeing the debris? I tell them where the Lord is".
On 26 January, 2001, India's Republic Day, hundreds of Jain temples were destroyed in the worst and most disastrous earthquake ever in the Gujarat province. Many temples have collapsed and the sacred idols have been seriously damaged. Bhadreshwar, one of the three most sacred pilgrimage places, is badly damaged and temples of 13 villages (a.k.a. Teragam) will need heavy repairs.
Tapovan Sanskarpith of Bhachau has collected information of losses and is preparing plans for restoration. Jain Muni Chandrasekhar Vijayji said that 205 idols from 65 such damaged temples have been located. Jain Sadhu said that millions of rupees were spent in erecting these temples and huge funds are now required to restore them. Lalitbhai Dhami supervised the team of about 40 volunteers touring the sites, assessing the losses and bringing these valuables to safe place under proper custody with records of location. Besides idols (Pratimajis), statues and images, there were gold, jewelry and silver utensils, Gnan Bhandars of rare manuscripts (libraries), and other pieces of Jain art and architecture were found extensively damaged. Truckloads of idols and other materials were moved to Tapovan in Gandhinagar, near Ahmedabad.
About 45 diamond-merchants of Mumbai went to various places collecting for safe custody precious murtis, gold, jewellery, silver canopy, precious stone studded jewellery, materials and other temple properties. Jainacharya Gunyashurishwarji from Mumbai's Valkeshwar temple and his disciple Kirtiyashsurishwarji in their daily sermons referred to this tragedy and inspired many youths for humanitarian work. Approximately twenty million Rupees were collected initially at a meeting. Jain Sashan Pratisthanam sent groups of 25-youths at different places. The groups were involved in the recovering of temple materials and safeguarding the properties, to prevent undesirable elements taking advantage of the situation. In addition, daily puja could not be done for a few days, as there was no one to do such ceremonies. About 100 temples and prayer halls (Upashrays) were visited. Some of the broken images will be ceremonially de-stigmatised and dropped in the ocean.
86
Children from all over the U.K. helped to raise funds for Gujarat.
2010_03
ILLUSTRATION DEPICTING A MUSLIM GUARD, WITH A STICK, PROTECTING STATUE.
JAINA Plans to Build Village
Bhuj, Gujarat, India: The Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA) completed building a village for the victims of the Orissa cyclone on 14 March 2001, and are now planning to build another village

GLOBAL NEWS
2二段
for the victims of the Gujarat earthquake. The village, called Mahavir Gram, consists of 68 houses and a school, and is situated about 40 miles away from Cuttack in the cyclone effected area. Similarly, the Gujarat village will be built near Bhuj, one of the most devastated areas in the earthquake. The Gujarati government has given 15 acres of land to the project.
June-August 2001 Jain Spirit 11

Page #13

GLOBAL NEWS
Meat is Dying
JAIN SPIRIT
14. Coway Centre House, Cowdray Avenue, Colchester COI Q8, United Kingdom
Tell 44 1206 500037 Part 44 (0) 1206 500279
Email officeinspirit.org . Web: www.jainspirit.org IV. Tony Diar Prime Minister 10 Downing Street London SWIA 2AA 22nd March 01
For a long time people were complaining about the horrors of communism and one day the Berlin Wall came crashing down and Russia gave up on socialism. The mass murder that is perpetuated by the meat industry has for a long time been kept hidden and quietly endorsed by politicians and the media. Children have been misinformed and lied about the nature of meat. Many today still do not know that meat is a dead animal. However, truth ultimately prevails. The foot and mouth epidemic in the UK brought the meat industry into public view and the people were horrified. In North America the publication of Fast Food Nation has taken the country by storm and opened the curtains on the meat industry. The Washington Post did a cover story on the lack of hygiene and regulation and outright cruelty in the meat industry. In Jain Spirit Issue 3 we predicted that in this century the world will have no choice but to become vegetarian. It looks as if it would take even less time. Jainism had said thousands of years ago that was wrong to kill for food and it seems that the world is waking up to this reality. For far too long have we kept this secret formula in our pocket. With Jain Spirit we have a unique vehicle for taking Jain culture to the world. Have you shared your copy with your neighbours and colleagues and encouraged them to subscribe? As a community we have a unique formula for cooking delicious vegetarian food and we should openly share this with the rest of the world.
Dear Prime Minister,
FOOT AND MOUTH OUTBREAK
We hope this letter reaches you and your family in good health.
At this time of national crisis, the Jains of the United Kingdom would like to offer their prayers and support that the government may adopta strategy that involves the least suffering for all souls affected by the disease, directly or indirectly. The Jains have for thousands of years believed that animals are sentient beings who suffer pain and experience similar emotions to humans such as love, sharing and caring. The slaughter of any animal has always been seen as the last resort, and throughout India we have animal and bird sanctuaries alongside our temples and cultural institutions. It is our wish that the current slaughter policy be carefully reconsidered and the respect for the lives of these sentient souls also be taken into account even though they may not be able to speak up for themselves. We are trustees of all living beings, and it is our duty and responsibility to minimise harm to them.
Saurabh Dalal has been a strict vegetarian his whole life. Ten years ago he turned vegan stating, "My basis had always been ethical... there's so much that happens in this world we're not aware of." Suarabh not only avoids all animal, dairy and egg products but also refuses to buy anything made from wool and leather.
As President of the Vegetarian Society of the District of Columbia, Suarabh knows how to eat well. With the awareness of vegetarianism and veganism spreading, so too are the options available for such a choice of diet. "The products on the market today are pretty amazing", he says of the ever growing choice of vegan products available.
We enclose the latest issue of our magazine for your information and are happy to provide representatives for any multi-faith consultation on this issue.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Atul K. Shah Editor and Director Founder President, Young Jains
People Towards Vegetarianism
Tast Tood NATION
Book Attacks Fast Food Industry
A new book entitled "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser, has attacked the fast food giant McDonalds, "People should know what lies behind the shiny, happy surface of every fast food transaction," protests Schlosser. The book provides an interesting insight into the processes involved in food production of their global chain of restaurants. The French Fries that McDonalds produced were initially fried in beef tallow. Then, from external pressure, they were forced to cook their fries in vegetable oil. Due to a change in taste of their fries, McDonalds had to find a substitute flavour source which, they say, comes from a "natural flavour" that is based on an "animal product".
The Vegetarian Society of the UK have reported a 100% increase in telephone calls in March compared to January. A spokes woman for The Vegetarian Society said of the people ringing in: "It is mainly people who have made the decision to become vegetarian on the back of the foot-and-mouth crisis. People have seen the images of animals being killed, thrown around, left dead on farms and put on to fires. Other people just have a strong feeling of distrust with meat." Local radio stations all over the country have also been bombarded with calls from people wishing to switch to a vegetarian diet.
Ero
Schlona
WILAT THE ALL-AMERICAN MEAL IS DOING TO THE WORLD
Cover of Fast Food Nation
by Eric Schlosser
12
Jain Spirit . June - August 2001
in international 2010 03

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GLOBAL NEWS
Post
Foot and Mouth Washington Epidemic
Condemns Sweeps Britain
Meat Industry
On 10 April the world famous investigative newspaper ran the following cover story: Under a 23-year-old federal law, slaughtered cattle and hogs first must be "stunned" - rendered insensible to pain - with a blow to the head or an electric shock But some plants don't always stun properly, with cruel consequences for animals as well as workers. Enforcement records, interviews, videos and worker affidavits describe repeated
violations of the Humane Slaughter Act at dozens of slaughterhouses, ranging from the smallest, custom butcheries to modern, automated establishments such as the sprawling IBP Inc. plant here where Moreno works. "In plants all over the United States, this happens on a daily basis," said Lester Friedlander, a veterinarian and formerly chief government inspector at a Pennsylvania hamburger plant. "I've seen it happen. And I've talked to other veterinarians. They feel it's out of control.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees the treatment of animals in meat plants, but enforcement of the law varies dramatically. While a few plants have been forced to halt production for a few hours because of alleged animal cruelty, such sanctions are rare.
A foot and mouth epidemic has swept the UK and possibly the rest of the world. The disease is spreading uncontrollably. The British government has taken the drastic action of culling in excess of 2,000,000 farm animals in an attempt to try to stop the disease in its tracks. But how could this extreme action take place in a country which is considered to be one of the most civilised nations on the planet?
As with all industries, the agriculture industry is driven by money. A product has to be made as cheaply as possible and has to be sold at the highest possible price to ensure maximum profit. The UK superstores are currently in a "price war" therefore the price of meat has been driven down. This loss of profits then lowers the price of meat bought from farmers, thus forcing them to find more economic ways of rearing livestock. This unfortunately means that many farms use intensive farming methods which are quite frankly appalling. Intensive farming is not only cruel but also extremely unhygienic. Therefore, it shouldn't be a surprise that the agriculture industry lurches from one disaster to the next.
In an attempt to stop the spread of foot and mouth disease the British government has ordered a mass cull of all livestock where there has been a foot and mouth incident. Any livestock which has passed through the infected area must be culled. Any animal within a three-mile radius of an infected area must also be culled. The result: millions of animals slaughtered just because there was a small chance that they would have contracted the disease. You could not escape the image of hundreds of dead cows piled high and set alight in some remote field as shown in the media. Even though vaccination was a possible cure the government dismissed it because it wanted a clean reputation as a quality meat producer and exporter. The murders were committed for profit.
The fundamental issue here is that many people see animals as commodities and not the living souls that they really are. Animals are manufactured, processed and packaged the same way as the other grocery items you would find in a store. It is this attitude that is at the root of all animal mistreatment.
Facts about Meat
5*
*
The average cow 20 years ago produced 4,000 litres of milk per year. Now, due to new production methods, the average cow produces 5,800 litres of milk a year. One in five men between 30 and 34 in the USA had arterial plaque, the type of blockage that is responsible for heart attack and stroke. Animal protein, fat and cholesterol are the main contributors to arterial plaque. Animal-related export trade in the UK amounted to more than £lbn in the year 2000. This included trade in meat, live animals and breeding stock. In the foot-and-mouth outbreak of 1922-24, over 250,000 animals were slaughtered. This new epidemic has claimed millions more lives! Number of people is 100 million, who could be fed using the land, water and energy that would be freed up from growing livestock feed if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%. Production of excrement by US livestock: 230,000 pounds per second
*
MAGNUM
Facts about Vegetarians
*
NOTICE NO ADMITUS
FOOT & MOUTH
According to a year 2000 poll, there are 5 million vegetarians in the U.S. and millions more who strive to eat fewer animal products. A National Restaurant Association poll found that one in five diners look for vegetarian meals when eating out. Whether for ethical, environmental, spiritual or health reasons, the trend is clear: more and more people are seeking alternatives to the meat, egg and dairy industries. Cholesterol found in all grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds: None. Dietary cholesterol intake needed to support human health: None - the body makes its own.
June - August 2001. Jain Spirit
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Page #15

2930463949
2600th
Bhagwan Mahavir Birthday (Janmakalyanak) News and Reports of many functions at various places around the world of the 2600th Bhagwan Mahavir Birthday (Janmakalyanak) on 6 April 2001 is included here, as a special report from different places.
NEWS IN NEWS IN BRIEF
In Toronto, Canada, the yearlong celebrations are held at the Jain Society, Sanatan Mandir, and new Sri Jain Mandir having several separate functions. Some of the programs included special Pooja, Bhakti, Angi, Bhavna, a video of a play, an inaugural Acharya Sushilkumarji Peace & Non-violence Lecture on "Religion and Warfare", an article in the daily on "Understanding Non-violence", "Picture Postage" Canadian stamp with a Jain symbol and design, and the chanting of Namokar-Mantra Jaap at the Vijay Muhrat of 12:39 hrs on 6 April. The celebrations of Jains from Edmonton, Canada, included Navkar jaap, pooja and prayers, an interfaith dialogue with Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Jains on "Ahimsa & Compassion", the distribution of Jain literature, feeding the poor and homeless people, presentation on Jainism at the local church, publishing an article in the newspaper, interfaith prayers at the City Hall, and a Jain prayer at the opening of the City Council Meeting. Jain Vishwa Bharti, from Orlando and Houston, USA, published two English books on this occasion entitled Economics of Lord Mahavir and Lord Mahavir's Scripture of Health by Acharya Mahaprajna.
In Dubai, UAE, celebrations for this once in a lifetime event, started with people observing penance, meditation and fasts,
14 Jain Spirit June-August 2001
Education International 2010_03
•
like upwaas, ekasan, ratri bhojan, kandmul, lilotari tyag, swadhyaya, extra samayiks, jap and dhyan for 26 days. There was no daily time limit for these activities but people spent minimum 48 minutes on practices like scripture study, chanting of japs and meditation. That was their way of celebrating the Janmakalyanak of Bhagwan Mahavir.
Young Jains Professionals Convention
Florida, USA:
The fourth Young Jain Professionals Convention was held 2-5 March 2001, attended by forty participants. Highlights included icebreaker activity where everyone was asked to interpret a story where Jain principles are violated, giving a chance to think. Dr. Anne Vallely of McGill University, Montreal, Canada, gave keynote address: she spoke on the background of Jainism in North America. Introspective and educating group discussions on the five principles of Jainism: Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truth), Asteya (non-stealing), Aparigraha (non-possessiveness) and Brahmacharya (chastity) were conducted respectively by Paulomi Gudka, Amar Salgia, Neha Jhaveri, Rita Kothari and Gabriel Figuerora. Yoga, meditation and recreational activities gave participants a chance to relax and rejuvenate for the day. The Chef who prepared the dinners spoke about his vegan food varieties and the secrets of his recipes. Neelesh Jain and Shilpa Shah shared their experiences of the experiment.
Jain Temple Plans Approved
Leeds, UK:
The Hindu Charitable Trust of the UK have agreed to have a Jain Chaitalya (statue) in their new £1m temple. The architect of the Chaitalya, Mr Rajesh Sampura, has constructed several Jain temples mostly in India. The Chaitalya will be made from white marble and Mr Sampura will incorporate traditional Jain design. It is expected that the temple will be completed during the month of August 2001.

Simobig El
New Pavapuri Tirth
Mt Abu, India:
A model sacred place of pilgrimage is constructed 44 km from Mount Abu Road in Rajasthan. Babubhai Punamchand Sanghvi, a diamond merchant of Mumbai & Surat is spending millions of Rupees, giving valuable time supervising the planning and constructions of not only a religious temple but also a full-fledged social service complex. When completed, the 500 acres of land will have a temple, a religious school, an animal shelter, a seminary, a hospital, a dairy and other services such as water, fire brigade, staff quarters and other related services. The temple inauguration with religious ceremonies was held from 29 January to 7 February, attended by several Acharyajis, sadhus-sadhvijis, religious leaders, political dignitaries, VIPs, guests and thousands of Jains from far and near places in India and abroad. The inner sanctum of the temple has Parshwanath Tirthankara idol as the main and nine other images of Mahavirswami, Adinathji, Sumatinathji, Shantinathji, Sankheswarji Pundarikswami, Sudharma Swami Gautamswami, and Simandharswami.
Research Centre Inaugurated
Mumbai, India:
On the last Gnan Panchami Day, Saurashtra Kesri Pranguru Jain Philosophical & Literary Research Centre was inaugurated under the Chairmanship of Pravinchandra Gambhirchand Shah. Gunvantbhai Barvadiya, the Hon. Co-ordinator gave details of aims and objects of the new center. He said that more than 1.5 million manuscripts are lying in Jain Bhandars Libraries. Ancient and Middle age Jain literature are stored at various Jain temples and museums. The Centre plans to publish these manuscripts, publish informative booklets and maintain website with original texts and links. The "Gnansadhna and Saraswati Vandana" book was released. Many Jain leaders attended the function and addressed the gathering.

Page #16

Compiled by Prakash Mody
NEWS IN BRIEF
Jain Memorabilia on Show Kollkata, India: A "Memorabilia on Jainism" Exhibition was hosted at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata (Calcutta) from 27 February to 5 March 2001. At the exhibition the paintings, photographs, artefacts, manuscripts and literature were all related to Jainism. A large number of non-Jains also visited the exhibition which was organised by the Bhagwan Mahavir 2600th Committee, Kolkata.
Indian Paintings at Philadelphia Museum Philadelphia, USA: As part of the 125th anniversary celebration of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, an exhibition of art. "Intimate Worlds: Masterpieces of Indian Paintings from the Alvin 0. Bellak Collection" went on view from 2 March to 29 April. Spanning the period before the rise of Islamic Mughal rule in Northern India during the 1500s, to the heydays of the British Raj in the late 19th century: the exhibition included vivid illustration of Hindu, Jain and Muslim religious stories, visions of life at Court, solemn and satirical portraits, evocations of the pleasures of love and depictions of superhuman horror. Among the works produced for the Jain, whose faith emerged around the sixth century, is one of the earliest works on paper created in the Indian sub-continent.
Branch of Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya Opened in Udaipur Udaipur, India: For the first time in its 85 year history, a branch of Shri Mahavir Jain Vidyala has been opened outside of the Gujarat and Maharashtra states. The learning centre was officially opened on 12 February 2001 by Shri Dipchand Gardi and other distinguished guests. The centre was constructed to educate the bright but poverty stricken Jains to achieve a college education.
Asia Week Art Fair & Auctions New York, USA: Since 1996, Asia Week, a biennial event has drawn an increasingly strong response from the art buyers, the cognoscenti and scholars. Encompassing auctions, previews, lectures and art fairs, Asia Week 2001 was more hectic than previous ones because of several new Indian-owned art galleries. The Sotheby's realised US$2.4 million through 70 lots sold out of 162 offered. The Christie's realised US$2.6 million for 114 lots sold from 200 offered. "It was a strong sale and we were satisfied with the results." said Yamini Mehta, a specialist in the Indian & Southeast Asian Art Dept. She noted that the quality Indian sculpture was sold very well and she was glad to see the field getting more recognition. The Arts of Pacific Asia Show and Asian Art Fair were held at the 69th Regiment Armoury, had an "extremely strong" opening with 84 exhibitors and a thousand or so attendees. It had eight lectures spread over two days. Amongst the items put on auction was a white marble Jina Mahavir of 4212" high sculpture from western India from circa 12th century, estimated to fetch between US$40,000 to 60.000. The Sixth International Asian Art Fair at the Seventh Regiment Armory included sales by John Eskenazi and Terence McInerney. Eskenazi offered a variety of arts from the religions of India & Tibet, including temple sculptures from Rajasthan. McInerny offered the complete set of painted pages from a Jain religious book dated from 1416. The fair offered a large range of Ganadharan Art. Indian Paintings at Philadelphia Museum A selection of Jain sculptures was on view at the Frederick Schultz Ancient Art Gallery. The 25 sculptures at the show described the jinas or spiritual heroes who are the most favoured subjects of Jain art. Among them were seventh century figures from western India, a metal Jina from Rajasthan and a 10th century bronze from south India.
PFA Steal Cheetah Skins Ludhiana, India: Representatives of People for Animals (PFA) entered an ashram with their shoes on and took two cheetah skins belonging to the Baba for meditation. This act of protest took place on the 18 March this year, but due to the mounting pressure from local leaders the skins were returned to the ashram. Mr Sandeep Jain, president of the PFA, was not available for comment. However the general secretary, Mr Ajay Jain, maintains that the representatives entered the ashram barefoot.
Kurt Titze Remembered Kurt Titze (1922-2001): It is sad news that after a short illness, Kurt Titze died recently. In 1988, during his journey in Shravan Belagola, south India, he sat at the feet of a naked Jain Monk and watched him as he plucked out his beard and the hair of his head without any expression. He knew that he would have to occupy himself with this unjustly ignored religion of non-violence - Jainism, if for no other reason than to do something against the actual violence which was being propagated by the media and becoming normality.
The first result of his studies was a paperback titled No Violence towards Man, Animal or Plant - Words of the Preparer of the Way, Mahavir, which was published in 1993 by the Berlin publishing house. Clemens Zerling and from which a few years later three chapters were to be printed for a teaching manual for Ethical Studies for grammar schools. At the end of 1998 the Indian publishers, Motilal Banarsidas, released a large-format book by Kurt Titze, with the title JAINISM - A Pictorial Guide to the Religion of Non-Violence. This is a fitting contribution to the festivities of the non-violent Jain - whose lay-followers, actually, aren't pacifists.
Fox Hunting Green Light London, UK: A passionate debate erupted in the House of Lords on 26 March whether or not fox-hunting should be banned. As we reported in the last issue of Jain Spirit (Issue 7. p 9) the Countryside Alliance reacted angrily when they became aware that the government might outlaw their beloved pastime. The House of Lords have now voted against a ban on fox-hunting by 317 to 68, a majority of 249, which was supported by a majority of 213 MPs in January this year. Peers then went on to vote that foxhunting should continue under a system of self-regulation.
Vegetarian Town Bans Meat Sales Palwal, India: The sale of meat has been banned in a north Indian town of Palwal to encourage vegetarianism among all its 150.000 inhabitants. Meat traders in the town, south of New Delhi, have reacted angrily to the ban and have already filed a petition.
June - August 2001. Jain Spirit 15
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Page #17

MAILBOX
ARTICLE INSPIRES
INCLUSIVE NOT EXCUSIVE Hitesh Mehta,
Brad Pouleson, Iowa City, Iowa, USA, writes: Ft Lauderdale, writes:
Let me first say that I enjoy your magazine very much I have just finished reading your most
Mailbox
and greatly appreciate the contributions all involved are current issue (Issue 7) of "Jain Spirit" and
Jain Spirit
making. Having said that, I also must say that I was would like to congratulate you and your team editors@jainspirit.org
disappointed with a few small news items in the for a job well done. Your editorial was
March-May issue. Most notably the item on page 10 excellent and has inspired me to write an
under #5 (Students of Indian origin are outperforming article for a future issue. Please allow me to
their peers, Issue 7, page 10). While I realise that introduce myself. I am an adjunct Professor at Florida Jainism is a religion born in India and that people often feel proud of International University and two months away from Publishing themselves as a group, the news reported in the above mentioned section a book on my specialization, Ecolodges. I am also a Landscape regarding student performance in UK schools smacks of racial Architect, Architect and Environmental Planner and in my superiority. Needless to say we all know the depths to which this notion work, I continually seem to be using the Jain philosophies that has taken the world in history. As a non-Indian Jain I personally regard I grew up with. It is in this light that I must mention the Jainism as a religion of wonderful significance and feel that for too long inspiring article written by Rita Morbia (Issue 7, page 28-30). it has been restricted to the borders of its homeland. In order to foster its She seems to be doing the same in her work.
growth and the growth of the beautiful ideals Jainism contains perhaps
we need to be aware of our own pride and how this can be seen by IS IT OUR PLACE TO CRITICISE?
others as a wall of exclusion. If we are to make statements of our pride Amit Gudka, aged 16, London, writes:
let us present them not in negative contrast to other individuals but rather I read the short news items on boxing and fox-hunting (Issue as ideals or achievements towards which all may strive. There were other 7, page 8 and 9 respectively). The points raised were fair such anecdotes contained in the issue which follow in a similar vein. 1 enough, I mean from a Jain perspective both these pursuits are suggest that these should be avoided and Jain Spirit should be inclusive wrong but whilst I don't support fox-hunting, surely it is not up and not exclusive. to us as Jains to judge what is a tradition that has gone back for hundreds of years. As a Jain I don't think it is right for us to say JAIN BOOKS HARD TO FIND that "it is hard to imagine how these people are the fabric of Sobhag (Raju) Shah, London, writes: middle-England". We don't protest for meat eating to be Recently I have been to a few bookshops but there are hardly if any banned, for alcohol to be banned, or leather to be banned, so books on Jainism on their shelves. There are books on Sikhism so why why the sudden outrage at fox-hunting? I very much doubt not on Jainism? In fact when I went to the British Library to get the that they set out wanting to be as cruel and inhumane as library ticket to see some of their Jain manuscripts, the receptionist asked possible. I agree on the topic of boxing to a certain extent. As me what they were and I had to explain to him a bit about our religion. sports go, this is one of the most brutal ones out there. Boxing We must endeavour to spread awareness about our ancient tradition. is most definitely anti-Jain, but the boxers choose to climb into Perhaps Jain Spirit could publish a list of books or start a Jain book club! the ring together and take on the risk of getting brain damage. Boxers such as Mike Tyson bring to the sport bad press by WAKE UP! being so savage, but the majority of boxers test their bodies Mr Kishore Shah of London, writes: when fighting, then hug their opponent and go home satisfied I really enjoyed reading Ciaran Reilly's article in Issue 7 entitled that they have given it their best. When practised properly, "Science Needs Compassion". Young people who have a negative boxing really is a sport, a test of human
perception of Jainism should be encouraged to read endurance. Even fasting causes health
JAIN SPIRIT - ISSUE 7
such material. It is peculiar that people not bom in problems from time to time, doesn't it?
the Jain tradition sometimes appreciate it more than The image of a grown man crying (Issue
us Jains! I think Jain Spirit should be promoted 7, page 5) as a result of the earthquake
worldwide, with special effort devoted to vegetariwas one of the most moving images I
ans, environmentalists, animal rights activists and have seen relating to the tragic disaster.
lovers of Indian culture. We cannot afford to wait Please let things improve in Gujarat.
Giving is for the Jains to wake up to their own tradition!
Receiving NOW I UNDERSTAND
MODERNISE JAINISM? Viral Shah, London, writes:
Ninna M. Shah from I read Hema Pokharna's article in Issue 6
Cheshunt, writes: entitled: "Navkar Mantra - A recipe for
There is an urgent need to modernise the Jain inner peace". For a long time, I had been
tradition and make it accessible. As a mother of two, reciting this mantra, but this is the first
I long to get information which I can convey to my time that I understood it. As a result of
children. There should be a children's section in the article, my prayers are now more
Jain Spirit so that they can also read and enjoy it. meaningful. Congratulations to Jain
I am grateful that we now have a vehicle for Spirit and let us encourage everyone to
MAHAVIR'S LEGACY
international communication which has the subscribe to this excellent magazine.
capability of uniting us spiritually.
JAIN SPIRIT
INTO THE FUTURE
16
Jain Spirit . June - August 2001
2010_03

www.jainel
Org

Page #18

Family Values
DAD WHERE DOES THE
WORD HOLIDAY COME FROM?
MU
Airkel
"Wives and sons, friends and relatives live with a person as long as he is alive. No one accompanies him after his death."
Jain scriptures
"A self-restrained aspirant should eat, drink and talk less."
Jain scriptures
"Jainism was once a great religion. Now I am great." Jain Leader?
"Young people question everything so we should doubt them."
Jain elders
QUOTES & QUIPS
| "According to a recent UK Comic Relief survey, the majority of donors to charity are poor or working class people."
"There is a traffic jam the Information Super Highway. Communication is at a standstill we are overdoing it!"
"Knock Knock"
"Who's there?"
"ABCD"
"ABCD who?"
"American Born Confused Desi" "Come in and join the club!"
on
"Pure men of eloquence should study an audience before speaking deliberate words."
Saint Tiruvalluvar's Tirukural
2010_03
IT'S OBVIOUS, SURAJ
HOTEL
... FROM HOLY DAY WE'VE MADE A PILGRIMAGE TO WORSHIP THE SUN!
TODA
"Charity begins at home but I am not in at the moment!"
"Why on earth do people spend so much time taking photos or video films on holiday? To show everyone how much fun they had snapping away!"
"Through helping others you help yourself."
"Ancient cultures are storage houses of wisdom. Is Jainism open to the public?"
"Conquer anger by forgiveness, pride by humility, deceit by straight-forwardness and greed by contentment." Jain scriptures
"There is nothing like wealth for lending consequence to an inconsequential man."
QUOTES & QUIPS
"Role models let their personality do the talking."

as
A
|
"The pleasures of health abide in the person who eats moderately. The pains of disease dwell with those who eat excessively."
"Every saint has his past and every sinner his future."
The Eleven Signs of Inner Peace Loss of interest in conflict.
1.
2.
Frequent attacks of smiling
3. Frequent overwhelming attacks of appreciation
4. Loss of desire to judge in judging others
5. Unmistakeable ability to enjoy each moment
6. Tendency to think and act
spontaneously rather than from fear based on past experience 7. Loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others
8. Loss of ability to worry
(a serious symptom)
9. Contented feelings of connectedness to others and nature 10. Increasing susceptibility to love
extended by others as well as an uncontrollable urge to extend it 11. Increasing tendancy to let things happen rather than make things happen
June August 2001 Jain Spirit

Page #19

FEATURES
MARK TULLY PROBES JAINISM
The BBC broadcaster and writer, Mark Tully interviews eminent Jain scholar Professor Padmanabh Jaini on the fundamentals of Jainism and its
modern-day relevance
Professor Padmanabh Jaini presenting a copy of the
Tattvartha Sutra to Mark Tully
same path to others. To put it simply, instead of a single God the Jains have a series of Teachers. Instead of bondage alone, there is bondage plus a possibility of salvation. The autonomy of the soul is always maintained and this gives it the choice of bondage or salvation. You can say that a Jain is a person who chooses the path of salvation as shown by the Jinas.
I would like to start with the "search". How do you see the ultimate goal, because the Pope himself has described Buddhism and Jainism as atheistic religions and yet you say you do believe in salvation. How do you combine these things together? The object of "search" for a spiritually oriented Jain is his true identity. The body obviously could not be the self because it perishes. If you do not believe - as Christianity and some other religions do - in a single existence of the soul on earth followed by eternal heaven or hell, but you believe in the reincarnation of the soul as all Indian religions do, then you must define yourself by asking such questions as: “Who am I, how do I come to have this body, and what could be my relation with other fellow beings who also are caught up in this cycle of rebirth?” The Jains and the Buddhists deny any role for a “Creator God" either in the creation or in the salvation of souls. They believe that the souls have existed from beginningless times in the state of embodiment and will continue till eternity in that state, unless a way can be found to break this cycle. Instead of relying on a single, eternally free Divinity for this salvation, the Jains have a system in which there is a beginningless and endless line of Teachers called Jinas or Spiritual Victors who are humans like us. They have attained salvation (freedom from embodiment and hence perfection) with the aid of the teachings of the previous Jinas and are now able to show the
You speak of bondage and salvation. What exactly do you mean by bondage? The Jains understand it as the binding of the soul with the non-soul. The non-soul is matter, characterised by a certain touch, taste, smell and colour. In its gross form, it is the body and the physical apparatus of the senses and the mind. These are supported and fashioned by a certain subtle and invisible matter capable of turning into karma and hence called the karmic matter. The Jains are distinguished from other Indian religions by their doctrine that this mass of inanimate karmic matter pervades the whole universe. In a process which has no beginning in time, this subtle matter is automatically attracted to the soul when the latter, ignorant of its true nature, is charged with passions like attachment and aversion. Thus bound, it obstructs the qualities of the soul such as knowledge, purity and bliss, just as fine dust floating around might settle on the wet surface of a mirror and block its capacity to reflect objects.
To get rid of those passions, do you need to follow the teachings of the great teachers of Jain religion? Yes indeed. The entire teaching can be summed up by one
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Mark Tully Probes Jainism
Sanskrit word: samvara (stopping of the influx). The influx of the karmic matter is going on continuously and it must result in bondage. The Jains believe that it is possible to stop this influx, as aspiration for emancipation (moksha) is innate to the soul. The soul's ability to seek the true nature of itself and to overcome the passions is never totally destroyed by the mass of karma that surrounds it. This innate power of the soul can be developed fully by renouncing all attachment to worldly possessions as well as to the passions, in short: by following the ascetic path of the Jinas.
Your religion is a small religion in total terms. Less than one percent even in the country of its origin, but an important one percent. Other religions are concerned about expanding more and more. Muslims and Christians think more people should become Muslims or Christians, because they believe that Islam or the Christian way is the right way to look for God. It seems to me that Jainism is remarkably content to be the small but important religion. The Jain community is indeed small and it is true that Jains do not engage in activities of conversion just to increase in numbers. In this the Jains, in common with Hindus, share a belief that one should let beings mature in their own way. What the Jains would want to do is to help non-Jains realise their own potentials in spiritual matters. Conversion is probably not the right word for this, for the Jains are content even when there is only a partial acceptance of their creed, such as of ahimsa, by a non-Jain. Take for example the case of the Mughal Emperor Akbar who decreed that there should be no killing of animals (amari) in his realm on certain days holy to the Jains, and even chose to be a vegetarian occasionally. (Indeed his son Jahangir, because of his addiction to hunting, used to frown upon Jains for
But these teachings are extremely ascetic, I think, and very hard for people to follow especially in the 20th century. There doesn't seem to be the concept of grace or help from God or anything like that in Jainism. How do you get over that? Indeed it is hard to follow the ascetic path. But the Jains have also laid out an easier path for the lay people. This is not yet widely known. Let me mention here a recent book called Jaina Yoga by R. Williams, an Oxford University publication (1963). Here the author has laid out an elaborate chart of the progressive stages through which a layperson practises samvara that leads to the life of an ascetic only towards the end of his active life as a householder. But even without following a formal discipline most Jains may be said to follow the minimum required of them: as for example, their practice of vegetarianism. Given the fact that human beings are not vegetarians by birth (as cows and sheep are), it could be said that the Jains have made a moral choice by adhering to a vegetarian diet out of kindness to the animals, because of the belief that they too have souls.
Raju Shah: Palitana Jain Temple, Gujarat, India
But you don't seem to have any help on that path. On any ascetic path people will slip up sometimes. In Christianity, for instance, we have the concept of forgiveness and God's grace. Do you not have that in Jainism? Well, Jains understand forgiveness in a different way. Karma that you have bound through willful actions must mature and give its result (say, as pain or pleasure, and then like a ripe fruit falling from a tree it must depart from the soul. This law of consequence is inexorable, it cannot simply be wished away. Accordingly, the Jains believe that karma cannot be forgiven by an external agency. The only way to remove the karmic burden forever is by knowing the true nature of reality, that is the self and the not-self, in short: the nature of the soul, its bondage and salvation. This knowledge is made possible by the grace of the teaching of the Jina. He has attained his own salvation but teaches the path to others out of selflessness - this itself is seen as grace. No doubt, there is a bit of magic attached to the idea of grace in theistic religions, getting relief free from an omnipotent Father capable of forgiving as well as punishing the soul. But even there, the soul will probably be endowed with the knowledge of the self and thus freed from sins.
The Jain tradition provides a gateway to
understanding the human soul
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FEATURES
Mark Tully Probes Jainism
"The Jains deny any role for a 'Creator God'
the salvation of souls.”
making him uncomfortable and is reported to have even good Christian and a true Hindu as well. The Jains can, I banished Jain merchants on several occasions from his capital believe, agree with this broad view, since their religion does city of Agra.) Of course Akbar did not give up his Islamic faith, not seek salvation through devotion to a particular Deity or but the Jains were gratified that they had persuaded a a Teacher (not even a particular Jina), but only through the non-believer emperor to respect the life of animals and to that true understanding of the nature of the self. extent he had embraced a basic tenet of Jainism.
Probably such a non-absolutist attitude can be traced to the There are many people I think in the West who feel in most ancient Jain doctrine of anekanta or multifacetedness, some ways that religions like Christianity have failed. which admits the possibility that reality can be viewed They look towards the religions of India like Jainism and differently by different persons from a variety of angles. This Buddhism and indeed certain aspects of Hinduism for a provides the Jains with an incentive for critical inquiry into the completely different view and a different way to search for teachings of others, and regardless of the
God. You seem to think that there differences it may lead to a peaceful
is much in common in all relico-existence. This was demonstrated by
gions. What are the fundamental the participation of the Jains, led by the
differences between the Indian and London-based Institute of Jainology, in an
other religions in search for God? Interfaith Dialogue (Jainism and
This is a very broad question and I Catholicism) initiated by the Vatican. I was either in the creation or in cannot truly answer in a short time. a spokesman for the Jain Faith, and the Jain
Speaking for Jainism, there are delegation had the good fortune of being
certain basic values - respect for life presented to His Holiness the Pope.
for example - which distinguish it
from others. Jains, as it is well If I were in your position and I were to meet the Pope, I would known, don't have a holy cow. They don't worship animals. ask him how he could bring together these two very different They don't dip in the Ganges. And yet all life, both human concepts: your concept that there is goodness in all religions and animal, and even the elements of nature" (earth, water, and his concept that he is the Holy Father and the Roman fire and air) are "sacred” for them in the sense that they may Catholic Church is the one true Church, the ultimate not be violated. This respect for life, so much emphasised ambition of which is to make the whole world Catholic? in Jainism but present in all Indian religions, can become I do not believe interfaith dialogue begins with the assumption the starting point in our search for new ethics of ecology. of equality among the faiths. As a matter of fact, equality has never been admitted by any religion including Jainism. The Is this the specific contribution of Indian religion? Jains view different faiths as so many steps on a ladder (no I would say so. The Bible tells us that the universe was doubt, themselves on the highest rung), which provides room created for man's exploitation and that animals were for respect for each other's spiritual quest, a prerequisite for any created as food for humans. Wealth and worldly power are dialogue.
seen as proof of God's grace. If this is true, then what is
there to prevent us from excessive accumulation which Mahatma Gandhi, who of course was deeply influenced by must create a civilisation based on consumerism and superJainism himself, once said to a Christian woman who wanted markets? Jainism and other Indian religions throughout the to become a Hindu: "Look, you must become a better ages have been asking us to minimise our needs and to turn Christian because that was what you were born." Do you inside toward our souls for true accept this as part of Jainism that the religion you are born is happiness. Of course, the idea of probably the natural religion through which you should seek renunciation is not altogether absent in the meaning of life and salvation?
other world religions and there is a I doubt if Mahatma Gandhi had a particular sect in mind when common ground here on which to he said, "You should become a better Christian." He uses the build a new society. word Christianity not in the sectarian sense in which it is employed by the Catholic Church or the Church of England.
The above interview was conducted in Mahatma Gandhi's Christianity is based on the Sermon on the
1995 for Mark Tully's BBC broadcast Mount, a text which he can equate with a portion of the
series "Something Understood" at the Bhagavad-Gita. For him such designations as a Christian or a
London studio of Unique Broadcasting Hindu point to a spiritually oriented person engaged in the Company. Part 2 of this interview will service of the poor. In that sense he probably saw himself as a be published in the next Issue.
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JAIN SPIRIT ESSAY COMPETITION
WIN A PRIZE AND GET YOUR ESSAY PUBLISHED IN JAIN SPIRIT - LET THE WHOLE WORLD READ YOUR WORDS
Topics -
Topic 1: Write an essay on ONE of the following Jain
principles - Ahimsa, Aparigraha, Asteya, Satya. Tapas, Saiyam, Kshamapna.
Choose EITHER topic 1 OR topic 2. 1. JAIN PRINCIPLES AND THEIR
APPLICATION IN MODERN LIFE.
Topic 2: Examples of themes vou could write your future
essay on are: Temples, Prayer. Pooja. Pratikraman. Pilgrimage to Palitana / Bahubali / Mount Abu, Mahavir - My Friend, Trishala - My Hero, Mahavir Jyanti.
2. MY EXPERIENCE OF JAIN
CULTURE.
Write an essay on ONE of the above themes or on a theme of
your choice, giving us your personal experiences.
Rules
1. Entries are restricted to the following age
groups: 7 - 12 years; 13. - 18 years.
2. Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed will be
awarded in each category and wining essays will be published in Jain Spirit.
3. Words to be limited to maximums of 250 for
age 7 - 12 years and 500 for age 13 - 18 years.
4. Each essay entry should be TYPED and accompanied with the following details in
BLOCK CAPITALS; Full Name; Age; Address; Email; Telephone Number; Essay title.
5. They should be posted to
Jain Spirit Essay Competition, Jain Spirit, 14 Cowdray Office Centre, Cowdray Avenue, Colchester, Essex, C011QB
Photographs or artwork to accompany the essay are also welcome and restricted to one per application.
Deadline for applications is 15th October 2001. Winners will be announced in the magazine and on the website www.jainspirit.org. Enquiries can be made by email Editor@jainspirit.org or telephone 01206 500037.
Am
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FEATURES
SCHOLARSHIP IN DECLINE
Paul Dundas highlights the need for Jains to revive
the study of Jain philosophy and culture
THE STATE OF JAIN SCHOLARSHIP WITHIN INDIA AT PRESENT may not be massive in numbers but they represent a is slightly disappointing. There have been some very significant improvement on the situation prevailing twenty
great figures, like Pandit Dalsukh Malvania who died or so years back. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, it is quite recently. He was a titanic scholar but unfortunately there not always easy for them to find reliable guides and mentors is no obvious successor to him. While Jainism is being taught within the Jain community when they visit India to carry out in certain institutes and universities, it is not quite so easy to research. Equivalents of the prominent pandits like identify a central figure, an intellectual focus to whom Sukhlalji, Malvania and Bechardas, to cite the obvious westerners could go to study under. Muni Jambuvijaya is an Shvetambara names who emerged from the pathshala obvious example but he is getting old. He unfortunately is not system set up by the community at the beginning of the training any successors. It is not outwardly clear to me what is century to train lay scholars, are no longer available. currently going on in the monastic community. There are quite The drop of the level in scholarship on Jainism by Jains is a few impressive individuals but they do not have the same partly connected to the uses to which money is being put in intellectual renown as some of the great
India in the Jain community. Broadly figures of that time, like Muni
speaking, building a temple is deemed Jambuvijaya or Jinavijaya.
"Jains need to be
much more meritorious than endowIn Madras and in Mysore in the south
ing some kind of an educational Jain scholarship does not seem to be reminded of the way in institute. It also reflects the general adequately funded. Students who take
situation in India where Prakrit and Jainology are studying it only to get into which intellectual prowess
Sanskrit are not so widely taught as university, to get a seat. In the north
they used to be. It is not quite so easy there are places where it is very strong,
to pick up the necessary linguistic or like Benares or Ahmedabad. For an
intellectual skills as it had been in the outsider it is not entirely clear whom to
past. One also gets the impression that approach if they want somebody to guide
the role of the monk has changed a bit. them in research. Say, if you are a
community.”
He is not really required to be the western or an American scholar who
intellectual exemplar that he might wants to do some work on Jainism in India, who would you have been in the past. Of necessity the Jain monks of old be sent to, where would you go? It is a bit of a problem tended to value scholarship among the most prominent of especially because Jain studies are undergoing a revival his skills, but today it might be said that genuine scholarly amongst western academics. In Britain and America more and attainments are possibly less valued than the personal more people are taking an interest in Jain scholarship and charisma and skills in oratory, particularly in terms of working on it. Of course there are also some very good persuading lay people to build temples. While there are still scholars in Europe. We have to mention here Nalini Balbir, an monks who take an interest in intellectual matters, very few extraordinarily gifted person teaching in Paris, who has done a appear to have the potential to be ranked with Punyavijaya most remarkable work on Jainism. A particular cause for or Jinavijaya. optimism is the young scholars and postgraduates in the west I suspect that the Jain community feels that money in the who are now starting to take an interest in Jain studies. They past went to places like the L.D. Institute in Ahmedabad and
can bring prestige and of
self-esteem to the
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more recently the Sharadabahen Chimanbhai Institute in Ahmedabad. They think that because these centres have been established there is no need to spend any more. There is a massive amount of important manuscripts and rare books in the L.D. Institute but not enough competent scholars who are willing to assess and interpret them. The Sharadabahen Institute in Ahmedabad is doing a great job in computerising the Sharadabahen Canons and editing texts, but it is a very slow process. Unfortunately, many people think that because such places exist, the scholarly side is taken care of; there is no need to do any more. This could not be further from the truth.
What Jains, who are by and large practical and pragmatic people, need to be reminded of is the way in which intellectual prowess can bring prestige and a sense of self-esteem to the community. They need to recall the sense of the word "prabhavana" as used in earlier times. One of the classic ways in which glory was brought to Jainism was through scholarship by prominent monks displaying their intellectual prowess in front of Hindu, Buddhist and also Moslems. The self-respect and identity of the Jain community were enhanced. Scholarship and learning were obvious ways of publicly confirming the power of the tradition to which you belonged.
I think there is an even greater need for practical guidance for the Jains living in the West where certain really hard accommodations have to be made. Even
2010_03
OXFORD WORLD'S CLASSICS
way, we could promote Jain studies, organise conferences, provide academic training and at the same time provide a focus for lay people. These things do not come cheap but London would be a good base because of the libraries there. For example, the India Office Library has got a huge Jain collection of both printed books and manuscripts. Also, there is a substantial Jain community in the UK.
I think the initiative that the World Council of Jain Academies has undertaken at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies is a good one. It is easy for an academic to suggest this but if we do have some kind of intellectual focus, an institute of some sort, then Jains will be aware within their community. There should also be more academic Chairs based in India.
HEMACANDRA
THE LIVES OF THE JAIN ELDERS
A new translation by R. C. C. Fynes
on basic levels like food: for example, you go to a vegetarian restaurant or a Pizza Hut and it turns out that the cheese it uses contains rennet or that animal stock was used in the vegetarian pizza. What do you do in these circumstances? It is not a question of where you eat, but how do you engage yourself imaginatively in that sort of situation. There is a great need for this situation to be looked at practically, and also drawing on earlier resources without being dogmatic.
On a basic level, Jain Spirit is very important, especially because the method of dissemination of Jain values is a key dimension of starting the ball rolling. Jains can do something to promote scholarship and one of the initial requirements will of course be money. They should establish some sort of full-time academic post to be endowed in a prominent English speaking university to serve as a focus for Jain studies. In this
in Leicester is the author of the above book, Richard Fynes, based at DeMontfort University published by OUP, 1998. In Europe and America more and more people are taking an interest in Jain scholarship, but in India it is in decline
Scholarship In Decline
I have the impression that the Jains have been a bit inward looking, absorbed in their own concerns. Jains in India often argue that this is a difficult religion to practise if you want to take it seriously. What would Jainism be like if there were two hundred million Jains? I think it would be a rather different sort of religion. If there were a greater number of sects, I think Jainism would become seriously fragmented and things that would otherwise be regarded as basically Jain, like vegetarianism, would perhaps be diluted.
The topic of educating Jains about Jainism is a difficult one. If you publish books for youngsters, they may read them. But it is probably one in ten who will sit down and study them. I think parents have to live by example. They have to show that Jainism is something serious and not something they want to foist upon their kids. If the parents want their children to belong to the tradition, they have to talk about it; they have to show the meaning and significance of Jain culture.

Paul Dundas is a Professor at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He is one of the foremost scholars of Jainism and author of an excellent book "The Jains", Routledge, London, 1992. This is Part Two of his essay - Part One was published in Issue 7. Anil Chandaria is currently involved in a campaign to support Jain Studies at London University. If interested, please email him at ANIL@CHANDARIA.NET
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FEATURES
THE END OF IMAGINATION
RAGU RAI/MAGNUM
Booker Prize winner, Arundhati Roy speaks passionately against nuclear bomb testing in India
war in which countries battle countries and men battle men. But it isn't. If there is a nuclear war, our foes will not be China or America or even each other. Our foe will be the Earth herself. The very elements - the sky, the air, the land, the wind and water - will all turn against us. Their wrath will be terrible.
Our cities and forests, our fields and villages will burn for days. Rivers will turn to poison. The air will become fire. The wind will spread the flames. When everything there is to burn has burned and the fires die, smoke will rise and shut out the sun. The Earth will be enveloped in darkness. There will be no day. Only interminable night.
Temperatures will drop far below freezing and nuclear The bomb cracks the Indian soul
winter will set in. Water will turn into toxic ice. AY 1998. IT WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY BOOKS, PROVIDED | Radioactive fallout will seep through the earth and of course we have history books to go down in contaminate groundwater. Most living things, animal
Provided, of course, we have a future. There is and vegetable, fish and fowl, will die. Only rats and nothing new or original left to be said about nuclear weapons. cockroaches will breed and multiply and compete with relic I am prepared to grovel. To humiliate myself abjectly because foraging humans for what little food there is left. in the circumstances silence would be indefensible. So those of What shall we do then, those of us who are still alive? you who are willing: let's pick our parts, put on these discard- Burned and blind and bald and ill, carrying the cancerous ed costumes and speak our second-hand
carcasses of our children in our arms, lines in this sad second-hand play. But
where shall we go? What shall we let's not forget that the stakes we're "From now on it is not eat? What shall we drink? What shall playing for are huge. Our fatigue and
we breathe? our shame could mean the end of us.
The Head of the Health, The end of our children and our
Environment and Safety Group of the children's children. Of everything we
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in love. We have to reach within ourselves
Bombay has a plan. He declared in an and find the strength to think. To fight.
interview that India could survive nuclear war. His advice Once again we are pitifully behind the times - not just is that if there is a nuclear war, we take the same safety scientifically and technologically ignore the hollow claims), measures as the ones scientists have recommended in the but more pertinently in our ability to grasp the true nature of event of accidents at nuclear plants. Take iodine pills, he nuclear weapons. If only, if only, nuclear war was just another suggests. And other steps such as remaining indoors, kind of war. If only it was about the usual things - nations and consuming only stored water and food and voiding milk. territories, gods and histories. If only those of us who dread it Infants should be given powdered milk. People in danger were just worthless moral cowards who are not prepared to die zone should immediately go to the ground floor and if in defence of our beliefs. If only nuclear war was the kind of possible to the basement
dying we must fear, but
living.”
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The End of Imagination
What do you do with these levels of lunacy? What do you | Ladies and Gentlemen, the United States of America! do if you're trapped in an asylum and all the doctors are Come on up here folks, stand up and take a bow. Thank you dangerously deranged? Ignore it, it's just a novelist's naivete, for doing this to the world. Thank you for making a they'll tell you, Doomsday Prophet hyperbole. It'll never come difference. Thank you for showing us the way. Thank you to that. There will be no war. Nuclear weapons are about for altering the meaning of life. peace, not war. Deterrence is an old thesis that has been From now on it is not dying we must fear, but living. resurrected and is being recycled with added local flavour. The It is such supreme folly to believe that nuclear weapons Theory of Deterrence cornered the credit for having prevented are deadly only when they are used. The fact that they exist the Cold War from turning into a Third World War. There are at all, their very presence in our lives will wreak more havoc several flaws in this argument.
than we can begin to fathom. Nuclear weapons pervade our Flaw Number One is that it presumes a complete sophisti- thinking. Control our behaviour. Administer our societies. cated understanding of the psychology of your enemy. It Inform our dreams. They are purveyors of madness. They assumes that what deters you the fear of annihilation) will are the ultimate colonisers. Whiter than any white man that deter them. What about those who are not deterred by that? Is ever lived. The very heart of whiteness. the suicide-bomber psyche - the "We'll take you with us" All I can say to every man, woman and sentient child school - an outlandish thought? How did Rajiv Gandhi die? here in India and over there just a little way away in
In any case, who is the "you" and who is the "enemy"? Both Pakistan, is: take it personally. Whoever you are - Hindu, are only governments. Governments change. They wear masks Muslim, urban, agrarian - it does not matter. The only good within masks. They moult and reinvent themselves all the time. thing about nuclear war is that it is the single most egalitarThe one we have in India at the moment, for instance, does not ian idea that man has ever had. On the day of reckoning, even have enough seats to last a full term in office, but demands you will not be that we trust it to do party tricks with nuclear bombs even as it asked to present
GERARD CLOT. PARAS scrabbles around for a foothold to maintain a simple majority in your credentials. Parliament.
The devastation Flaw Number Two is that Deterrence is premised on fear. will be undisBut fear is premised on knowledge. On an understanding of the criminating. The true extent and scale of the devastation that nuclear war will bomb is not in wreak. It is not some inherent, mystical attribute of nuclear your back yard. bombs that automatically inspire thoughts of peace. On the It is in your contrary, it is the endless, tireless, confrontational work of body. And mine. people who have had the courage openly to denounce them: the Nobody, no man, marches, the demonstrations, the films, the outrage - that is no nation, no govwhat has averted, or perhaps only postponed, nuclear war. ernment, no god Deterrence will not and cannot work given the levels of has the right to ignorance and illiteracy that hang over India and Pakistan like put it there. We dense, impenetrable veils.
are radioactive Our two countries have nuclear bombs now and feel entire- already and the ly justified in having them. Soon others will too. Israel, Iran, war has not even Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Nepal (I'm trying to be eclectic begun. So stand here), Denmark, Germany, Bhutan, Mexico, Lebanon, Sri up and say Lanka, Burma, Bosnia, Singapore, North Korea, Sweden, something now. South Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan...and Never mind if it why not? Every country in the world has a special case to has been said make. And when all our larders are bursting with shiny bombs before. Speak up and our bellies are empty, we can trade bombs for food. When on your own nuclear technology goes on the market, when it gets truly behalf. Take it Jains never believed that peace can be competitive and prices fall, anybody who can afford it can have very personally.
achieved through war their own private arsenal - businessmen, terrorists, perhaps even the occasional rich writer like myself. So you see, even
Arundhati Roy is a writer, an activist, and a campaigner for without a war we have a lot to look forward to.
indigenous people in India. The above is an edited extract But let us pause to give credit where it is due. Whom must
from "The Cost of Living". by Arundhati Roy, published by we thank for all this?
Flamingo, 1999 priced at £5.99. The Men who made it happen. The Masters of the Universe.
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Jayu Shah: Children overflowing from a classroom in Bihar
u
LIFESTYLE
LEARN BY LIVING
Abhay Bang discusses the tremendous educational legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, explaining
how his own life was completely transformed by it
By nature, children are curious
E WAS ASSASSINATED BEFORE I WAS BORN. I NEVER SAW him; and yet, on several occasions in my life I met him. He was no blood relation of mine; but I always felt his presence as if he was my grandfather whose blood flows in my veins.
H
mom s
His influence on my life started even before I was born. My father, Thakurdas Bang in his youth was a lecturer in the college started by one of the associates of the Mahatma. Father lived in Wardha, a small town a few miles away from Gandhi's ashram. He was an economist and wanted to pursue his academic career so he thought of going to the US. He got his passport made, obtained admission and fellowship in the Ohio University. Going abroad for studies was a major event in those days. Father went to see Gandhi to take his blessings before leaving the country.
Gandhi was in his hut in the ashram, seated on a thin bamboo mat on the mud floor, and was writing. My father had been given two minutes to see him. He went near him and bowed in respect. "Bapu, I have been released from jail, and now I am going to America to study economics." The Mahatma looked up. The brown face with the rimmed glasses and a white moustache. He uttered only one sentence. "If you want to study economics don't go to America, go to the villages of India." And he continued his writing.
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My father quietly came out of the hut. He tore up his travel papers and the admission letter. Within a few months he went to a village with a group of his students to live like a villager, work in the field and understand the economics of the farmers by living like one. His entire course of life was changed by that one sentence. He continued to work for the social and political reform movements in India. Today, after fifty-five years, he continues the work with the same zeal. On one occasion, when Gandhiji was asked for a message to the people, he said, "What other message? My life is my message." These words deeply influenced my father. He had the moral strength to make such statements because there was hardly any gap between what he said and what he lived. There was no private hidden compartment. He uttered and lived the truth. Many scientists, scholars and philosophers also know and often speak the truth. His magic lay in living it.
On the evening of 30 January 1948, Gandhiji was assassinated. Albert Einstein said: "The generations to come will scarce believe that such a one, in flesh and blood, ever walked on this Earth." I was born as one of that future generation. But I never had any problem in believing that he really existed. I experienced him! I spent my childhood in his ashram where he had actually lived, walked and breathed. He was no longer there but his shadows still lingered. His presence could be felt everywhere.
The school in the ashram in which I studied was started by him. He dreamt of an education system which would generate a new human being. He called it Nayi Taleem - new education! Children should learn to use head, heart and hand to become a whole person that was the first principle. Children learn by actually doing and living - the second principle. Every student should learn a socially useful productive activity and engage in bread labour - the third principle. It is far more important to learn the ethics and

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Learn By Living
moral values than merely remembering a few pieces of learn agriculture to help farmers and I would learn medicine information - his fourth principle. Once he had said, to treat sick villagers. "Nayi Taleem will be my greatest gift to India."
The Mahatma was no longer there. But could I say that? My school was designed for the learning based on these Who inspired us to make that decision? I entered medical educational principles. Every day we physically worked for college, and from that day I started ignoring my own health. two to three hours - sometimes in the field, sometimes in the They don't teach you in medical college how to live kitchen or in the dairy. All work was packed with experiential a healthy life yourself. There was a severe pressure knowledge: chop wood, carry water and learn. When I was for performance. I became completely engrossed in posted in the community kitchen I was twelve years old. The intellectual learning. Gandhi gradually went into the Mahatma was an experimenter of diet and hence fond of background. I wanted to become a successful doctor! working in the kitchen. Moreover, it made men and women I passed my medical examination with the first position equal. So when eminent leaders came to discuss national in the university. I wanted to learn an even higher level of politics with him, he invited them to join in cutting vegetables medicine. Soon I was studying at the Postgraduate Institute in the kitchen.
of Medicine in India. The technological miracles of As a part of my education I was sent to work in the kitchen modern medical science were intoxicating. of the ashram. We were required to plan a nutritious diet, using But something was hurting within. Why wasn't I locally available foods, within a
happy? Why this restlessness? restricted budget - closer to what a
For whom was I learning this? poor villager could afford - and yet
To practise this high-tech the meals should appeal to the
medicine, the only option would diners. That was a difficult order.
be to go to the US. That was We cooked the food during the day
what most of the doctors trained and read books on nutrition in the
at the Postgraduate Institute did. night to plan for next day's meals.
90 per cent of them were in the Which legume contains how much
US. “Do you want to end up protein? Which vegetables contain
there?” I asked myself. “What which vitamins in what quantity? I
about the Indian villagers?" learnt more about nutrition in the
I couldn't sleep. The inner pain school kitchen than I later learned in
grew. "What should I do?” I medical college.
Right education needs right spirit
soon appeared for an all-India All of us were given a small piece of land - to plan, sow, examination for selection for the higher studies at the nurture, harvest and sell the crop. "What type is the soil? What Institute. Shortly, the results of the examination were manures are required? What chemicals do they contain?" I announced. I have stood first in the national competitive learned chemistry, botany, horticulture and economics - all examination. The Director of the Institute congratulated me while cultivating that small piece of land. I planted brinjal and asked, "Which speciality do you want to select?” By (aubergines or egg plants), and nurtured them with a lot of that time I had made up my mind. compost manure and cows' urine - rich in nitrogen.
"I am leaving the Institute," I said. "I am going to a The brinjal plants usually grow two feet; my plants grew tribal area to put myself in use!" The Mahatma had died six feet tall. I was four feet. So while walking in my brinjal twenty years ago. But could I say that? Wasn't he my inner field I felt I was walking in the forest. The size of brinjal fruits voice? He had said, "God is not a person, it is a principle. was large. One particular fruit weighed 1.75 kg. It was taken Truth is God." If the truth principle itself is God, then it is to market - but nobody would buy it. "We don't want to eat something which can be sought, experienced and realised. one brinjal for the whole week," the customers said. My The truth is everywhere; hence "God" is everywhere. This brinjal came back. We cooked it in our school kitchen - it was line of thought removed my intellectual reservation about enough for twenty people's meal. We learnt music by way of "God". It also provided a harmonious meeting of spiritual prayers. Literature and poetry classes were often held under a and scientific enquiries. Both are seeking the truth. On tree. Social sciences were learnt by visiting villages.
waking up every day, I stand in the garden early in the My brother and I both studied in that school. One day, morning and feel a deep sense of gratitude for the gift of one while cycling by the side of a hill, we decided that we were old more day. It is a grace. 2 enough - I was fourteen - to decide about our lives. What should we become? What did the villagers of India need - we pondered. Food and medicine. Decided! My brother would Abhay Bang is a writer and social scientist based in India.
Jayu Shah: Children at school in Calcutta, India
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LIFESTYLE
CHOOSE
Jain Spirit June-August 2001
onT
T
O SEE A JAIN LIVING BY JAIN VALUES IS A NO LESS MARVELOUS sight than being trapped in a storm on a mountainside and, looking up, seeing a person coming toward you holding a light in his hand. Jains can be the greatest light bearers the animals have, for animals today are no match for human self-obsession, greed and appetites for flesh and skin. So, how should Jains proceed?
We know about the wonderful works of the caring Jains who save lives by setting up hospitals, clinics and shelters for humans and animals in trouble. I remember standing on a rooftop at the Jain bird hospital in Delhi and seeing precisely the same look in the eyes of one of the lucky avian inpatients as I saw in the eyes of a destitute man two hours later at a Jain hospital in another part of the city. Those eyes spoke across the species barrier to convey gratitude and relief. To see an individual, bird or beggar, cow or child, who has found comfort and refuge from an unkind world is to feel blessed. However, I am thinking now of Jains who, with competing demands on their time, find ways to play another very special role: that of the ahimsa ambassadors.
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hangtab
golfoo
TO CARE
To live ethically need not be a burden
but a source of joy and fulfilment, explains Ingrid Newkirk
Conscientious Jains can effortlessly incorporate a commitment to minimise violence in their daily lives. It is done by being aware of what we support when we shop, by choosing a non-violent diet, by conducting day-to-day business with high ethics and a desire to avoid the infliction of suffering. Every day can be an example of Mahavir's teachings of respect for life.
Right Eating. "Right" here means, of course, choosing to do the least harm to sentient beings. We can teach others with forks and fingers as well as with pens and paper. Can you imagine if all those little birds and other innocent animals a meat-eater is responsible for killing in one lifetime were to come and stand outside that person's door? Only a very callous individual would step outside and face them! Similarly, for every veggie meal you have, for every meal you persuade someone else to have you can do the maths to see just how many animals you have saved.
ellasized
hy famous abo
ofer ad
Right eating means eating right for good health. Vegans greatly reduce their chances of stroke, cancer and heart attack, even impotence. So add your own life to the "Saved" column and the lives of anyone else you rescue from a carnivorous diet!
Jains, having more experience to draw from in their own families than all the wealth of cookbooks in the world, can be invaluable fonts of knowledge to others, shining examples at home, at social gatherings and in the workplace. Nowadays, if someone sees you eating a veggie meal instead of that "mystery meat" on a plane or hears you order a veggie food in a restaurant, they want to know more. If they come to your house, a world of new taste experiences open up and they are in awe. Their questions are elementary but honest: "Where do you get your protein?" or "Don't you miss meat?" Each answer is like turning on a light for them in a dark room.
When people ask, "Why are you a vegetarian?" I like saying, "Well, if I wouldn't eat a puppy, I won't eat a lamb!" Sir Paul McCartney and his late wife, Linda, woke up to that revelation when they were sitting at their dining room table overlooking the fields outside their country home. They were about to eat a leg of lamb when they saw two lambs playing. The question stopped being, "What is this dish?" but became "Who was this dish?" Worldwide chances are that whoever the animal, he or she endured not only hideously cruel transport and beatings but an experience so frightening it would make any horror film look like a boring documentary.
Remind your environmentalist friends (with one of our posters!) that meat eating is the greatest polluter of the earth's water and soil; that deforestation is directly linked to animal based agriculture, and that the world's aquifers are being depleted by meat production.

Right Dressing. What is with that Neanderthal look of animal hide and hair? Nothing looks more ridiculous and cheap or smells worse than leather. The wonderful Texas-born designer,

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Choose To Care
Todd Oldham, uses spun glass and recycled rubber and fabulous of the same race can have more genetic differences between them fibres. He says he has found synthetics that look like, but feel better than people of different races. Humans share 99 per cent of our and wear better than any skin. "I don't know how anyone could skin DNA with chimpanzees and 90 per cent with mice! At last, the a croc, let alone a pony or baby goat," he said. He is right. Having time has come for everyone to behave as Jains have always taught stood on the slaughterhouse floor, I cherish fabrics like cotton, we should behave with respect to all. corduroy and satin. I think Woody Harrelson is hip to wear hemp. Right Indulgence. Because Jains know the bad reactions Some people buy shearling not realising that it is the whole skin of associated with mistreating animals, it is incongruous to pay the sheep cut away from the carcass! And wool isn't any better; someone else to mistreat them. In circuses which use animals, if you could ever see firsthand how barbarically these gentle
trainers force wild animals to perform stressful acts like animals are treated in the process of removing it. In
jumping through fire, and use whips, muzzles, electric prods Australia and New Zealand, the top wool-producing
and metal-tipped bull hooks that are pushed into the countries, lambs have the flesh cut away under their tails so
sensitive skin behind an elephant's ears or thighs. In their that maggots will not collect in the folds of their wool. This
homelands, these animals would be free to walk and run, problem wouldn't occur if they were not thick-coated
choose lifetime companions and raise their families, but Merinos, imported into the heat of the Australian outback
the circus forces them to perform strenuous, confusing from colder climates. No painkillers are given for this
acts night after night. Afterwards, elephants are kept mutilation and afterwards the lambs lie in the fields,
chained like bicycles, and bears and tigers are "stored" bleating pitifully. It takes them up to three days to be able
in cages barely large enough for them to turn around to stand and hobble about. Other horrors, including their
in. hideous journey to the Middle East for slaughter, are too
After finding a horse collapse from exhaustion near wretched to describe.
Juhu in Mumbai, India, actor Riya Sen petitioned to Lame excuses for killing animals including
make it illegal to keep horses on the beach. In cities, millions of silk worms to make clothes are: “But I
horses are often forced to give rides under the hot sun, want the look of silk", "I love the feel of fur" or
made to run fast, to work for hours without breaks and “Nothing keeps me warmer than wool". How
beaten with whips. pathetic! Top fashion designers and Everest
Dolphins kept in aquariums suffer terribly, too. These expeditions have switched to lighter, more attractive,
intelligent mammals bounce sonar waves off objects to kinder, warmer, more fashionable fabric and faux!
determine their shape, density, distance and location. Jean-Michel Right Choices. In India, I met young Jains who had
Cousteau says that in a tank dolphins "are bombarded by a garble dissected frogs and cats, although their families were
of their own vocalizations. Their world becomes a maze of vegetarian. They thought the only way to study science
meaningless reverberations." Many die of stress. Cousteau was to use animals and so they violated their ethical
believes some commit suicide. We can have fun without all this beliefs! In the US, Harvard has teamed up with the
suffering. Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine to make
Right Participation. Remember: "All that evil needs to triumph a video that teaches the "Harvard Method" of surgical
is for good people to do nothing." Jains are certainly good training for budding medical doctors. Students study
people, so the obligation is clear! If, for example, the company alongside a skilled surgeon in the operating theatre
you work for is having a cookout, let them know you do and use computer simulators which bleed, breathe
not eat animals. If your school or club sponsors a trip to and even vomit! In this way students can repeat
an event, let them know it must not involve animal a procedure when they make a mistake,
performances. Tell everyone that you stick to your rather than simply dispose of the body! If
principles and the right to be included. Great Harvard can do it, any school can.
changes of the past have come about because Veterinary students, like those studying
people spoke up. People who care like you ophthalmology at the University of
are the only voice for the animals. California at Davis, help animals with
Make Nature Fashionable existing complaints who belong to people PETA-INDIA POSTER CAMPAIGN ON VEGETARIANISM: who can't afford expensive surgeries, instead
"LET VEGETARIANISM GROW ON You".
Ingrid Newkirk is President of People for
PHOTO: ATUL KASHEKAR of inflicting harm on healthy animals and
the Ethical Treatment of Animals, one of the then throwing these living beings away as if they were test tubes with
most effective animal rights campaigners in whiskers.
the world today: Whenever you buy any product, you have a choice: get a free list Resources: of which ones, from hair spray to oven cleaner, were tested in the Leather-free and cruelty-free shopping guides, Vegetarian Starter eyes of restrained rabbits or down the throats of beagles or in other Kits, alternatives to dissection, classroom materials and our guide sophisticated ways that do cause animal pain and death.
to letter writing, are available free at ... Now that we have mapped the human genome, no one can put www.peta-online.org. or by calling 757-622-7382 (US) themselves on a pedestal and justify treating "others" badly. People or 0208-870-3966 (UK).
June - August 2001. Jain Spirit
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LIFESTYLE
EAT TO LIVE, NOT TO EXPLOIT
Pushpendra Jain analyses the Jain dietary code, explaining why it is that they do
not eat certain fruits
and vegetables
CHANDU SHAN
ENTRY
TRADITIONALLY, VEGETARIANISM IS PRACTISED BY SOME cultures for reasons of compassion, reverence for life
and non-violence. The Jains are no exception to this. The very fundamental question that is often asked of vegetarians is, "If non-violence is the basis of vegetarianism, why eat plant based foods? Don't plants have life?" This issue was tackled by ancient Jains long before modern science could establish that plants have life. They recognised the five physical senses as the principal attributes of living beings: touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. They classified all life forms in the universe in terms of these senses. The lowest life forms, such as plant life, are those with only one sense: the sense of touch. The highest life forms, such as human beings, mammals and most of the animal kingdom have all the five senses. The other intermediary life forms are the living beings with two senses - touch and taste such as an earthworm; three senses - touch, taste and smell such as lice; and four senses - touch, taste, smell and sight such as mosquitoes. Senses appear in various living beings strictly in the specified order. Touch is the most primitive of all senses and hearing is the last sense found at the most advanced stage of development. No other combinations of these senses are known to exist.
Realising the human need of nutrition for survival, plant life with only one sense is the only permitted food for human consumption. To reconcile the principle of nonviolence with the consumption of plant based diet and to preserve plant life as best as possible, there are further dietary codes for day-to-day living. These include prohibition of some vegetables and fruits, restrictions on procurement of produce, restrictions of times and timings, fasting, etc.
Root vegetables and fruits are prohibited as a general rule. To procure such produce, one must destroy the entire plant and with it all the micro-organisms around the root. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be plucked only when ripe and ready to fall off or ideally after they have fallen off the plant. In case they are plucked from the plants, only as much as required should be procured and consumed without waste. Grains, such as wheat, rice, maize and beans are
Fresh fruits and vegetables should be plucked only when ripe and ready to fall off, or ideally after they have fallen off the plant
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obtained when the plants or the pods are dry and dead. Cutting down of green trees for wood or any other use is strictly prohibited.
Most modern Jains eat most underground vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, turnips and the like. These are selfimposed liberties for personal convenience and not sanctioned by the religion. Even amongst these liberals, a large percent do not eat onions and garlic for reasons of their strong odour and that they are tamsik: foods in ignorance.
An orthodox Jain fasts twice and sometimes three times a fortnight on specified days of the lunar calendar. During fasting, only grains are consumed and no green vegetables or fruits are eaten. Jains practise the non-violence of thought as much as the non-violence of action. Candies and chocolates shaped as animals or humans are generally not consumed in Jain families.
A group of five fruits from the fig family, termed the Five Udambars are not permitted. These fruits, produced by the pollination of the flowers by wasps, are inhabited by species of wasps specific to each. The wasp lays the eggs in the gall flowers and dies; the eggs mature within the fig and produce male and female wasps. Wingless males fertilise the females and die, and the females emerge from the fig to restart the cycle. Thus the fig contains the remnants of the eggs and dead wasps.
Very orthodox Jains do not eat multi-seeded fruits and vegetables such as brinjal (egg plant), guava, cauliflower and broccoli, which are often found to contain worms. Insects lay eggs sealed inside the flower of the multi-seeded fruits and vegetables, and develop into worms. Although most Jains these days eat such fruits and vegetables, they cut and carefully examine them before cooking. Very tiny flea-like insects that grow in and around the farms get stuck onto the velvety surfaces of cauliflower and broccoli. They cannot be fully removed in spite of careful washing. Jain families do not consume mushrooms and fungus. Honey, vinegar, molasses and wine are a taboo. Vegetables, like jackfruit that bleed on cutting and have the appearance of meat when cooked are not appetising to most Jains. Cabbage should be peeled layer by layer, each leaf cleaned and washed before cutting and cooking. Other leafy vegetables, such as spinach should also be prepared in the same manner.
Orthodox Jains do not cook or consume anything, even water, before sunrise or after sunset. While cooking at night, various creatures such as birds, snakes, rodents, squirrels or lizards that could be hiding in the woods or coals are killed by fire, and also the insects that are attracted to the fire. Where there is adequate lighting, there is a strong possibility of insects falling into one's food. In a different context: going to bed soon after late meals is not a good health practice. Eating before sunset, a couple of hours before going to bed does have relevance.
Cooked food should be consumed the same day, and
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Eat To Live And Not To Exploit
cooked food left overnight is prohibited. This is probably to avoid wastage of food. With inadequate storage facilities insects may crawl into the food left overnight. Also the sun's UV light acts as a protection against growth of bacteria in the food. Flour and spices should be ground fresh. These and a number of other foods must be used within a specified period depending on the season and the product. As an example, ground spices and flour or any grain have a validity of three days during the rains, five days in summer and seven days in winter.
Water must be filtered through three layers of homespun cotton cloth. Cotton cloth when wet, acts like a cotton pad: water passes through it by the process of surface tension, and not through the gaps between the fibres of the cloth as would be the case of cloths made of synthetic or vegetable fibre. This provides the most effective filtration of non-soluble, suspended contamination and micro-organisms. After filtering the water, the cloth should be rinsed in a river or well to return any living organism to its habitat.
Jains are not vegans. The use of dairy products is permitted provided they are procured and prepared as per the laid down rules. Before milking a cow, young calves, if any, should be allowed to suckle up to about one third of the expected yield. The milk should be heated within 48 minutes of milking, bringing it to three-boils and consumed within 24 hours. Yoghurt is not allowed unless prepared daily, fresh from boiled milk, using the leaf of a certain plant and consumed within 24 hours. Cheese and yoghurt, as we know them today, even if vegetarian, shall be classified as stale, and hence not edible.
The Jain concept of vegetarianism is a total, all-encompassing principle of unconditional compassion and reverence for all life. Vegetarianism is not what is on your plate. It is a holistic lifestyle. Jains are traditionally traders, trading in non-violent commodities such as grains, clothes, jewels and gems. Trading hides, horns, bones, ivory, silk and like animal products is strictly prohibited, although violence in the line of occupation is allowed as an exception, such as farming, defending one's nation and the community at large. Until about 50 years ago, Jains rarely went to study and practise medicine or to serve in the armed forces, and did not migrate en-mass to other parts of the world. In modern times, globalisation has shrunk the world to a village. Jains have entered all professions, including medicine and have migrated to foreign lands in large numbers. This may have brought about some degradation of Jain traditional values in India and abroad; however, vegetarianism still remains at the heart of most.
Pushpendra Jain is the International Vegetarian Union representative for Africa. The above article is extracted from their journal. For details visit www.ivu.org
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LIFESTYLE of 163
DYING OF CONS
George Monbiot satirises the logic that consumption equals happiness, pointing to the wisdom of aparigraha (non-possession)
32
HE MODERN INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY WORKS LIKE THIS:
resources are dug from a hole in the ground on one side
a hole on the other side of the planet. This is known as the creation of value. The creation of value improves our quality of life. Improvements in our quality of life make us happier. The more we transfer from hole to hole, the happier we become.
Unfortunately, we are not yet transferring enough. According to the Worldwatch Institute, we have used more goods and services since 1950 than in all the rest of human history. But we still don't seem to be happy. Indeed, over the same period 25year-olds in Britain have become ten times more likely to be
Jain Spirit June-August 2001
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Go wob
afflicted by depression. One in four British adults now suffer from a chronic lack of sleep and one fifth of schoolchildren have psychological problems. Over the past thirteen years, mental health insurance claims have risen by 36 per cent. American studies suggest that between 40 and 60 per cent of the population suffer from mental illness in any one year. The World Health Organisation predicts that by 2010 depression will become the second commonest disease in the developed world. Unless we start consuming in earnest, we'll never experience real joy.
During preparation time for Christmas the rate of consumption rises dramatically. To make ourselves

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Dying Of Consumption
Each morning from bam, these children - dubbed the "Floating Kids"- spend hours sifting through the dirty waters of Manila Bay
in the Philippines looking for plastic debris to sell. Apart from the health hazards they face, most cannot swim, making the task of manoeuvring between ships perilous. Their reward is meagre:
just a few pesos, which will buy them some rice. Few comforts await them after work: home is a makeshift hut on the waterfront, next to one of Asia's biggest dumping grounds. The photograph is the gold prize winner in the junior competition of Focus on World Canon International competition organised by UNEP,
2000. www.unep.org
are more likely to suffer from abnormalities than babies born elsewhere. Incinerators release dioxins and heavy metals which cause cancer, birth defects and endometriosis. This creates jobs and increases the flow of money in the economy, adding to the sum of human happiness.
Though the UN figures seek to suggest otherwise, British people are surely happier than people in poorer lands, because more of our needs are met. Indeed, advertisers help us to answer needs we never knew we had, by revealing that our lives are less satisfactory than we thought. When I was eighteen, male face creams came on to the market. Until that point, we boys had no idea that our skin was ageing prematurely. Since then, men have been introduced to many of the improvements that women have enjoyed for so long. We have discovered that we are uglier, spottier, fatter and more inadequate than we could ever have imagined. And, by moving more resources between holes in the ground, we can do something about it.
The consumer society serves the poor better than anyone else, as it both exposes the grottiness of their lives and kindly provides the means with which they can escape from it. In some cases, the interest on their happiness rises to as much as 1,800 per cent a year, spreading good cheer among the many thousands of people the loan recovery business employs. As the banks and manufacturers, shops and economists remind us, our quest for happiness is boundless.
As always, and particularly at this time of year, someone tries to spoil the fun. And, predictably enough, the greens are moaning that the planet is dying of consumption. People, they say, are being pushed off their lands by the digging of holes, the felling of forests and the growing of cash crops, eco-systems are being poisoned and resources exhausted; the Earth is overheating, because so much energy is required to move its components from one hole to another. But I would ask them this: isn't the death of the planet a price worth paying for the happiness we now enjoy?
SUMPTION
happier, we move resources from one hole to another as quickly as possible. My local authority reports that the amounts of rubbish people take to the dump increase by twelve per cent in December and January. Curiously enough, the incidence of depression also seems to rise. Calls to the Samaritans increase by eight per cent between Christmas and New Year's Day. But the figures are misleading. The more depressed we are, the more we spend on antidepressants and alcohol. The more we spend, as any economist will explain to you, the happier we become.
From dumps and incinerators in which our broken presents, our uncomposted Christmas trees and unrecyclable packaging are deposited, goodwill spreads inexorably. Among other benefits, the disposal of rubbish supports the medical profession. Babies born within three kilometres of toxic landfill sites, according to a research published in the Lancet,
George Monbiot is a writer campaigner and author of "Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain". published by Macmillan, 2000. This article was first published in The Guardian - January 2001.
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ART & LITERATURE
EAST MEETS WEST
Atul Shah meets a new artist who
combines her western training to capture the spirit of worship at Palitana
WONDER WHAT INSPIRED JAINS TO BUILD THE TEMPLES OF Mount Abu or Ranakpur or Palitana? For their time, they Lmust have been major architectural and artistic breakthroughs. They were radical, innovative and no effort was spared in making them as beautiful and perfect as possible. Can you imagine the effort of carrying all the stones up the mountain at Palitana or Mount Abu without a truck or a crane?
We know for a fact that very few of the actual artists were born in Jain families
The sculptors were talented artists in their own right and commissioned by Jain patrons to practise their art by building beautiful temples. It seems that Jains always set very high standards and did not discriminate who worked for them, provided they delivered the desired quality. In those days, artists were revered and respected for their art and were paid well. Today, the story is different. We pay our stockbrokers instead.
In the 21st century, the question that always puzzles me is what has happened to this tremendous creative spirit we once had. How many new artistic innovations are we commissioning today? Are we simply repeating old designs and styles or are we setting new standards? Besides temple building, where else are we focusing our artistic resources? When we commission new buildings, how much attention do we pay to artistic design?
This article is an example of a new artist we have inherited. Riet Verheitt was born in Belgium and studied art of all types - among them oil painting, the Japanese art, Sume - and eventually did a course on quick sketching and watercolour in the spirit of Oscar Kokoschka, an Austrian painter. This technique requires the artist to observe particular moments and spontaneously capture the feel of the moment in a sketch. It is like a photograph, except that it is drawn by the artist and is a very personal impression of the moment. Initially, the sketches were all on white paper in charcoal or ink. Riet did not use any colour until she went to India.
The visit to India took Riet by surprise. She was bawled over by the hospitality of the people. The colours were striking and bold. She was surprised to see all the smiles; everyone looked so much happier than the people back at home in the West. The women and children were
RIET
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East Meets West
FESTIVALS AND FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Event: Date : Location : Contact :
Jain Ethics Lecture May 28th 2001 at llam Oxford University, Oxfordshire, UK joconnel@chass.utoronto.ca Professor Joseph O'Connell from Toronto University has taught a course in Jainism for many years and he is a visiting Professor at Oxford University.
yery friendly. It was her visit to Palitana which really changed the course of her life.
At Palitana, Riet experienced a deep peace and felt at home. "It was as if I was in Heaven", she explained. "The location on top of a mountain, the temple architecture, the incense and the acts of worship, all moved me very profoundly. I felt as if the world around me did not exist and I was in a very sacred place. I decided then and there that I wanted to study Jainism, and Palitana inspired me to draw and paint its glory." Unfortunately, there is no such thing as privacy in India, so the moment she started sketching, a whole crowd gathered around her - this obliterated the subjects she was trying to draw. "I decided to draw the children and the worshippers, and was really moved by the interaction between the worshipper and the Tirthankara images. So I tried to capture the spirit of these meditations. To help me with some of the finer details, I took photographs so that I could improvise once I returned home."
The work she did on Jain temples took longer than her earlier art as she really wanted to capture the impression accurately and let the spirit come out through the art. Dr. Gohel, an Indian scholar who lives in Antwerp encouraged her to learn about Indian philosophy and Jain culture. The exhibition of Jain Art in Antwerp inspired Riet to do a special series of sketches of Palitana, all of which were displayed at the exhibition. Many people showed an interest and wanted to buy the paintings, not just Indians but even Belgians. They felt that the art captured the spirit and emotion of India. Like so many dedicated artists, Riet decidednot to sell the art individually but to save it for a Jain community centre somewhere in the world that would be interested in placing them on a permanent exhibition and could be enjoyed by visitors to the temple. The entire collection is still available for any Jain organisation to purchase and display at their centre. Atul Shah is editor of Jain Spirit and has sacrificed a successful professional career to help modernise Jainism and put it on the world map. Riet cautbe contacted in Belgium on +32 (3) 2376922
Event : Date : Location : Contact :
11th Biennial JAINA Convention at Chicago July 4th - 8th 2001 Rosemont Convention Centre For registration visit the Jain Convention website on www.jaina2001.com or contact Hitesh C. Shah at 7hitesh a home.com or Tel (847) 397 8316
The 11th biennial JAINA Convention will be hosted by the Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago at Rosemont Convention Centre, Chicago, USA. Thousands of Jains from all over North America attend this event and foreign Jains are always warmly welcomed. If you are planning to go to America this summer then do put this event in your diary, It is a must see for young and old alike, a unique opportunity to meet lots of distin guished people in one place. The convention theme is "Practising Jainism in the 21st Century.
August 8th:
Death Centenery of Jain Scolar Virchand Raghavji Gandhi
PARYUSHAN August 16th: Paryushan Parva, eight days of penance period
starts for Swetambars. To be celebrated worldwide
RIET
August 23rd : Samvantsari Paryushan ends with the kshmapana -
Day of Forgiveness DASLAKSHAN August 23rd : Daslakshan Parva for Digambars begins.
To be celebrated worldwide
September 2nd : Daslakshan ends with Kshmavani
Day of Forgiveness
June - August 2001. Jain Spirit
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national 2013

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ART & LITERATURE
VVVVVVVV
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कम्मेबाहिरओदमिअघमडे विचित-उलोअचिनियतले मणिरय। Ul- मासिघधारबहसम-मुविमत-भूमिमागिएचय
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AAAAAAAAAA Trishala's Dream by Namita Naren, London. Oil paint on etched metal
IMAGE OF A DREAM
Alison Kent examines the work of Namita Naren
and considers her unique personal technique
|
AINTING ON METAL HAS GIVEN Namita Naren's work permanence,
which was first sought by the Jain community in the fifth century. At that time a serious famine threatened the continuity of the oral tradition but the motivation was there to preserve the sacred Jain scriptures. The solution was
to create palm-leaf folios, secured between wooden covers. Namita's tech- nique, using oil colours painted onto etched metal, echoes both the colours of their ancient predecessors and the traditional pictorial style.
Looking at how Namita's career has evolved towards her personal style, it is clear that her artistic heritage has been of great importance. Her father, Shri Rabindranath Dutt was a prominent artist who worked in the style of Bengali folk art. Not only was he a pioneer of the Child Art Movement in India, but he also inspired his own daughter to paint. "My father was painting and I wanted to paint along with him," Namita explains. To illustrate this early start, Namita has a painting she made at the age of three,
for which she was awarded a prize. Recognising his daughter's early talent. Shri Rabindranath Dutt had the foresight to frame her achievements. The small picture of a fish now hangs on the wall of her combined studio and living space, in Battersea, London,
Line, colour and form were her playthings; she grew up experimenting with drawing and design. Her formal training was in India, at the Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, Bombay, where she obtained a degree in Art and Interior Design. Here she met her future husband, Narendra Vaiude, the Professor with whom she trained. Since her graduation in 1972, she has exhibited consistently at an international level. Her work is highly acclaimed.
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Image Of A Dream
"For me mythology is like a gift wrapping.”
Her personal technique has developed through much experimenting. As Namita states: "We were trying to do a large piece of mural and I found metal very suitable for my work. Of course I had a lot of teething problems, to understand the metal, the etching and the colouring part of the work. Now I have come to a formula which works just fine."
Indian mythology has consistently been the theme of her work and the starting point of her creative process. She selects a style which is appropriate to her theme. The folk styles of "Pata" from Orissa, "Kalamkari" from South India and "Madhubani" from Central India were particularly influential to her. Once the mythological theme and the style have been selected, she makes her composition.
The composition is transposed onto a 3mm thick sheet of metal by drawing through carbon paper. The lines are then redrawn with greasy ink. When the design is complete the sheet of metal is given an acid bath. The acid eats away some of the metal leaving the lines protected by the greasy ink standing proud. The surface then requires some titivation using hand tools to make the design exactly as the artist wants. The whole surface is then thoroughly cleaned to make it both acid and oil free.
At this point the etched metal sheet is ready for painting. Namita uses oil paints, which she carefully selects to echo the traditional colours. The base colour of the script reflects the colour of the palm leaves used in the ancient palm-leaf folios. The colours of the illustrations reflect the ancient colours achieved by the use of vegetable dyes. Only the surface between the metal lines is then painted. Each tiny section has a clear metal outline, which enhances the flat linear effect traditional to Jain manuscript paintings.
The final stage is to spray the surface with lacquer to fix it and ensure that the metal surface will not tarnish. The appearance has some similarities to stained glass windows of the Christian
tradition, even though the picture has not framework to enclose the piece. The use been fired
of highly decorative frames, according to This technique is particularly suit- John Guy, dates back to the fifteenth able for Jain manuscript paintings since it century when Persian illuminations gives Namita the control necessary to
inspired Jain artists to adopt intricate achieve the intricacy demanded by the borders, script writing and the precision of the Namita is passionate about Indian symbolic illustrations. The example mythology. When the subject is raised, depicted here, entitled Trishala's Dream, she lights up: "For me mythology is like represents an extract from the Kalpasutra a gift wrapping. It is a very interesting Manuscripts telling of the life of gift-wrapping, which you open to find Mahavir.
what is inside. It is a beautifully packaged idea presented in a different way, presented in a unique way, whereby the message never gets forgotten." The message in Trisila's Dream is that of prediction. Namita explains that we all have within ourselves the ability to know
in advance the results of our actions The illustration is divided into three whether they are good or bad, selfish or spheres. At the bottom Trishala lies on selfless. This power of premonition was her bed. Above her are the fourteen not only granted to Trishala but is there articles she saw in a dream prior to the for all of us. birth of Mahavir. An interpretation of the Namita's paintings have an enchantarticles makes the prediction that hering duality. On the one hand, they unborn child will either be a Prince or a have the sense of permanence and Sage. Namita has given Trishala the continuation of an ancient tradition, sharp features typical of the Jain whilst on the other they have the manuscript style. Trishala's eye pro
lightness of the beautifully decorated trudes in an unrealistic manner, yet gift-wrapping within which there is an entirely in keeping with the tradition. essential message. S2 The figure is dressed in rich material and wears elaborate jewellery: the bed on
Alison Kent is a freelance writer and art which she lies is also highly ornate. The
scholar based in Colchester. She is an art dream appears to take place inside and at
consultant for Jain Spirit. Namita Naren night time judging by the blackness of
recently exhibited her work in Bombay at the sky.
the Taj Hotel As it is traditional, there is no attempt at the perspective. The forms are created by controlled lines and the colour is flat with no attempt at tonal gradation. Within the text there is a depiction of Lord Indra, who holds the baby Mahavir on his lap. His eyelids droop indicating that he is in deep meditation. Within the text there is a deliberate square break, this is a reference to the manner in which manuscript paintings were bound together. A cord would have passed through this point, which indicates the extent to which Namita is faithful to the tradition. The artist has created an intricate
Alison Kent
June - August 2001. Jain Spirit
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Jain Education Interational 2010_03

www jainelibrasyon

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ART & LITERATURE
STORIES EXPRESS
THE SOUL
Fables have played a crucial role in the education and promotion of
Jain culture and urgently need revival, argues Richard Fynes
N ARENTS IN JAIN FAMILIES OFTEN TELL THEIR CHILDREN STORIES TO Buddhists and Hindus often collected similar collections of P illustrate the teachings of their religion. When they do so, they didactic stories. It is not unusual for the same story to appear in are participating in an ancient tradition, one that is an important
Jain, Buddhist and Hindu collections, with its moral altered to suit and attractive element of Jain culture. Jain stories are found in many
its religious context. languages. There are printed collections in modern Indian languages
Individual stories in the larger collections are often connected such as Hindi, Gujarati and Kannada, but they were also composed in
by a frame story. For example, characters in the main frame story
often tell stories to each other. Quite frequently characters in the Sanskrit and in varieties of Prakrit. Many of them have now been
sub-stories also relate stories to each other, with the result that the translated into English. Jain stories are
stories are set within each other like a written in a variety of styles. In some the
series of Chinese boxes. language is the simple and direct language of "When Jain ascetics
Stories are an important element in the popular folk story, others are written in
the longer narrative biographies of Ford the ornate and complex language of courtly preached to lay people they makers, kings, ascetics and exemplary lay literature. Some collections are written
people. Their biographies are often entirely in verse, others entirely in prose. used popular stories to gain formed from blocks of shorter stories Some collections, known as campus, are
which cluster around a particular figure
and define the significant moments of his
their attention and educate written in a mixture of verse and prose. How
life. Since the fate of the embodied soul is did this literature originate? The answer lies
of fundamental importance in Jainism, it is in the wish of Jain ascetics to communicate them about morality.”
not surprising that Jain biographies, the truths of Jainism.
besides being concerned with the present When Jain ascetics preached to lay people they used popular lives of their subjects, are also concerned with their past and future stories to gain their attention and to amuse them. The immediate aim lives. Jain authors developed a genre of soul biography, in which of the stories was to provide examples of the three jewels of Jainism: the experiences and adventures of a soul are related through the true insight, right knowledge and proper conduct. The Jain ascetics course of several of its embodiments. These soul biographies doubtlessly hoped that true insight would arise in the minds of those
frequently relate the stories of a pair of souls, which are reunited hearers of the stories to whom Jainism was previously unknown.
and react with each other over a series of parallel lifetimes. The Although the life of renunciation of the Jain monk or nun is the
adventures of the souls during their successive embodiments often
provide the framework in which shorter stories are set. highest ideal in the stories, the ascetics were particularly concerned
Eventually, individual biographies of the important figures in that the stories should provide moral guidance for lay people. Since
Jainism were joined together to form continuous stories covering the content of many of the stories was intended to be relevant for daily
vast periods of time. Western scholars have given the name life, they now provide fascinating information about life in ancient and
universal history to this genre. The earliest examples are written medieval India.
in literary Prakrit, but the latest and fullest example is The Lives of When composing their stories, the Jain ascetics often adapted the Sixty-three Illustrious People and its appendix, The Lives of the already well-known folk-tales to which a Jain moral was added. Since Jain Elders written in Sanskrit by the Shvetambara scholar-monk the stories were meant to instruct by means of entertainment, they are Hemachandra (1089-1172). often funny, exciting, witty, racy or even frightening. Sometimes the Stories are an important element of the literature of both the author's delight in telling a lively story leads him to neglect the Shvetambaras and the Digambaras. Perhaps the most notable moralising element! Eventually, the stories, originally told by word of examples of the Digambara collections are the Varangacarita mouth, were gathered into written collections or anthologies. attributed to the monk Jatasimhanandi dating probably from the
38 Jain Spirit. June - August 2001 2010 03

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Stories Express The Soul
STEPS TO LIBERATION, JAN VAN ALPHEN, 2000
SON
A folio from the story of Shalibhadra, Rajasthan, 1776, S De. Vries, Amsterdam. The painting depicts Rajgriha (Bihar) with its main road running through the centre of town. The street is bustling with activity: Merchants in traditional attire sit in front of their shops and people are busy buying and selling. Scenes of domestic life are portrayed in the houses
seventh century AD, and the Yasastilaka of Somadeva Suri composed in 959 AD at Gangadhara near modern Dharwar. The Varangacarita is set during the time of the final embodiment of the twenty-second Ford maker, Neminath or Aristanemi. The text begins with the Ford maker's first and chief disciple, Varadatta explaining the meaning of dharma and teaching that the fate of man is conditioned by his actions. In order to liberate the soul from its worldly bondage, Varadatta recommends penitential activities such as fasting, mortification of the body and meditation. The prince Varanga is led by Varadatta's preaching to become a Jain monk, and by following the course of conduct recommended by Varadatta he successfully conquers his passions and finally achieves liberation. Somadeva's Yasastilaka is written partly in verse and partly in prose. Its main concern is with ahimsa, the Jain doctrine of non-violence. In the first part, Somadeva relates the story of how King Maradatta - who intended to perform a huge sacrifice of all types of living beings including humans to the goddess Candamari so that he could obtain supernatural powers - abandoned his plan and was converted to Jainism through the teachings of the young Jain monks, Abhayaruci and Abhayamati. The fourth chapter contains a version of the famous story of Yasodhara who was condemned to a series of unpleasant and frightening rebirths because he sacrificed a cock made out of flour. The point of the story is that a person's future state is determined by the intention behind his actions.
The commentaries on the Shvetambara canonical text, the Avasyaka Sutra are the most important formative elements in the development of the Shvetambara story collections. The Avasyaka Sutra itself is a fairly short text. It describes the six obligatory duties to be performed daily by Jain ascetics and lay people. Explanatory stories were incorporated into the commentaries on the Sutra
composed by such authors as Jinadasa and Haribhadra. Later authors used these commentaries as a source for the preparation of anthologies or treasuries (kosas) of didactic stories and for the composition of biographies of important figures in Jainism, such as the works of Hemachandra mentioned above.
An interesting example of the Shvetambara story collection is the Lilavatisari composed by Jinaratna Suri in 1284 AD. Written in Sanskrit, it is an epitome of an earlier work in Prakrit which is now lost. The first twelve chapters of the Lilavatisari are concerned with the consequences of particular faults: anger, pride, falsehood, hypocrisy, theft, greed, addiction to the pleasures of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing are the themes of the first twelve chapters. The remaining twelve chapters describe the initiation, enlightenment and final liberation of the leading characters.
In future issues of Jain Spirit I hope to write a series of short articles on Jain stories, giving examples of their contents and explanations of their moral teachings. A good selection of Jain stories can be found in The Clever Adulteress and Other Stories: A Treasury of Jain Literature edited by Phyllis Granoff and published by Mosaic Press in 1990. My translation of Hemachandra's The Lives of the Jain Elders was published in Oxford World's Classics in 1998. Another good anthology of Jain stories in English is V. M. Kulkarni's A Treasury of Jain Tales, published by the Shardaben Chimanbhai Research Centre, Ahmedabad, 1994.
Richard Fynes has a PhD in Jainism from Oxford University and is a professor at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK.
June - August 2001
Jain Spirit
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2010_03

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YOUTH
Nike Sweats
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NIKE SWEATS
SWEAT
JUST DONI
Child labour is allegedly used to
make Nike shoes. This is denied by Nike.
DO
Tike'iD' invites consumers to choose a name or message to
emblazon upon their shoes "giving you new ways to be original".
But when US graduate student Jonah Peretti asked for his pair to be adorned with sweatshop', an interesting email exchange ensued. Nike. who confirmed the validity of the correspondence, have consistently denied the use of child labour and sweatshops
A protest against Nike exploiutation cleverly
changes their slogan "Just Do It"
From: Personalize, Nike iD To: Jonah H Peretti Re: Your Nike iD order 016468000 Your Nike iD order was cancelled for one or more of the following reasons. 1) [lt] contains another party's trademark or other intellectual property. 2) [It] contains the name of an athlete or team we do not have the legal right to use. 3) [lt] was left blank ... 4) [lt] contains profanity or inappropriate slang ...
The word means: "a shop or factory in which workers are employed for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions and its origin dates from 1892. So my personal iD does meet the criteria ... Your website advertises that the Nike iD program is about freedom to choose and freedom to express who you are". I share Nike's love of freedom and personal expression ... My personal iD was offered as a small token of appreciation for the sweatshop workers poised to help me realise my vision. I hope that you will value my freedom of expression and reconsider your decision to reject my order.
From: Jonah H Peretti Sweatshop is not: 1) another's party's trademark: 2) the name of an athlete; 3) blank; or 4) profane. I chose the iD because I wanted to remember the toil and labour of the children that made my shoes. Could you please ship them immediately...
From: Personalize, Nike iD Regarding the rules for personalisation it also states on the Nike iD website that "Nike reserves the right to cancel any Personal iD up to 24 hours after it has been submitted"... If you wish to reorder with a new personalisation please visit us again at www.nike.com.
From: Personalize, Nike iD ... The iD you have chosen contains, as stated in the previous email correspondence, "inappropriate slang"...
From: Jonah H Peretti Thank you for the time and energy you have spent on my request. I have decided to order the shoes with a different iD, but I would like to make one small request. Could you please send me a colour snapshot of the 10-year-old Vietnamese girl who makes my shoes? www.shey.net
From: Jonah H Peretti ... After consulting Webster's Dictionary, I discovered that "sweatshop" is in fact part of standard English and not slang.
40 Jain Spirit . June - August 2001 2010_03

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YOUTH
A New Economics
A NEW ECONOMICS?
Maya Gudka examines a CD which challenges conventional wisdom in economics. Burn your
textbooks and learn about this new
revolution
creates systems of inequality". It cannot fully empower us unless we believe in its purpose." (Fritjof Capra)
brave new economy
ET SEEMS THAT ECONOMICS AND THE
environment are always played off
against one another. Economic growth versus environmental stability. Production and pollution versus protection of nature. There is something frustrating about this conflict since it makes our current way of life appear totally incompatible with the environment. Even the views that “poverty is necessary for development" and "the market is king" seem absurd. I think that in many of us the source of indifference towards the environment is the bleakness of the situation we are presented with. It all seems so grim that it is easier to switch off and get back to our personal concerns.
There is something magnetic about the tone of this CD guide that turns this hopelessness into inspiration. It looks at fair traders, organic farmers and ethical businesses, all examples of an emerging sustainability sector called the "New Economy". Technology is also a part of this. It can be harnessed to serve the people and the environment, not just big business. It can deliver information and sustainable energy for a more flexible economy that makes people less dependent on large institutions.
The CD reminds us how much we are capable of achieving as human beings. We only need to look back a century when racism was rampant, when there was barely democracy and there were few rights for women. Change was achieved because people took action against what they deemed inappropriate. They followed their natural instincts. As human beings, it is our natural instinct to cooperate and be involved in the world around us. This is also what caring for people and the environment is about.
I was also stirred by the CD's discussion on the concepts of wealth and the cycle of wanting, accumulating and wasting
When work is really satisfying, work itself becomes the reward. This sense of contentment may curb our needs for the extra indulgent gratification that is at the heart of our consumer society today. This is not to say that we have to disregard the material world around us. As Satish Kumar explained in his article "Mahavir lived by Example", we can have a spiritual relationship with our material possessions when we care for them and appreciate their value. If we really take time to do this, we will want less since we are content with what we have. Maya V. Gudka is 18 years old. She is pursuing her gap year teaching in Nepal and travelling. The CD Guide "Brave New Economy", is produced by the New Economics Foundation, priced £12 and can be ordered from Tel: UK. 02074077447 or www.neweconomies.org
prevalent in our world today. After all, it is our desire to have more and be more successful. This is causing us to work harder, demand more and pollute more. A number of questions emerge here: do we spend more time wanting than being satisfied? Are we substituting an inability to be fundamentally contented with a constant state of wanting? Have the definitions of success been too narrow for too long? Has this resulted in us working too hard for the wrong reasons? I am particularly interested in these questions, having just had my first taste of working life during my gap year. I have keenly observed those around me and was distressed to see how many people were not passionate about their work I saw it as a means to an end, a sort of necessary evil.
We need to make sure our definition of wealth and success encompasses love and fulfillment. We should consider why exactly we are working at our current jobs. Do we believe in the purpose of the work we do? If we truly do, I think we are automatically wealthy because we experience fulfillment on a daily basis. The CD contained some excellent quotes - I have listed a couple below:
ROBERT RIDIN
“Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies" (Albert Camus) “We cannot be empowered by work that destroys the environment around us or
When work is really satisfying, the work
itself becomes the reward
June - August 2001. Jain Spirit
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YOUTH
WHY CHARITY?
I looked back at him and said that I couldn't, but the hat and gloves were his if he wanted. He paused and thought for a minute, then accepted them. He thanked me and I hurried off to work. As I walked on, I contemplated whether I handled the situation well from a Jain perspective. It was at that point that I decided that rather than help the homeless by giving them money directly, donating non-perishable vegetarian food products or clothing (excluding silks or leather) to food banks, charitable organizations, homeless shelters or individuals was preferable.
Just about a month later, I received a letter from a research organization asking for a donation. This time, I didn't write out a cheque because I knew for certain that the company directly tested their chemical products on animals and caused them undue suffering. Had I written out a cheque, I would not be supporting the Jain principle of ahimsa. In other words, by supporting their unethical research I would be building bad karmas for myself.
This brings me to my final point on donations. The way I see it, you should give for the sole purpose of giving to a worthy cause and not expect the favour to be returned. Your motives and intentions also play a part in determining the worth of the charitable act. Knowing that you have helped and made a difference should continue to drive you. Similarly, it is really not necessary to put on a big act and boast about all the times you donated your valuable time, effort or money. Once again, you would just be collecting bad karma if you did that. When faced with a multitude of requests we need to stop, think and act in accordance with Jain principles. We need to consider to whom we should give and why, so that we are not violating and consequently upholding the principles of the Jain way of life. I do not claim to be a Jain expert or know all the rules. Far from it. In fact, I am just the average young person trying to make sense of the world around me. But I am trying to live a Jain life the best I can.
Archna Shah is 22 years old and lives in Canada.
Charity should be unconditional and selfless
Archna Shah discusses what charity means to her
T HAPPENED OVER A YEAR AGO BUT I remember it like it was yesterday. I was on my way to work one Monday morning, walking down one of the busiest streets in the centre of the city, when my gaze fell upon a homeless man huddled against the entrance of a Starbucks coffee shop. He was visibly shivering in the chilly -15C temperature, clad only in a threadbare winter jacket over a thin T-shirt and ripped jeans. He had no scarf, hat, gloves or winter boots on. He was staring longingly through a Starbucksí fancy frosted door. He looked hungry and drained as though he hadn't slept for days. As I approached him I pulled out my wallet, dropped a $20 banknote in his collection hat, gave him a warm smile and walked on.
Just about an hour later, I was walking back on the same street to run an errand. I spotted him again, still crouched in front of Starbucks. I let out a sigh as I passed him, for I saw that his collection hat was still. empty, less the $20 I dropped. But he had a six pack of beer next to him, four of which were already opened and consumed. As far as I was concerned, he had the choice of buying a hot meal (preferably vegetarian) to fill his empty stomach. Instead, he chose to squander the money on alcohol. Needless to say, I was not pleased. The consumption of alcohol by oneself does not fall in accordance with the Jain way of living. Neither does the money from a
42 Jain Spirit 2010_03
000
June-August 2001
donation used to purchase alcohol, as in this case. Just as an aside: from my basic understanding of Jainism I know that alcohol consumption alters and distorts your senses and perceptions and puts you in a frame of mind that is not fully capable of making good, right and authentic decisions. In addition, the bad karma will also become attached to the person who donated the money. So, I decided not to make the same mistake again in the future, not to give cash 1 directly. Despite the incident, I had not lost my quest in helping the homeless and making their lives a little bit more tolerable. I understood that it was the homeless man's previous bad karma that endowed him with a life on the streets. Yet I still wanted to help.
About a week later, my brother was cleaning out his closet. He found a brand new pair of warm, insulated gloves and a matching hat that he had recently received as a gift. He wasn't keen on wearing them, so I took them and decided to offer them to the next homeless person I saw on the way to work the following day. It was sunny and about -20C with the wind-chill that day. I stepped off the bus and lo and behold, there was another homeless person just a few feet away. He sat curled up on the edge of the sidewalk, his hands and ears severely frostbitten. I slowly approached him, kneeled down and asked if he had any use for a brand new pair of gloves and a hat. He looked at me right in the eye and asked if I could spare some change instead.
Why Charity?

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YOUTH
GET INVOLVEDI
Atul Shah suggests ways in which young people can participate
centre must provide a modern atmosphere where young people can feel comfortable and welcomed. This does not mean it should have loud music or serve alcohol Jain values need not be compromised but simply adapted.
Only a few years ago during their summer holidays Jain youths in Texas decided to do a video on what Jainism means to them. Pavan Zaveri from Plano was one of the leaders at the time. Most elders discouraged the idea but they decided to go ahead anyway. They used their imagination to decide what to film, whom to interview and they spent a lot of time editing and making the video interesting. What they produced turned out to be spectacular and they got tremendous satisfaction out of it. The elders had to eat their words when they saw the result. The youths did not waste their summer and managed to retain some of the community spirit at the same time. They felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
Openness and strong desire to build the future are critical to success in any youth enterprise. It is also important that Jain leaders do not have big egos but big visions and a willingness to invest in the future. The Swaminarayan faith achieves excellent results in terms of youth involvement by following such a formula. At a recent event where Prince Charles was the chief guest, the master of ceremonies was a twenty-year old youth. This helped give a very dynamic image to the audience. No doubt the MC will remember this trust for a long time to come and gain tremendous confidence from it. He is unlikely to forget his community wherever he goes.
We can involve young people if there is a will and a democratic approach. In turn, young people should rise to the challenge of keeping their culture alive and building a vibrant community. Young Jains actively encourage involvement of young people all over the world. To find out more, visit www.youngjains.org.uk
Jain leaders often complain about the lack of youth participation and involvement, and young people complain about how boring the events are. As a result, they donít turn up and everyone loses out. Is there any solution to this predicament? I think so.
Youth events need to involve the youth in their organisation. Otherwise, they will not attract young people. I know it is not easy for elders to involve young people, as they would rather hang out with their own peers. What elders can do is to encourage young people to come up with ideas and suggestions, listen to them and implement them and give them feedback. This is the beginning to any involvement and like all start-ups, tremendous patience is required.
Young people thrive on challenge but we do not give them enough challenges. To encourage them to participate, we can give them tough tasks and incentives for accomplishment. We should enable them to do what they find interesting and not what we want them to do. At times, Jain leaders want young people to put the chairs and sweep the floor while they are on stage. This is no way to attract and retain young people. Elders should put them on stage, and set the chairs and clean the floor. Similarly, if a youth project requires funds, the elders should take on the fund-raising burden and allow the youths to concentrate on the event itself. This rarely happens.
Sacrifices are involved on both sides. Young people today are drawn in many directions, but one thing I have noticed is that they do like to belong to a community. They also like to meet other like-minded people. The Jains could provide a forum for young people to meet, discuss and organise. The Jain
2010_03

Get Involved - Text Message
III
TEXT MESSAGE
Wots up?
I am going 2 a jain class. Jain - ru serious!
Y =
Yeah, its cool man. Wot exactly do u do there?
We learn about culture... Did u know that Respect and Peace r central 2 Jainism? No Kidding!
Yeah, man, and they said it thousands of years ago! I thought Jainism was all about temples and prayers and fasting.
O no, Jainism is 4most about lifeHow 2 live and njeg
A prescription 4 happiness?
Yes, lasting happiness, not temporary high. Cool man, so wot is this 4mula? Ahimsa-compassion 4 all life. Wot if som1 hits me?
If u have courage, u let them, and they will soon stop. Ru crazy!
Try it - it is a real test of ur own courage. Any] can fight, but only the strong practice Ahimsa! I am not sure I agree, but I would like 2 find out. Can u ask questions in ur class? All the time man, the teachers r very open. U mean u can criticise the religion? Yeah, lord Mahavir encouraged criticism Cool man, can I join u? Course u can, just come along!
To enral in the Jain school in London, please call Mrs. Jyoti Shah on 0208 3493817 or Bharat Doshi in Nairobi on 860660.
June-August 2001 Jain Spirit
43

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WORSHIP
A FESTIVAL OF INTROSPECTION
HUGUES SERVE
Shitul Shah explains the philosophy underlying Daslakshan,
a unique Digambara festival
A Digambara monk gives instructions in cosmography
DASLAKSHAN PARVA (FESTIVAL OF THE TEN VIRTUES) IS THE Paryushan festival as celebrated by the Digambara Jains. Eating, drinking and being merry are normally associated with festivals but Paryushan is the opposite. During Paryushan Jains practise penances, vows, fast and study. If not fasting, they refrain from eating green vegetables. There are two categories of festivals: eternal and non-eternal. The non-eternal festivals are further divided as those that relate to people and those that relate to historical events. Dipawali, Mahavir Jayanti and Janamasthami, which celebrate the liberation and birth of Lord Mahavir and birth of Lord Krishna respectively, are people related festivals.
Paryushan, on the other hand, is an eternal festival relating neither to people nor to any historical event. It is the time to celebrate the natural qualities of the soul. Just as the soul does not have a beginning or an end, Paryushan does not have a beginning or an end. It falls three times a year but is only celebrated once around August September because at this time, business being quiet, businessman can take time off for spiritual pursuit. Also it is the time of the monsoon retreat when insects flourish, causing the monks to stay in one place.
Before we discuss the ten Dharmas, it is important to understand two common viewpoints found in our scriptures.
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A Festival of Introspection
The Vyavahar view, in crude terms, helps you to live more b) All souls are equal, none being superior or inferior to easily and peacefully with the outside world. It also builds up another. In the words of Srimad Rajchandra: "Sarva Jeev your reserve of good deeds (punya karmas). The Nischay view Che Sidh Sum, Je Samje Te Thai - All souls are akin to helps to enhance and blossom the soul's natural qualities. In the Sidh; those who understand this principle will Jainism the Vyavahar view is always considered the "by the achieve that state". The Nischay view encourages you to by". The Nischay view is considered to be the most important understand your true nature. All souls have the potential to as it leads to contemplation and understanding of the true nature be liberated souls (Sidh Bhagvan). The only difference of the soul with the aim of its purification, the ultimate goal between the liberated souls and those in bondage is that the of practising Paryushan. Merely practising the Vyavahar former have attained liberation as a result of their "effort".
d punya karmas, leading to material gain in With effort, even the latter can achieve liberation. this life and the next.
The Dharmas are all prefixed by the word "Uttam" 3) Straightforwardness (Supreme) to signify that they are practised at the highest level a) The action of a deceitful person is to think one thing. by the Jain monks. The householder practises them to a lesser speak something else and do something entirely different. extent. It lasts over a period of ten days, each day being There is no harmony in his thought, speech and actions. dedicated to one of the ten Dharmas. In the sections below Such a person loses credibility very quickly and lives a) stands for the Vyavahar view and
in constant anxiety and fear of his b) for the Nischay view.
deception being exposed. Being
"Wealth, good looks, straight-forward or honest oils the wheel 1) Forgiveness
of life. You will be seen to be reliable a) We forgive those who have wronged us reputable family or and trustworthy. Deceitful actions lead and seek forgiveness from those we have
to the influx of paap karmas. wronged. Forgiveness is sought not just intelligence often b) Delusion about one's identity is the from human colleagues, but from all living
root cause of unhappiness. Be straightbeings ranging from one sensed to five leads to pride." forward to yourself and recognise your sensed. If we do not forgive or seek for
true nature. The soul is made up of giveness but instead harbour resentment, we
countless qualities like knowledge, bring misery and unhappiness on ourselves and in the process happiness, effort, faith, and conduct. It has the potential to shatter our peace of mind and make enemies. Forgiving and achieve omniscience (Keval Gnan) and reach a state of seeking forgiveness oils the wheel of life allowing us to live in supreme bliss. Again, the body, the karmas, the thoughts harmony with our fellow beings. It also attracts punya karma. and all the emotions are separate from the true nature of the b) Forgiveness here is directed to oneself. The soul, in a state soul. Only by practising Nischay Arjav Dharma will one of mistaken identity or false belief, assumes that it consists of taste the true happiness that comes from within the body, the karmas and the emotions - likes, dislikes, anger, pride etc. As a result of this incorrect belief it inflicts pain upon 4) Contentment itself and is thus the cause of its own misery. Nischay Kshama a) Be content with the material gains that you have Dharma teaches the soul to correctly identify itself by encour- accomplished thus far. Contrary to popular belief, striving aging it to contemplate in its true nature and hence achieve the for greater material wealth and pleasure will not lead to state of correct belief or Samyak Dharshan. It is only by happiness. Desire for more is a sign that we do not have all achieving Samyak Dharshan that the soul ceases to inflict pain that we want. Reducing this desire and being content with on itself and attains supreme happiness.
what we have leads to satisfaction. Accumulating material
objects merely fuels the fire of desire. 2) Modesty/ Humility.
b) Contentment or happiness, derived from material objects, a) Wealth, good looks, reputable family or intelligence often is only perceived to be so by a soul in a state of false belief. lead to pride. Pride means to believe one to be superior to the fact is that material objects do not have a quality of others and to look down on others. By being proud you are happiness and therefore happiness cannot be obtained from measuring your worth by temporary material objects. These them! The perception of "enjoying" material objects is objects will either leave you or you will be forced to leave them indeed only that - a perception! This perception rewards the when you die. These eventualities will cause you unhappiness soul with only misery and nothing else. Real happiness as a result of the "dent" caused to your self-worth. Being comes from within, as it is the soul that possesses the humble will prevent this. Pride also leads to the influx of the quality of happiness.” bad deed or paap karmas.
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WORSHIP
45) Truth
Hlaups ons do
a) If talking is not required, then do not talk. If it is required then only use the minimum of words, and all must all be absolutely true. Talking disturbs the stillness of the mind. Consider the person who lies and lives in fear of being exposed. To support one lie he has to utter a hundred more. He becomes caught up in a tangled web of lies and is seen as untrustworthy and unreliable. Lying leads to an influx of paap karma. b) Satya comes from the word Sat, which means existence. Existence is a quality of the soul. Recognising the soul's true nature as it really exists and taking shelter in the soul is practising Nischay Satya Dharma.
6) Self-Restraint
a) i)Restraining from injury to life - Jains go to great lengths, compared to other world religions, to protect life. This encompasses all living beings, from one-sensed onwards. The purpose of not eating root vegetables is that they contain countless one-sensed beings termed "nigod". During Paryushan the Jains also do not eat green vegetables to reduce harm to the lower sensed beings.
ii) Self-restraint from desires or passions These lead to pain and are therefore to be avoided.
b) i) Restraining injury to the self- This has been elaborated upon in Nischay Kshma Dharma.
ii) Self restraint from desires or passions - Emotions, e.g. likes, dislikes or anger lead to misery and need to be eradicated. They are not part of the true nature of the soul and only arise when the soul is in a state of false belief. The only method to free oneself from these is to contemplate on the true nature of the soul and in the process commence the journey to liberation or
moksha.
7) Penance
a) This does not only mean fasting but also includes a reduced diet, restriction of certain types of foods, avoiding tasty foods, etc. The purpose of penance is to keep desires and passions in control. Over-indulgence inevitably leads to misery. Penance leads to an influx of punya karmas.
b) Meditation prevents the rise of desires and passions in the soul. In a deep state of meditation the desire to intake food does not arise. Our first Tirthankara, Adinath Bhagwan was in such a meditative state for six months, during which he observed Nischay Uttam Tap. The only food he consumed during these six months was the happiness from within.
9) Non-attachment
a) This assists us in detaching from external possessions. Historically ten possessions are listed in our scriptures: "land, house, silver, gold, wealth, grain, female servants, male servants, garments and utensils". Remaining unattached from these helps control our desires and leads to an influx of punya karmas.
b) This assists us in being unattached from our internal attachments: false belief, anger, pride, deceit, greed, laughter, liking, disliking,
"If talking is not lamentation, fear, disgust, male sexual
required, then do not talk.
desire, female sexual desire and hybrid sexual desire. Ridding the soul of these leads to its purification.
turd
8) Renunciation
a) Contrary to popular belief, renouncing worldly possessions leads to a life of contentment and assists in keeping desires in check. Controlling desires lead to an influx of punya karma.
46 Jain Spirit June - August 2001
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A Festival Of Introspection
Renunciation is done at the highest level by our monks who renounce not only the household but also their clothes. A person's strength is measured not by the amount of wealth he accumulates but by the amount of wealth he renounces. By this measure our monks are the richest.
b) Renouncing the emotions, the root cause of misery, is Nischay Uttam Tyag, which is only possible by contemplating on the true nature of the soul.
SM
10) Supreme Celibacy
a) This means not only refraining from sexual intercourse but also includes all pleasures associated with the sense of touch, e.g. a cool breeze on a hot summers day or using a cushion for a hard surface. Again this dharma is practised to keep our desires in check. The monks practise this to the highest degree with all their body, speech and mind. The householder refrains from sexual intercourse with anyone except his or her spouse.
b) Brahmacharya is derived from the word Brahma - Soul and charya - to dwell. Nischay Brahmacharya means to dwell in your soul. Only by residing in the soul are you the master of the Universe. Residing outside your soul makes you a slave to desires.
vino Kshma Vani Parva
This is celebrated on the day following the Das Lakshan Parva and is also celebrated three times a year. With proper practice of the Das Lakshan Parva our hearts should be overflowing with forgiveness and hence the celebration of this festival on the following day.
Shitul Shah is a solicitor by profession, based in London. He is a keen student of Jain philosophy. The above is extracted from the Young Jains newsletter, October 2000.

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June-August 2001 Jain Spirit 47

Page #49

WORKPLACE
I TRUST YOU, TRUST ME
Atul Shah examines the importance of trust in the workplace
ROBERT RADIN
மUs
3199
LANTS PUT THEIR COMPLETE FAITH IN THE SUN AND THE rain for food and nourishment. The sun cooperates
with the clouds to give unconditionally. The child trusts the mother to nourish and care and in the early stages of life is completely dependent on the parents. Most of the time, parents give their best to the child. But what happens in the workplace? Do we trust each other?
I guarantee that if we conducted an opinion poll today, we would find that a majority of people are experiencing distrust in the workplace. This distrust is not just restricted to employees in large organisations. Even as bosses, we distrust our workers. Instead of trusting people, we trust money. We trust the bank more than we would our colleagues or staff.
Trust carries a risk. What if people take advantage of our trust? It is far easier to put our trust in non-human objects than in people. People are messy, they are emotional, they can fall sick or sometimes even steal. How can we trust them? What if they run away with all our money and demolish everything that we have built? Surely that is a high price to pay for trust.
Modern western society is highly organised and systematised. This is its beauty, but also its fundamental weakness. Systems require rules and standards to function efficiently and have great difficulty in dealing with individuality. With computer technology, we can now monitor performance from a distance. This displaces the need for trust in people - it is much easier to trust the system, and more convenient too. For example, McDonald's hire part-time workers who require a minimum of training and the production is highly mechanised and standardised. From a distance, they can monitor the performance of each branch, even each worker. One wonders how the workers feel in such an environment.
What do we do in our organisations? Do we trust our staff? Do we trust our colleagues? Is the culture one of distrust? There are simple ways to assess this. Trust requires basic qualities like appreciation, respect and responsibility. Do you feel appreciated? Do you appreciate
Trust is a basic human instinct. Mistrust is learnt through socialisation
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I Trust You, Trust Me
the good work of others? Is there dignity and respect for every all want our children to get a professional qualification so member of staff whether they are a cleaner, a trainee or a man- that they can be economically prosperous. Can this ever ager? Do you take responsibility for your actions or try to find change? I think so. Suppose we experience an environpeople whom you can blame when things go wrong?
mental crisis, say flooding on the river Thames, which Trust creates loyalty. Loyalty creates community. destroys our houses in London. It would not be easy to buy Community builds harmony. Very few organisations today can us out of this crisis with our qualifications then. Also, if we truly demonstrate loyalty. A simple way of assessing this is to have an accident, which disables us from performing our look at employee turnover. What is the turnover rate in your job, then we will immediately become unemployed - will company? Does the organisation care for its staff or does it our professional body support us thereafter? simply use them when it needs them and
Modern society has created institutions discard people when they become out of
and contracts. These enable us to function date? How loyal are you as an employee to "No-one can be without the need for trust. Insurance is a your company?
classic example of this. With insurance, one Lack of trust stems from fear and it fully independent." can cover oneself for any eventuality, at a spreads fear. Are you afraid to take decisions
price. However, what insurance fails to in your workplace? Are your staff afraid of
mention is that upon the death of a close you? When something goes wrong, how do you react? How do relation, the money cannot replace the soul or the love. your colleagues react? If the impulse is to blame, then there is These are far more important qualities, which are priceless clearly distrust in the organisation. If the reaction is to take and uninsurable. They can be cultivated through trust, responsibility and look at ways of learning from the mistake,
though. then there is trust and respect.
Jain culture suggests that we should place our trust in The Jain scriptures are very clear about trust. our soul instead. The essence of the soul is wisdom, love Parasparopagraho Jivanam - interdependence is the essence of and respect, and it can be a valuable guide to lasting happinature; every living being depends on one another. No one can ness. This is also what will accompany us when we die - not be fully independent. Thus trust is a basic requirement for our money and certainly not our qualifications. To trust our peace and harmonious existence. We cannot afford to distrust. soul, we need to care for our body, and also live and Lack of trust is equivalent to human suicide. A species that experience peace. Silence often enables us to experience distrusts will become extinct.
our soul. Soul-consciousness would automatically lead to Let us examine a bit more closely where we place our trust: trust - it would become a natural quality once again, and we in money, the bank and the stock market. Most of us have would directly feel the joy of better relationships and rarely experienced the collapse of a bank and our money is appreciation all around. 2 always safe. Because of this we do not question this trust. However, even today there are examples of people who have
Atul Shah uses the pen to encourage himself and others to paid a high price for this trust. Thousands of Jains in Kenya
reflect on their lives. It is not his intention to disturb but to have lost a lot of money owing to the banking crisis in 1999.
encourage the best in everyone. Their savings have been wiped out and many have had to sell their houses and businesses. A few people even got heart attacks and died as a result of this loss. But until this loss of There are some simple practical steps we can take today to money becomes our own experience, we will accumulate and rebuild trust in our lives. store in the bank
To trust other people we need to be able to trust ourselves Recognise and express appreciation to the people with first. This requires a belief in ourselves and an acceptance of whom we work closely; our own strengths and weaknesses. All too often we • Learn to delegate and trust our employees by assigning concentrate on our strengths and try to deny our weaknesses. tasks and helping instead of blaming or punishing: This breeds ego and personal distrust, a kind of insecurity. On
Identify the needs of others and support their needs the other hand, if we can accept ourselves we can also develop first, before making your own demands: a deep sense of self-esteem and self trust. This will allow us to • Create distance and detachment with money, by giving! trust other people without fear or prejudice. It will enable us to it away regularly and selflessly: connect.
• Use our qualifications for the benefit of others and not We also put a lot of trust in our qualifications. The for the enlargement of our ego or our pockets: marketplace pays a high price for professional skills and this • Practise listening and respecting the thoughts and ideas enables us to earn a decent livelihood. This is exactly why we of others.
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ENVIRONMENT
JAYU SHAH
STOLEN HARVEST
Seeds grown by nature can never be owned or patented by commercial
companies. This is greed and
exploitation of the worst kind, writes campaigner Vandana Shiva
The seed for the farmer is not merely the source of future plants
and food; it is also the storage place of culture and history
FOCUS ON INDIA BOTH BECAUSE I AM AN INDIAN AND BECAUSE Indian agriculture is being especially targeted by global Lcorporations. However, this phenomenon of stolen harvest is not unique to India. It is being experienced in every society as small farms and small farmers are pushed into extinction. Monocultures replace biodiverse crops and farming is transformed from the production of nourishing and diverse foods into the creation of markets for genetically engineered seeds, herbicides and pesticides.
For centuries, Third World farmers have evolved crops and given us the diversity of plants that provide nutrition. Indian farmers evolved 200,000 varieties of rice. They bred rice varieties such as Basmati. They bred red rice and brown rice and black rice. They bred rice that grew eighteen feet tall in floodwaters and saline-resistant rice that could thrive in coastal water.
The seed for the farmer is not merely the source of future plants and food. It is the storage place of culture and history. Free exchange of seeds among farmers has been the basis of maintaining biodiversity as well as food security, it involves exchanges of ideas and knowledge, of culture and heritage. It is an accumulation of tradition and of knowledge of how to work the seed. Farmers learn about the plants they want to grow, in other farmers' fields.
Rice has religious significance in India and is an essential component of most festivals. In southern India, rice grain is considered auspicious and is given as a blessing. New seeds are first worshipped and only then are they planted. Festivals held before sowing seeds, as well as harvest festivals celebrated in the fields, symbolise people's intimacy with nature.
For the farmer, the field is the mother. Worshipping the field is a sign of gratitude toward the Earth which, as a mother, feeds the millions of life forms that are her children. However, the new intellectual property-rights regimes, which are being universalised through the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), allow corporations to usurp the knowledge of the seed and monopolise it by claiming it as their private property. Over time, this will result in corporate monopolies over the seed itself. Centuries of collective innovations by farmers and peasants are being hijacked by corporations claiming intellectual property rights over plants.
Today, ten corporations control 32 per cent of the
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Stolen Harvest
commercial seed market, valued at $23 billion. These corpora- In 1987, the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation organised tions also control the global agrochemical and pesticide market. a meeting on biotechnology called "Laws of Life". This Just five corporations control the global trade in grain. At the watershed event made it clear that the giant chemical end of 1998 Cargill, the largest of these five companies bought companies were repositioning themselves as "life sciences" Continental, the second largest making it the single biggest companies and their main goal was to control agriculture factor in the grain trade. Monoliths Cargill and Monsanto were through patents, genetic engineering and mergers. At that both actively involved in shaping international trade meeting I decided I would dedicate the next decade of my agreements, which led to the establishment of WTO.
life to finding ways to prevent monopolies on life and living Global corporations are not just stealing the harvest of resources, both through resistance and through building farmers. They are stealing nature's harvest through genetic creative alternatives. engineering and patents on life forms. Crops such as The first step I took was to start Navdanya, a movement Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybeans,
for saving seed, protecting biodesigned to be resistant to herbicides lead
diversity and keeping seed and to the destruction of biodiversity and the
"Women in India create
agriculture free of monopoly control. increased use of agrochemicals. They
The Navdanya movement has started can also create highly invasive “super the most beautiful art with
sixteen community seed banks in six weeds” by transferring the genes for her
states in India. Today Navdanya has bicide resistance to weeds.
thousands of members who conserve
rice flour on their To secure patents on life forms and
biodiversity, practise chemical-free living resources, corporations must claim doorstens, which provide
agriculture and have taken a pledge to seeds and plants to be "inventions" and
continue to save and share the seeds hence their property. Corporations like
food for the ants.” and biodiversity they have received as Cargill and Monsanto see nature's web of
gifts from nature and their ancestors. life and cycles of renewal as "theft" of their
In India, the poorest peasants property. During the debate about the entry of Cargill into India in have been organic farmers because they could never afford 1992, the Cargill chief executive stated: “We bring Indian farmers chemicals. Today they are joined by a growing intersmart technologies which prevent bees from usurping the pollen." national organic movement that consciously avoids During the United Nations bio safety negotiations, Monsanto chemicals and genetic engineering. Ecological and organic circulated literature that claimed, “Weeds steal the sunshine". A agriculture is referred to in India as non-violent agriculture world-view that defines pollination as theft by bees" and claims or ahimsic krishi, because it is based on compassion for all that diverse plants "steal" sunshine is one aimed at stealing species and hence the protection of biodiversity in agriculture. nature's harvest. This is a world-view based on scarcity.
Our movements advocate the recovery of biodiversity A world-view of abundance is the world-view of women in and intellectual commons. By refusing to recognise life's India who create the most beautiful art with rice flour on their diversity as a corporate invention and hence as corporate doorsteps, which provide food for the ants. Abundance is the property, we are acknowledging the intrinsic value of all world-view of peasant women who weave beautiful designs of species and their self-organising capacity. By refusing to paddy to hang up for birds when the birds do not find grain in allow privatisation of living resources, we are defending the the fields. This view of abundance recognises that in giving right to survival of the two-thirds majority that depend food to other beings and species we maintain conditions for our on nature's capital. These are exciting times. It is not own food security.
inevitable that corporations will control our lives and rule In the ecological world-view, when we consume more than the world. We have a real possibility to shape our own we need or exploit nature on principles of greed, we are engag- future. We have an ecological and social duty to ensure that ing in theft. In the anti-life view of agribusiness corporations the food that nourishes us is not a stolen harvest. In this nature, renewing and maintaining herself, is a thief. Such a duty, we each have the opportunity to work for the freedom world-view replaces abundance with scarcity and fertility with and liberation of all species and all people - no matter who sterility.
we are, no matter where we are. What we are seeing is the emergence of food totalitarianism, in which a handful of corporations control the entire food
Adapted from Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global chain and destroy alternatives. The notion of rights has been
Food Supply by Vandana Shiva; South End Press. 7. turned on its head under globalisation and free trade. The right
Brooklin I, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Vandana Shiva is to food, the right to safety, the right to culture are all being
establishing a new international college for sustainable treated as trade barriers that need to be dismantled.
living in India. E-mail:vshiva@glasdlol.vsnl.net.in.
June - August 2001. Jain Spirit
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ENVIRONMENT
LAND NEEDS CU
Mr. A.V. Sanghavi has dedicated his life to earth-friendly ways of
growing food with great success, writes Rajiv Malik
ASHOK V. SANGHAVT/HINDUISM TODAY
Natural farming proponents Bhaskar H. Save and Ashok V. Sanghavi
verge of committing suicide. That was the time when I WARMING IS NOT BUSINESS BUT RELIGIOUS WORK," SAYS
remembered God. He made me realise the value of human Ashok V. Sanghavi, Jain master gardener at the
birth. I realised that ending life was very easy, just a twoinnovative Sanghavi Farm in Southern Gujurat, India.
minute job, but the challenge was to live and succeed in life. He is dedicated to the art of organic and natural farming". His
I realised it is because of chemicals and fertilisers that we farm, originally a rocky wasteland that required dynamite to
become sick and cannot live for one hundred years but die till, is now an oasis of life and food.
at half this age. So it was during these times of frustration "Study plants and you will come to know that plants
that I met my Guruji, Sri Bhaskar H. Save, who had left his generate things which they do not consume,” states Mr.
occupation and was working for the natural and organic Sanghavi. "The plants are totally dedicated to nature and cause. He had been called a madman but by his results he humanity. They strictly follow the dharma of doing things for
slowly proved that he was correct. I sat at his feet for a long others, which is what the Hindu culture and civilization,
time and learned the techniques of converting wasteland sanskriti teaches us. Plants also have a soul. We do injustice
into greenland without spending much money. It is and cruelty to plants when we spray chemicals on them. When
unfortunate, but I have to say that today we can fairly we do this, unfortunately the plants can neither run away nor
easily improve the land and make it fertile, but it is difficult protest or speak out."
to improve the minds of human beings." Mr. Sanghavi learned much of his technique from Bhaskar The duo's most amazing work is the turning of H. Save, creator of the highly successful Kalpavruksha Farm
wasteland into viable farmland. Sanghavi Farm was initially (Wish-fulfilling Tree) in Umbergaon, India. They have spent
a rocky land with no vegetation. It was so bad that they had many years together promoting their system. "My meeting
to use dynamite for the initial tilling of the waste material. with Sri Save has an interesting story behind it," said Mr.
Now the land is an incredibly productive farm. In fact, Sanghavi. "At one point of time in my life - I am 52 years old
many of its trees and plants produce significantly more now - I was fed up with life due to poor health, and I was on the fruits than farms that use standard, commercial techniques.
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Land Needs Culture
LTURE
JAYU SHAH
this be termed as business? It is performance of dharma. It is indeed a religious activity."
Both farmers also have temples on their farmland. Kalpavruksha Farm has Yogeshwar Krishi Mandir where they are daily training ten priests how to look for the Lord in the plants and worship them. These priests then carry out this work of performing poojas. Mr. Sanghavi, who is a Jain, has named his farm "Raja Rishabh Temple." The Jain society (samaj) gathers and worships there. "We do not perform any poojas when we plant the trees," said Mr. Sanghavi. “But we do a bhoomi pooja, (worship of the land) in the initial stages of tilling. After all, we are ripping apart the heart of motherland and we seek forgiveness for this act from the mother when we do the bhoomi puja. This is a part of our ancient rites."
Save's Kalpavruksha Farm is currently being forced into closure as the multinational American company, Unocal, has been allotted the land to build a port, much to the dismay of Save, his family and followers. The government claims that the area designated for the port is wasteland - but not to the likes of Save and Sanghavi, who grow mangoes, chikus, bananas and coconuts on it.
Sanghavi thus summarises his philosophies: "Chemicals and fertilisers interfere with the natural processes of plants. That is the root cause of the whole problem. God is not mad. There is a certain order in creation, which has to be properly understood. All controls have to be natural without disturbance from external elements. This is the important matter we need to understand."
"Farmers are performing their dharma when they
engage in agriculture," Sanghavi And they yield much higher profits (at least 400 per cent) because of the low costs. Take coconuts, for example. In Kerala, using modern techniques, trees produce around 200 coconuts a year. Using natural farming, Sanghavi gets an average yield of around 400 coconuts. Plus, using modern farming, coconut trees fruit in seven to eight years after planting, whereas Sanghavi gets coconuts in three years. Chiku fruit is another productive crop. Without watering, the natural farming technique yields 660-700 pounds of sweet fruit per tree per year. Hundreds of farms all over India have begun using their technique and have become very successful. Every Saturday, Save and Sanghavi give free classes at their farms.
Save and Sanghavi's work have been recognised and lauded all over the world with numerous awards, including the Bajaj award which was presented by the President of India at the beginning of 2001. The world famous Japanese farmer, Mr. Mansanobu Fukuoka, author of the influential One Straw Revolution, visited their farms and said, "Save is a second Gandhi for India. I have not observed similar work in the whole world. My heartiest wishes are that people should get guidance and inspiration here."
"A farmer is performing his dharma when he engages in agriculture, not just for making a profit," Sanghavi said. "Through agriculture we serve the animal kingdom, we serve the humankind and we serve the environment. Then how could
Sanghavi Farm Basics • Never till the ground, except initially. Earthworms are
nature's tillers. They aerate the soil and leave nutrient-rich
waste. Tilling cuts the roots and damages the delicate tissues • Feed the earth, not the tree, by putting kitchen food waste and
manure just below the ends of the tree branches. Earthworms and other organisms then eat it, leaving behind rich nutrients. We call this the "buffet system", as the plants eat whatever nutrients they need. Do not weed around trees. Weeds lock essential moisture in the soil and keep it from erosion. You can cut the weeds if they get too tall, but lay the cut weeds around the tree as mulch. Never use chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides. Be conservative with water, using only what is necessary. The entire root area (under the branches) should be watered evenly, not all at the trunk so that we do not block the nose and mouth of the plants.
The above article is reprinted with permission from March 2001 issue of "Hinduism Today", a bi-monthly colour magazine promoting Hindu values. Rajiv Malik is their Delhi correspondent. Visit www.hinduismtoday.com
June - August 2001. Jain Spirit
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Page #55

MEENAN KETAN SHAR
INTERFAITH
Wellas slob
novel oel om rogor
aring a grinten vlieb
Tmodi gin
Canidog ani
EGYPTIANS
FLOURISHED
THROUGH FAITH
religion was based on family life. The gods were given wives, goddesses given husbands, and both had children.
Tow bun
Ketan Shah examines the culture and beliefs of one of the oldest recorded civilizations in the world
GYPT IS THE OLDEST TOURIST DESTINATION IN THE WORLD.
The focus of most visits remains the great monuments of
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lifeblood is the River Nile whose narrow fertility is in startling contrast with the arid wastes of its flank from the Mediterranean to the Sudan. This stark duality between. fertility and desolation is fundamental to Egypt's character. It has shaped its development since pre-historic times imparting continuity to diverse cultures and peoples over five millennia. Egypt has a sense of permanence and timelessness buttressed by religion pervading every aspect of life. Although the religion of ancient Egypt is as moribund as its legacy of mummies and temples, its ancient fertility rites and processions of boats still hold their place in the celebrations of Islam and Christianity. The result of Egypt's ancient legacy is a multilayered culture which seems to accord equal respect to ancient and modern. Throughout history what has united the Egyptians was the love of their homeland, the extended family ties, dignity, warmth and hospitality towards strangers.
The Egyptians recognised many gods; they did not have one universal system of religious belief. They had no sacred books, there were no theological commentaries or treatises, neither was there any dogma. The well-known Book of the Dead was really a book of the "Underworld" which was thought to be a mirror image of Egypt itself. Like the Hindus, the polytheism of the ancient Egyptians led to tolerance. Apart from two brief periods in their history when there was an attempt to promote a (solar) monotheism analogous to Judaism, Christianity or Islam, the Egyptians never suffered from persecutions carried out in the name of religion; there were no Egyptian saints, no martyrs. The Egyptians were a gentle people for whom the family was important. Hence, their
54 Jain Spirit June-August 2001
Temples continued the domestic theme being called "mansions" of the gods. Architecturally they were based on the house form, with rooms in them for eating and sleeping. The innermost sanctuary was regarded as the bedroom of the god. The daily ritual of the temple was domestic in form: the morning ritual gave the god his breakfast, the evening ritual gave him his dinner. Ancient Egyptian religion did not indulge in bloodbaths with animal or human sacrifices. Instead, each god lived in peace in his home, the temple very often as part of a trinity of deities, a holy family consisting of father, mother and child.
For much of their long history the Egyptians were accommodating other people's gods and always ready to receive additions to their own pantheon. They received but did not feel any great need to give; hence there was no real attempt to persuade non-Egyptians to worship Egyptian gods. In their ancient religion, the basis of religion was not belief but cult, particularly the local cult that meant more to the individual. Thus many deities flourished simultaneously and the Egyptians were seemingly ever ready to adopt a new god or to change their views about the old.
The myriad gods worshipped by the ancient Egyptians fell into three main categories:
Local gods, who were the inanimate objects (fetishes), animals, birds and other living creatures associated with a particular locality.
Personal gods, the objects or creatures chosen by. individuals to receive their allegiance.
Universal gods, cosmic deities who represented the forces of nature - the sun, the moon, the stars, wind and storm.

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Egyptians Flourished through Faith
KETAN SHAR
The predominant characteristics
The peculiar characteristics of of the Egyptian religion were
the land in which the Egyptians animism, fetishism and magic. In
lived influenced their religion by less primitive times, theories were
diversifying it. There were two promulgated that turned magic into
distinct halves, Upper and Lower religion. Being an agricultural
Egypt, and different ethnic groups people, the ancient Egyptians were
such as the Semites and Africans. brought into daily contact with
All forty-two provinces had differanimals and birds. It was not
ences in speech, ways of life, surprising that they should turn such
customs and religion. In each creatures into objects of worship.
province, town and village, religion There was also the belief that certain
took on a special form peculiar to animals possessed divine powers -
that particular place. Each locality the cow, for example, represented
had its own local deity who was fertility, the bull virility - which led
often worshipped in a way that was to the cult of sacred animals, birds
special to him or her, and was often and reptiles, each of which was
equipped with myths and legends considered to be the manifestation
of his or her own. of a divine being on earth. Hence
The characteristics peculiar to the thousands of mummified ibises,
the land of Egypt - long narrow baboons and crocodiles that have
valley surrounded by a desert, a been found all over Egypt. Inside
river which ensured a plentiful the temples, they kept real live
The world famous funerary mask of King Tutankhamun supply of water and the fertile soil cats, bulls, ibises or hawks and
made the ancient Egyptians into a worshipped them as gods; and when they died the Egyptians highly conservative, parochial, even complacent society. mummified and buried them as they did their kings.
They lived in a land that was productive, but nevertheless The inherent difficulty of inanimate or animal gods unable demanded constant hard work, and forced its inhabitants to to speak and make their wishes known led the priests to wear be practical. The Egyptians therefore tended not to indulge masks fashioned in imitation of the heads of the animal gods. in any great flights of fancy. They were parochial: their From within these they gave their voice to the gods' wishes, a eyes were turned on their neighbourhood. In spite of their practice which resulted in the noted Egyptian custom of narrow, inward-looking way of life, many Egyptians must representing gods with human bodies and animal heads. The have posed the eternal, universal questions: Who created the Great Sphinx of Giza, that most illustrious symbol of ancient world? And the sun and the stars? Who created life on Egypt, is the reverse. It has a body of a crouched lion and the earth, both animal and human? What happens when one head of Pharaoh Khafre representing Horus, who is usually dies? They found acceptable answers to their questions by depicted as a falcon-headed man.
conceiving gods and the religion developed directly from The third type of god worshipped by the ancient Egyptians their own experience of life in the land of Egypt. was the cosmic god - moon, storm, wind and especially the sun. The great number of gods worshipped in ancient Egypt This type of deity represents a higher order of divine being meant that there was no one version of the answer posed by since it is difficult to personalise a cosmic god, with the result these questions. Egyptian religion seems to comprise many that comprehending this type of god demands a greater degree religious beliefs. One of the reasons for this is that the of intellectual effort. Whereas the fetish and local gods were Egyptians, conservative as they were, never discarded any developed prior to 3050 BC, the cosmic gods were properly of their old beliefs in favour of new ones, they simply developed during the historic era after 3000 BC as is evidenced assimilated them. They were quite content to have several by the stunning monuments and temples at Karnak, Luxor and different explanations for the same thing, beacuse each Abu Simbel.
explanation might serve different contexts. During this historic period, the sun in particular became a Perhaps we could learn from this openness and tolerance. universal god worshipped throughout the land. With the founding of the Egyptian state during Dynasty I with the union of Upper and Lower Egypt, it was elevated to the status of a Ketan Kiran Shah has been active in the Jain community in state god. Despite the existence of both a state god and local
Kenya and presently lives in London. He is a Jain gods, the Egyptians thought it perfectly normal to worship all at Egyptologist once.
June - August 2001. Jain Spirit 55 2010_03

Page #57

HISTORY
T
Y
Early pioneers in Mombasa, where the first Jain temple was built
KENYA'S DHOW DESCENDANTS
HE EMOTION-CHARGED CEREMONY REACHED ITS CLIMAX AS A
group of four persons, all in their 80s, moved to break a coconut to mark the opening of a unique exhibition at the National Museum in Nairobi. The inauguration of the AsianAfrican Heritage Exhibition on 12 February 2000 turned a dream into reality for the 100,000-strong community, largely comprising people whose ancestors came to the East African shores from the Indian subcontinent over a century back.
The ancestors, going back to three generations or more, had come in dhows (wooden boats) traversing trade routes of the Indian Ocean, guided by seasonal winds and impelled by a craving for adventure and search for greener pastures. They found it all and much else in East Africa, especially Kenya. In her fascinating work, 'We Came in Dhows' Cynthia Salvadori portrays the dhow through the peoples' stories as the symbol of change which the early Indian pioneers brought to Kenya - and Kenya to them.
Reflecting the diversity of the community, the colourful inaugural ceremony featured a brief classical dance as a tribute to Lord Ganesha; a patriotic duet - "Kenya Zindabad" (Long Live Kenya); and a custom-composed song for the occasion - "Asia to Africa" sung by Avni Dave representing the latest generation of the dhow people.
Who are these people? Indigenous Kenyans called them muhindis (those from Hind or India), a term still in usage in the Swahili language. They were mostly known as "Indians" until the partition of India in 1947. As a device to insulate themselves from the repercussions of the partition, they chose for themselves
Jain Spirit June-August 2001
56
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silə inanmohang s Ambassador
Rajiv Bhatia writes about an exhibition on the early history of East African Indians whose descendants today are some of the most ardent supporters of Jain Spirit
a new name, "Asians" - as in the United Kingdom. The name stayed on despite its obvious oddity. It remains a preferred word over a more reasonable substitute, "South Asians", for they owe their origins principally to India and, to a lesser extent, to Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Against this backdrop the planners of the exhibition invented a new name "Asian Africans". Dr. Sultan Somjee, Curator of the exhibition said, "How I define my social identity is my responsibility. For it is also my human right to practise and enjoy my bi-continental tradition. I hold the culture of the Indian Ocean of my Asian ancestors and their African descendants. That makes my family Asian African."
It is an enlightened and rational way to define the community. But will it gain universal acceptance? Many seem to be doubtful, arguing that "Kenyans of Indian Origin (KIO)" is preferable as long as the word "Indian" refers to the Ocean or the subcontinent.
India's connection with East Africa is undoubtedly several thousand years old. It predates the arrival of the white man in Africa. Yet, European writers have tended to downplay the importance and longevity of the linkage. There are exceptions, however.
The first sizeable influx of Indians to Kenya was triggered by the construction of the Uganda Railway from Mombasa to Kisumu during the period 1896-1901. The Asian African Heritage Exhibition places a special focus on the contribution of Indians to the construction of the railway. The British administration brought over 30,000 indentured

Page #58

labourers. By the standards of the day and the nature of the hazards encountered, the Uganda Railway was a hugely challenging project. While laying the railway track stretching 931 kilometres on a difficult terrain, nearly 2500 labourers were killed and about 6500 became invalid. Clearly, much Indian blood was shed in the making of modern Kenya.
Nearly six thousand of those who had come to build the railway chose to stay on in Kenya. Many others joined them in later years. They came to serve as shopkeepers, artisans, accountants, health workers, railway employees and teachers. Most of them came from Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, Goa and Mumbai. Through a continuing influx their population grew from a meagre 12,000 in 1911 to 98,000 by 1948. At the time of Kenya's Independence in 1963, Indians numbered about 177,000 as compared to 53,000 Europeans. By 1967-68, unofficial estimates put the Indians to 192,000 but a decade later the number came down to 78,000 due to several developments in the post-Independence era.
The exhibition highlights the role of Indians in the development of labour movement in Kenya. It pays special tribute to Makhan Singh, one of the founders of the trade union movement. It also traces imaginatively the social heritage of the community through a display of artefacts, clothes, jewellery, furniture items and records obtained from private homes. Indeed, they present a rare private view of the community's past as well as its philanthropic activities which continue even today. As the exhibition booklet puts it correctly: "These are records of pride, rejecting humiliation and domination. They portray lives of dignity, resilience and resistance under adverse conditions."
The section dealing with intellectual heritage is of special significance. It throws light on some of the greatest Asians who, alas, have become mere names to the present generation of Kenyans. By recalling their contribution to the Independence movement, the struggle for freedom of the Press, the growth of the legal profession, of literature and even arts, the exhibition has done immense service to posterity.
In contemporary Kenya, the debate continues about the Asian presence - their role, impact and the nature of their integration with indigenous Kenyans. In North or South Shiva Naipaul observed: "Africa has wrought no discernible changes in them. So it is with most East African Asians. They have remained spiritually intact and that has been their greatest strength, their fatal weakness."
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Indian Prime Minister Jawahalal Nehru during his visit to Kenya
Others have maintained that the African environment has moulded Asians even as they have remained clung to their cultural and religious heritage. In many ways they are close to Africans and in some ways they follow practices which have since long been dead even in India. Indeed, they are a melange of Indian roots and Kenyan upbringing, thus forming a part of the twentymillion-strong Indian diaspora spread around the world. They face similar dilemmas and challenges. What is beyond doubt is that Asians have lent colour and diversity to Kenya - a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society like India. The importance of the Asians' contribution to the country is recognised widely. As a highly respected former Attorney General of Kenya put it, their contribution in overall terms has been both "positive" and "irreplaceable".
The most visible and widely felt impact has been in the field of economy. With the exception of agriculture, Asians have contributed much to trade, industry and services. Retail trade and distribution in towns, large or small, and import - export business in Nairobi are handled by a large number of Asian families and companies. Following Independence, they diversified in such areas as steel, aluminium, transport, civil construction, engineering, horticulture, paper etc. Their presence in the services sector banking, insurance, hotels and tourism - has also been significant. Dr. Bonaya Godana, Kenya's Foreign Minister stated in July 1998: "Kenyans of Indian origin play an important role in Kenya's national economy as responsible citizens of the country."
In contrast, Asians have been conspicuous by their absence in politics, especially after Independence. The highest position an Asian ever secured was that of the Deputy Speaker of Parliament. There is no Member of Parliament or Minister of Indian origin today. This perhaps is largely by choice and also due to the small size of the community.
Kenya's Dhow Descendants
In other spheres, though, such as education, sports, social welfare, publishing, philanthropy, health management and small development projects Asians have contributed considerably. The Asian community thus has an enormous potential to contribute to strengthening Kenya's relations with South Asia in general and India in particular. This is a noble goal the community needs to focus on.
Dhow illustration
The author is India's High Commissioner to Kenya. The article is reprinted from "India Perspectives", May 2000

June-August 2001 Jain Spirit
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Page #59

PHILOSOPHY
THE MURDER OF CULTURE
Jeremy Seabrook examines how globalisation is subtly destroying
ancient wisdom. Jains are not immune to this phenomenon
make money. At the most basic level, everywhere in the world local homely things, familiar artefacts and goods become archaic and shameful when set against the sophisticated results of mass production. Baskets of bamboo and grass give way to bright-red plastic buckets; plates and cups made of leaves are ousted by metal and glass; neem-twigs for teeth-cleaning are replaced by Colgate; soapberries yield to Lux and the fruits and nuts of the jungle are supplanted by Cadbury or Nestlé.
But even superficial assaults on traditional customs do not always have their own way. The resistance to McDonald's beef burgers in India is by now an old story. The enormous investment in finding a palatable veggie-burger has not replaced traditional Indian snacks or re-shaped Indian tastes. In 1995, the KFC outlet in Bangalore was destroyed by demonstrators who objected to such attempts. Imported cultural activities associated with entertainment and enjoyment do have a deeper effect. Aimed specifically at the young, they soften up a new generation so that it will learn a new set of human purposes. A universal Western
KING
TITH THE CREATION OF A SINGLE WORLD MARKET ALL SOCIETIES VA are yielding to Western dominance. A superficial culture
emerges in which certain industries are crucial - entertainment, fashion and tourism, the visual media, sport, pop music and the cult of celebrities. We hear much about pluralism and diversity, not least from the enthusiasts of globalisation. This is perhaps to convince the world that despite the rigid neo-liberal economic orthodoxy now established globally, a great variety of cultural forms remains. Of course Hinduism, Islam, Jainism and Buddhism are not going to be obliterated any more than Christianity by its offspring: consumerism. Cultural identities are not submerged by McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken any more than linguistic diversity is extinguished by the universal lingua franca of money. This is not the point. Cultural identities remain, but under the impact of the market economy they are modified and "commodified" - and the change is always in the same direction. Just as in the West, religious festivals like Christmas have become orgies of consumption, so a similar shift is happening in other societies. The significance of the celebration remains, yet it is subordinated to a higher purpose. Christmas is now the major marketing highlight of the year.
In the countries of the South, too, festivals that lend themselves to showy and expensive display become strengthened. Diwali, the great festival of light in India, has become both dangerous through the sale of fireworks and expensive through an increasingly costly exchange of gifts. Similarly, in some Muslim countries the fasting month of Ramadan has been transformed by the consumerist ethos into something contrary to its purpose. The daily dawn-to-dusk fast, intended to check greed and develop self-restraint, turns into a self-indulgent feasting at the end of each day. In Malaysia, many hotels now offer extravagant buka puasa (breaking of fast) buffets.
What is sometimes referred to as the “Disneyfication of culture" can be seen in its clearest form in Europe. Here, it means a marketdriven heritage industry. Anyone travelling through Western Europe now will find virtually identical malls and gallerias, displaying the same logos and brand names. The main distinguishing feature comes from the selling of the past: the medieval cathedral, the riverside, the royal palace and the city walls. The historical remains are embalmed and sold in the form of T-shirts, embossed mugs and ashtrays.
The market does not simply obliterate all earlier traditions. It is opportunistic. It will enhance and concentrate on those features of a society which turn a profit or change them in such a way that they will
BURGER KING
CHANDU SHAH
Fast food destroys slow tradition iconography of affluence and luxury eats into the consciousness of the peoples of the world. This is not altering identity, but opening up the psyche in such a way as to make acceptable not only the sweets but also the values of capitalism.
The garden of delights purveyed by Disney, Mattel or Time-Warner to the people of the South is a carefully crafted myth, a US ideological artefact. It serves to demobilise the poor in the places where they live, where they suffer poverty and insecurity. Hope becomes increasingly concentrated on the distant and exotic. Delight is found not in celebrating their own lives and
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Jain Spirit • June - August 2001
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The Murder of Culture
Аро
APOLO
PUNIL SHAH
APOIO
TRIDEV
Mass entertainment disables individual creativity
achievements but in admiration of the shadowy celebrities of films and pop videos. This undermines people's faith in themselves, diminishes their own capacity to find significant cultural satisfactions in their own deeds and achievements. Everywhere in the world there is a loss of conviction that what is ancient and traditional is of value. This is the "cultural cost of admission to the market economy.
Children have been transformed into "kids” by consumer culture: a single word denotes a profound mutation in the growth and development of the young. When they grow up they will be open to the further colonising of their minds. For just as childhood is now an occupied territory, where the entertainment conglomerates have built their empire, so the educational system is becoming penetrated by the dreams of an international business culture.
From Delhi to São Paulo there are millions of youthful aspirants to the possession of a Master degree in Business Administration or a diploma or a certificate in Business Studies. The young people whose imagination has been seized by this version of Western culture are highly visible in the Third World. They carry textbooks written in impenetrable English which suggests the study of hermeneutics rather than the practicalities of business. In their enthusiasm and eagerness they believe that possession of a certificate will magically open doors to lifelong wealth and security: infinite possibilities, endless choices, prizes and free gifts.
Business culture has swept through South Asia with the power of an irrational cult. It is clear that the vast majority of these hopeful young people will find no place in the global culture to which they aspire. They are victims of the latest fad formulated in the West, the newest version of a colonialism designed to pacify yet another generation, to provide them with a hope of non-existent careers and a future of elusive wealth and absent leisure. India and Bangladesh are full of unemployed graduates. A generation ago their counterparts would have been studying (Western) politics and sociology, before that the liberation struggles and the threat of neo-colonialism. It is the children and grandchildren of these people who now dream a fantasy fed by the imagery of Disney fairy-tales and Lorimar TV films. The
grafting of this business gospel onto the kids' consumer culture has been going on long enough and many have already become bitterly disappointed by the promises implicit in their social and educational experience. The qualifications are there. But there are no jobs, no prizes, no rewards.
Two responses emerge to the disillusionment that follows the realisation that yet another generation has been cheated. First is a desire to escape. A desperate urge to move out: to a job in the Gulf, any job: driving, domestic service, factory labour, security guard. Anything that provides an income. They attach themselves to foreigners, offer themselves as cleaners, cooks, houseboys, sexual partners - anything that will take them to the West. The result is a generation disturbed in their sense of place and identity,
This leads many to the second response. Able young men are recruited by criminal gangs. A world of extortion, blackmail, protection money and drug dealing exists in every slum from Dhaka to Recife. Some gangs are connected to political parties. some are the fall-out from corruption of those in legitimate jobs - in the police, port authorities, customs, property speculation, real estate, film industries or prostitution. All offer rich pickings for criminal activities. A caricature of glamour and business is fused at last in the lengthening shadow cast by the global market.
The racketeers of illusion who have made their fortunes do not care about the fate of the young people betrayed, the swallowers of the fictions. For most of these youths have no choice but to make their way in the ruined and ravaged places in which business fortunes are indeed made. Pity the young inheritors of broken hopes and a future used up in advance!
Jeremy Seabrook is a journalist and author living in London. His latest novel is "Colonies of the Heart". GMP, London, 1998. This article is extracted from "Racketeers of Illusion" first published in New Internationalist magazine. www.newint.org
June - August 2001. Jain Spirit
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Ms. Krishna Nemchand Shah, Harrow, Middlesex, UK
Mr. Mayur Shah, Harrow, Middlesex, UK
Mr. Niranjan & Mrs. Pramila Shah, Oysterbay, NY
Mr. & Mrs. Rajan & Ajeta Rupani, Northwood, Middlesex, UK
Mr. & Mrs. Rajni & Gita Shah, Birmingham, Al
Mrs. Rekha Shah, Greenford, Middlesex, UK Mr. Saurabh & Mrs. Manju Fakirchand Dalal, Lanham, MD, USA
Mr. Suken Shah, Cheadle, Cheshire, UK
The above is based on information available as of the middle of April. New additions will appear in the next issue.
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June August 2001 Jain Spirit
63

Page #65

VIEWPOINT
DO NOT FEAR
Change enables us to grow provided we are in tune with our changeless soul, explains Gurudev Chitrabhanu
W
E ARE ALL CONTROLLED BY DESIRE. CRAVING ARISES IN OUR unawareness when we do not see an object as a thought crystal but rather as a means to gratify our desire. Then we put all our energy into getting it. Sometimes you never get it and sometimes you do. But in any case, the time comes when you have to leave it. If you are aware when you have it in your palm, you look at it and smile at yourself saying, "Is this the thing I used so much effort to get? For this have I spent my energy?"
What attracts and allures you from a distance does not look the same at close range. When you go nearer you wonder, "Is this the same that I saw from a distance?" You might have noticed at some time that when you are far from a mountain, it appears mellow, round and soft. Covered in mist, it looks like wax. When you are right next to it, though, you see the sharp stones and rocks.
That is why, in order to understand the nature of reality, we have to see what is real without distorting or hiding it. We have to remove all the outside wrappings which are created by our mind. The mind creates many beautiful phrases and mirages. It likes to hide reality with glossy coverings. Like the deer who runs towards a mirage of water when it is thirsty, we too are in a frenzy to get that which is merely an illusion.
If you want to feel the refreshing touch of a lake in summer, you have to remove your clothes. Otherwise you will not get direct contact with the cool water. In the same way, if you want to enjoy the freshness of life, you must shed your coverings. Words, concepts, beliefs, crystallised thoughts act as coverings. Puncture them and you will see how hollow and insubstantial they are. Remove them and you will see yourself.
van
Now use your inner perception. See that the whole galaxy is moving in an unbroken rhythm. The same sun we think of as ishing here is being seen across the globe as rising. And yet it is the same sun. Lift yourself above the level of earth to the height of the
64 Jain Spirit June-August 2001 2010_03
Do Not Fear
Gurudev Chitrabhanu
sun. You will always see the sun. Be conscious of that sun in you, there is changeless life in you. Behind the continuous changes is the continuity of the changeless. Changes themselves indicate the ever-presence of the changeless.
We begin to see that all life longs to move to higher realms of awareness. For that, change is inevitable. Change is what allows the changeless to reveal itself as ever fresh. Without it there is no growth, no renewal. When we become convinced that change is for growth and growth is for becoming aware of our inner divinity, we will be inspired to be free: free from the tendency to cling to familiar things. We will become eager to unshackle ourselves from the fear of change.
When this truth sinks into our consciousness, it opens a new door. We stop seeing in a rigid way. The words "gone", "disappear", "vanish" or "death" are seen for what they are as empty or misleading words, based purely on our visual perception, not on our inner insight. What appears as "death" to one is "birth" to another; both are two waves of the same ocean: life.
The teacher explains to the student, "Changes are causing us to be aware of the changeless, and the changeless is causing all the changes to take place. Until we reach the "best" we pass through "good" and "better." All the forms change in order to bring out a better and better form. Ultimately, we become so refined as to be able to experience the radiance of our inner reality, the permanent bliss of our being. So, as you grow, cultivate this awareness - that in the sunset dawn is hidden, in the dawn sunset is hidden. Appearing and disappearing are the play of life. Both are manifestations of the changeless."
Chitrabhanuji has influenced Jain culture globally. The above is extracted from his book "Twelve facets of reality: The Jain Path to Freedom", published by Jain Meditation International Centre, New York, Tel 212-534 6090

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