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- The Jaina Philosophy Take, for instance, rice. When that is cooked in the ordinary American fashion, it is cooked till it is paste, which might be very good to paste paper on a wall, but is not good to eat.
We know that the growth of nature is slow of process, and must take its natural time, and if you cook any articles too quickly, it will be spoiled. Everything is done in haste in this country. They say that they have no time. How do they utilize the time which is saved? For the public good? But you must make home and yourself happy first, and that is to be done
The universe is not for man alone, but is a theatre of evolution for all living beings. 'Live and let live' is their guiding principle. Ahimsa paramo dharma - Non-injury is the highest religion. Their ceremonial worship, institutions, manners and customs (purely Jaina) all rest on this grand fulcrum of Ahimsa. Man, in his desire to continue his life forces so that he may do the highest good while living here, is obliged to destroy life; but the less lower form of life he destroys, the less harmful Karmas he generates. This is the basis of the strict vegetarianism of the Jainas. Acting on that idea, they have built homes for maimed or old animals in many cities and towns of India, where they are fed and taken care of until they die.
In 'Ancient India’, he has discussed the Aryan race, Vedic literature and social structure of that age. In an article ‘Contribution of Jainism to Philosophy, History and Progress’, published in Asiatic Quarterly of July 1900, he sheds light on the essential facets of Jaina philosophy and the literary currents.
His efforts resulted in a compromise between the Jainas and the Thakore of Palitana who had levied tax of Rs. 2/- per person. Lord and Lady Reay visited Palitana and this was the first official public presentation to a British representative. Even Lord Curzon, the British Viceroy in India, had also met him. The note about the Jaina delegation reads as follows:
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