Jainism in a Global Perspective - Collection of Jain papers of 1993 Parliament of World Religions, Chicago

SR No.: 014010
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Sagarmal Jain, Shreeprakash Pandey
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith
Publication Year: 1998
Total Pages: 402
Language: English
Classification: Seminar & Articles
File Size: 23 MB

Page 113

Jainism in a Global Perspective
consensus for a multicultural dialogue. There has to be a methodology at arriving consensus. Different ways have different traditions.
The indigenous Americans decided that where there is a point of difference, they will not proceed to a decision immediately, they would immediately go to meditate. The same tradition is found in Khasis recorded by an English man who was a civil servant in India in 1814. The same tradition happens to be the tradition of Jains, Buddhists and Hindus.
(iv) Fourth is that we must eliminate intolerance, discrimination and xenofobia. We have witnessed in the recent past some ugly manifestations of xenofobia. What happend in Germany during and before the II world war. Xenofobia did not come to an end in the minds of men and women throughout the world. Some times they feel uneasy with people who do not look orspeak like them. But we have to recognise that we are living in an age where different people live together. New ways of migration will take place in the world. It is inevitable we must therefore create a constitution of civilization in which the rights of migrants, the rights of so called other people are recognised and respected.
This can be done through different ways. In United Nations I took an initiative back in 1978-79 in the human right commission when we proceeded to create a universal declaration against intolerance. Then we followed it up with the universal declaration against discrimination. Intolerance and discriminations are the two greatest enemies of interfaith harmony and multicultural vision. But the United Nations is helpless, the nations of the world and Governments are helpless unless they are able to create a culture of harmony, a culture of peace, a culture of spirit of religions permeating our lives our approaches and our outlook. It is the way to procced to global society. These five principles which I have delineated must form the basic norms of the constitution of human civilization for the 21st century. Norms based on Mahatma Gandhi's conceptions, norms based on Martin Luther King's struggles, norms based on humanity striving throughout the two world wars, norms which are based on the striving of the two parliaments of world religion:
the one in 1893, and one now, and many other parliaments of religions which took place in between, as I said pioneered by Sir Francis Young husband