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Jaina Religon -- Universal Relevance in the Contemporary World
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llumanity has come to abhore wars because so many human lives have been lost. And yet we go on killing millions of animals, birds and fishes in slaughter houses mercilessly everyday -simply to fill our dinner plates. Are killings at these slaughter houses in any way less criminal than the merciless killing of human beings at the Nazi concentration caps during world war - II?
Compassion must be universally applied and not selectively only towards fellow human beings. The benevolence should extend to the humblest living creature. The daily war of humans on animals must stop.
Vegetarianism provides a viable hcalthy and sober answer which world citizens can practice by simply controlling and curbing the "animal instinct" in them.
At the surface, Jaina religion may appear rather austere, strict and rigid in the definition and practice of non-violence. However, it provides a rational, ethical and judicious approach considering how the violentego in humans has brought the entire universe to the brink of environmental disaster. Jaina philosophy appeals to human beings to give a lead in building a non-violent fabric of life. After all to quote Aristotle "of all animals, man has the largest brain in proporation to his size."
What human kind needs to grasp in the orverall perspective for life. Clare Rosenfield - a scholarly American Jaina says in a very thoughtful observation:
"The vegetarian way of life is riot only a way of removing ourselves from supporting the machines of violence and the mentality of callousness towards helpless creature, but it has also been able to give us a new and fresh outlook on life. I feel one with creation, I feel a deep kinship with the beings with whom I share the planet. I see them as energies - conscious, living, growing, evolving energies in a myraid of different
forms." Non-Egocentric approach to life
In the ego-centric world of today, situation and problems are quite often preceived, viewed and assessed with a one track approach. It is however important to grasp the fact that there is nothing like an absolute
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| SR No. | 014010 |
| Book Title | Jainism in a Global Perspective - Collection of Jain papers of 1993 Parliament of World Religions, Chicago |
| 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 |