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Jainism and Freedom of Mankind
VINOD KAPASHI
In a presedential inaugural speech on the 20th January 1961, the late presidednt of the U.S.A., John F. Kennedy said... "My fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you but what together we can do for the freedom of man.'
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I believe the question we must still ask today is: "What we can do for the freediom of man....?"
To discover what we can do for the freedom of man, we must first define what is the meaning of true freedom. No matter where we live in the world, or who we are, we are all forced to acknowledge the very first fact of life; that it is difficult. Our lives are riddled with family worries, money worries and work worries. According to Jainism there is only one way to alleviate our worries and to find true freedom and that is by non-attachment and non-aversion. Jainism states that our happiness is not dependent on external factors: a job, a car, the opinions of society or external happiness. The true happiness is to be found within, by following a path of nonattachment to posessions. By placing so much emphasis on material things, we are creating a cycle of discontent. John Robbins, the heir to the BaskinRobbins empire is just one example of someone who has renounced worldliness and masterialism to find true freedom. From an early age he was groomed to manage the popular ice-cream empire even the family swimming pool was shaped into an ice-cream. But he decided this wasn't the key to freedom and happiness. Instead, he is now working to end world hunger.
Today we are standing on the threshold of the 21st century and are undergoing a rapid transformation of our society, our environment and our
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