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348
Jainism in a Global Perspective
afterwards consuming other creatures at one's table, no matter, how well disguised, the animal may look on that plate.
Mankind is not taught in their churches to respect all life. Compassion, conscience, ethics, unconditional love and non-violence is part of our human spirit. It should embrace all of the life forms. As the Jaina religion and their followers have remained vegetarians through thousands of years and have managed to live harmoniously with reverence for all life, so can all other religions achieve this, if they so wanted and so choose. Then peace could finally come to humans and to all creation around us.
The last omniscient religious teacher of Jainism, Mahāvīra, 2500 years ago proclaimed non-violence (Ahimsa) as Universal unchanging Law. This is the essence of Jainism according to Mahavira: "The Arhatas of the past, those of the present and the future narrate thus, discourse thus, proclaim thus, and affirm thus: one should not injure, subjugate, enslave, torture or kill any animal, living being, organism or sentient being. this doctrine of Non-Violence (Ahimsa Dharma) is immaculate, immutable and eternal."
George Bernrad Shaw wrote a poem in which he says: "We are the living graves of murdered beasts slaughtered to satisfy our appetites. Like carrion crows we live and feed on meat regardless of the sufferings and the pain."
Man is not a carnivorous animal. Humans are incapable of catching and killing animals with their bare hands or teeth, and then immediately afterwards devouring the animal as is, without using the fire for cooking, roasting and seasoning the animal flesh. It was never meant, is not and never will be the natural food for mankind.
On this planet food sustains our lives. Without food we cannot live. We need our daily intake of some kind of substance. All religious or nonreligious people have to eat every day. Let then our daily food be nonviolent - not saturated with the screams of animals and their pain and suffering.
My hope is, that the Jaina Ahimsa Dharma, the Religion of Nonviolence, will touch the hearts and minds of all people who read it. By
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