$JES 921 Book of Compassion Reverence For All Life Reference Book

Author(s): Pramoda Chitrabhanu, Pravin K Shah
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

Page 55

10 - STORY OF PEARLS
Pramoda Chitrabhanu Jain Meditation International Center, New York
10 - Story of Pearls
In the olden days, the lustrous and beautiful natural pearls were a symbol of wealth and pride for those who owned them. When we see the ancient portraits of kings and queens with long pearl necklaces and bracelets worn around their wrists it reiterates the same fact. Today the story is different. We see that very few corners of the world are free from a hostile and violent environment. When we come to know the true story behind pearls, it will hardly remain a sign of wealth and pride for anyone. For those who care for life it is a symbol of pain and suffering.
Myths and legends hide the bitter fact that pearls come from the suffering of the oysters found in deep oceans. Pearls are not the natural part of the living oyster but a response to an irritation caused by a foreign particle. It occurs when sand or a bit of shell or an unwelcome parasite is trapped accidentally inside the oyster's shell. It's like having a foreign particle in the human eye, causing irritation until removed. Most of the time the oyster cannot expel the foreign particle, so to reduce the pain caused by the foreign body it surrounds it with nacre - a silvery calcium carbonate substance that the oyster normally discharges to line its shell.
After several years, layers of nacre form a pearl around the irritant, making the irritant less painful. This way the oyster creates a rainbow like iridescent pearl. Due to this natural process pearls were rarely found. Driven by greed, men then invented artificial ways to obtain more pearls. One such man is Kokichi Mikimoto who experimented for years to produce pearls in oysters. In the early 1900's, he found the
THE BOOK OF COMPASSION
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