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creatures. Immediately, with a feeling of compassion, he threw away his camera, removed his clothes and jumped into the fire. At the risk of his own personal safety he was able to save the lives of many horses. I wonder, how many Jains would do this, or would they just run away saying, "Oh, that is their karmas and let them deal with it. Why should I interfere?” I call this cowardice. Compassion, karuna, and removing the suffering of others are the essential and primary duties of any human being. For many years, I lived in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. In the downtown, there are quite a few horse drawn buggies for the enjoyment of the tourists. Considering the humane aspect and to avoid cruelty to the animals—horses in this case—the city council there passed an ordinance that when the outside air temperature exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 38 degrees Celcius), to avoid dehydration and heat exhaustion, the horses will not be used. What a fine example for Jains to follow and to replicate in many Indian and other cities.
ONE CITY IN BELGIUM GOES VEGETARIAN Recently the city of Ghent in Belgium unanimously decided to go vegetarian, to save the environment and to feed hungry people. To achieve this, the city council started a large citywide campaign to educate the public, using billboards, television, and other media. In my opinion, this city of Ghent may be the only vegetarian city in the world (recently the City of Palitana in Gujarat is follwoping suit). Can we find similar examples in India or anywhere else?
HONESTY IN BUSINESS PAYS DIVIDENDS About fifteen years ago I went to the city of Antwerp in Belgium. Antwerp has been a world center of wholesale trade in diamonds for several hundreds of years. The trade there is mostly in the hands of Jewish traders but now, during the last fifty years, Jains from India also control about twenty-five percent of the trade there. Thus Jains and Jews not only trade with each other but also with other traders at large.
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An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide
