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COMPASSION BREAKING THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE Dr. Manoj Jain is a practicing physician in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the son of a classmate of mine, Dr. Vinay Jain from Boston. Manoj and my son are of the same age and they practically grew up together in the Boston area, where we too lived for many years. Manoj writes regularly in many newspapers including The New York Times, The Washington Post, as well as corresponding for CNN. Readers can view many of his writings and thoughts on www.mjain. net.
He is a role model for many about the ahimsak way of life. Please read on, in his own words about an encounter he had: “I was standing at the bedside of a patient who was having shaking chills with a temperature of 103. Sweat covered his balding scalp like dew, then coalesced and rolled down his neck like raindrops. Just 20 minutes earlier, a specialist had visited him and talked with him about his dire prognosis of metastatic cancer. No family was in the room. This was just my second visit to him. I wondered: How do I show compassion? I recalled driving down Poplar Avenue after a downpour on the weekend Nashville got flooded. That is when I saw a woman in the opposite lane to me, standing in the middle of the road with her car pulled to the side. Like a state trooper with her raised hands, she was halting the traffic on Poplar. Perplexed, I looked around until I saw a dome-shaped creature crossing the road. What made the woman risk her life to save a turtle? I'm a vegetarian and an animal-rights advocate, but I wouldn't risk my life to help a slow tortoise cross a wet and busy street. As I drove on, in my rearview mirror I saw the turtle safely reach the other side. And I wondered: In the big picture, does a single small act of compassion really make any difference?
An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide
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