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are inventing newer and more intensive ways to commit larger scale and more barbaric himsak actions and products. How will anyone know and understand ahimsa when there is a lack of any organized and formal discussion, teaching, training, and grounding in ahimsa? How do we begin to consider this undertaking when we recognize that many youngsters, and let alone adults don't have this knowledge? Some adults may have advanced academic and scriptural knowledge but very little understanding about the application of ahimsa in daily life outside the temple. In the temples, Jains mostly learn the rituals. From the environment in which Jains grow and live, mostly they learn about Thali (the food plate) and how to avoid or minimize himsa for Thali. In most Jain temples, derasars, sthanaks, and places of Worship, there are not sufficient (especially in India) arrangements for Jain pathshalas (teaching schools/classes). Even if they are there, there is very little interest and effort in imparting realistic, practical and rational education about ahimsa. Yes, in some places, we do teach kids the basic Jain stotras (hymns) and mantras, but seldom do we go much beyond. Let me share with you the importance of early education and role models. About twent years ago, when we were living in Cincinnati, Ohio, one Jain couple (both raised in highly religious families in India) came to visit us for dinner with their two teenage boys. As is the custom with us, before sitting down for dinner, I asked the couple and their kids to do the darshan (visit) of the small Jain household temple that we had built in our home. Inside this household temple (chaityalya), we had on one wall a photo of a Jain Sathankvasi sadhu with a mukhvastrika (mouth covering cloth) and against another wall we had a nine-inch pratima (idol) of Bhagwan Mahavir in pure white marble. As soon as I opened the doors of the temple, and put the lights on, the parents bowed down but the kids did not and
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An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide
