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ahimsa. I called several Jain centers in North America hoping to build programs. I am sorry to say, I found no interest at all. At one place, I was lucky to get it started but after just two sessions, it had to be cancelled due to lack of interest. Instead, the popularity, frequency, and intensity of poojas, rituals, and money collections are increasing; many times individual interest in these is directly proportional to the level of affluence in the community. I have mentioned before—a Jain sadhu/muni has tremendous influence on a householder. Because of this inherent power that a sadhu/muni has, he can be a very powerful instrument for change, especially in teaching the community about ahimsa. Unfortunately, they too miss the boat most of the time. Let me share an incident that illustrates this. About ten years ago, I had gone to the city of Indore in India. This city, with a sizeable Jain population, has the unique distinction of being a prominent center of Jain culture. At that time, a few Jain Digambar Munis were staying there. One day, I went to observe the ahar (food) giving tradition by the Jain community to a few of these munis. As is the custom with the Digambar munis, they take food only once every twenty-four hours, before noon only. In practice, several devotees prepare the prescribed food and request the munis to accept their food. The muni generally has taken a small vow or a pre-condition (known only to the muni), and if that condition is met, he agrees to take food from that devotee. After observing all this, I saw the muni-ji agreeing to accept the food from one householder only. Now, before he began eating, he asked the devotees (in this case, a Jain couple) to accept and take certain vows; once that happens, then and then only would the muni-ji start taking the food. I watched this scene with a strong interest, as I wanted to know what kinds of vows muni-ji was asking his devotees to take. To my surprise, I noticed that the muni-ji asked his 300
An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide
