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philosophy, were not even vegetarian, and were with Gandhi-ji only for their own self interests of achieving independence for India. Once that was accomplished, their mission—and interest in Ghandhi's way of life —was over. It is ironic that Gandhi-ji was known for ahimsa, yet his followers abandoned him and Gandhism became irrelevant. I am afraid that similarly, Jainism is known for Ahimsa and once this disappears, Jainism will become irrelevant, too.
WE MUST PRACTICE BEFORE WE PREACH The importance of this cannot be over emphasized. How can we tell our kids not to smoke if we are smokers ourselves? It just does not work that way. Kids learn from their parents first and later from their teachers, peers, and the environment. o Once I read a story that shared the account of one mother
whose son used to eat lots of candy and would not give them up no matter what. She brought this son to Mahatma Gandhi and requested Gandhi-ji to advise her son to give up candies. Gandhi-ji told the mother to bring her son back to him after a month, which she did. Then, a month later, Gandhi said to the boy to give up candy. The boy agreed and promised that he would not eat candy any more. The mother was very pleased but at the same time puzzled. She asked Gandhi-ji, if it was so simple, why did he not say the same thing to her son a month ago? To this Gandhiji replied that a month ago, he too used to eat candy, but not anymore. So, one can see the power of practice before preaching. Unfortunately in the Jain community, too many times parents, society, and leaders don't practice what they preach and so the cycle goes on. This is one major cause of
the malaise in our community. o To illustrate the importance of this, a few years ago, one
non - Jain Swami Ji told me that during one camp/shivir for youth, there was no hot water for bath. It was also a cold day.Fearing that many youths will complain and will not take bath, this sadhu himself voluntarily went and took bath in
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