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cutting trees and to what extent household could do necessary violence to rid their homes from bugs and cockroaches."127 Such responses make clear that if the movement aspires to reach outside of India, where mostly monks and nuns do not travel, and then the vows need to be explicit and self-explanatory.
All the interviewees, without any exception, expressed the belief that Tulsi's concept of incorporating vows as part of an organized movement could still have significance in the present time. One such comment made by a Jain professor of Earth and Science is: "The significance of a great movement is its timelessness. The vows of Anuvrat are as significant today as they would be a 1000-years from now or as they were 1000 years before now. However, from an earth scientist's point of view, I feel that the vows of Anuvrati's will help in creating a more sustainable world."128
In the course of my fieldwork in Miami, I attended several monthly Jain Swadhaya (spiritual reading) meetings of two groups. Interested Jain members periodically gather in one member's house for a social get-together dinner followed by a spiritual discourse from the Samanis. I noticed that even though none of the members were Anuvrati, they were still trying to consciously follow eco-firendly practices. In the manner that one group, with an average of 50 members, does not use any disposables for serving while the other group, with an average of 15 members, uses disposable plates, bowls, and glasses. Observing this different pattern, I inquired upon the reasons from the two groups. The wife of my respondent from the bigger group, which did not use disposables said: "For our little convenience, it is appalling to be a part of the
127 Ramesh Sharma, interview by Shivani Bothra, August 26, 2012.
Srimal, interview.
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