JAINA Convention 1993 07 Pittusburgh

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 27

JAIN SPIRITUAL ECOLOGY
by Dr. Michael Tobias
Let me begin by postulating something of a credo; by summarizing what I believe to be more crucial today than every before...
This generation, and the next, have something very special, and very important to accomplish. Not our private pleasures, but the greater, more lasting pleasure of the world an ecological balance that has been outrageously skewed. To be blunt, we should not sleep until every creature can rest contentedly. We should not eat before all creatures can partake of the same nourishment. We must not ever abide a single instance of cruelty. We cannot vouchsafe the lunacy, under any name, or any guise, that hails and perpetuates the abuse of this earth and all her goodness. We must, in other words, uphold the LIFE FORCE with us; that frenzy to be born, and re-born; to live and to die; to love and to understand. Short of these freedoms, our life means little. And without extending that hand of freedom and meaning to every other organism, there is no solace, nor can there be a moment's peace.
Jainism, not unlike the art and sci
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ence of ecology, is fundamentally committed, it seems to me to these essential revelations.
Jains were undoubtedly among the first people to focus upon these basic rights, this animal and plant liberation; upon the heart and soul of what today we term loosely environmentalism. Jains have long ago worked out the soundest principles of hygiene, compassionate diet, and conservation, all under the rubrics of non- violence, or ahimsa. Jains may have been the first to like the science of biology to the urgings of spirituality, and invigorating conjunction not readily acknowledged outside of the Jain community until the 19th and 20th centuries, in such works as those of Henry David Thoreau, Mikhial Prishvin, Nikos Kazantzakis and Henri Bergson. Mahavira had stated, "One who neglects or disregards the existence of earth, air, fire, water and vegetation disregards his own existence which is entwined with them."
Jain art, law and politics always elevated this worldly union of mind and nature, of I and Thou to a viable plateau of daily self-restraint. At times under the tutelage of numerous Jain kings in India such wisdom was virtually national policy. In keeping with which, the Jains have recognized ahisma, or non-injury to all creatures, as the fundamental law not only of our being, but of all nature. Ahimsa, say the Jains, is our only possible joy, our true salvation. And this preamble is based upon the spectacular realization that we humans are equipped with a conscience; we can make intelligent and sensitive choices. The fact of a fickle evolution is no excuse for bad behavior. Evolution does not condemn us to anything. Our choices condemn us. And thus, amid the seemingly chaotic seas of nature, we are like a fragile island of empathy and choice; clouds in trousers; Robinson Carusoes of decisiveness. A wilderness preserve of feeling and hope that is constantly under siege from the outside. We
But can self destruct, or carry on. today's younger generation will not survive should we fail - each and everyone of us to assert the vigorous ecological groundrules that are the very origins of Jain sensibility. I refer to the harmonious co-existence of all beings who must share with us this same fragile island, this same wilderness preserve of feeling and hope.
Today, that wilderness, that original harmony of the world is fraught with a more contagious violence than at any other time in human history. The very concept of ecology in the twentieth century is synonymous with human transgressions. Not only in the guise of war, but in the form of unbelievable animal abuse and murder, all perpetrated beneath the sadistic veneers of useless biomedical science, product and military testing, and grievous appetites. Every day, upwards of one million innocent, precious creatures are tortured and retortured, before dying in agonizing pain. Billions BILLIONS of individuals (each of whom a child could name, could stroke and love, but which society prefers to call poultry and livestock and seafood) have been systematically tortured and killed so that their filets can be consumed, where such meat lingers odiously for something like nine days in a human intestine before being cast out.
There are plenty of those who will argue that they simply crave the taste of a hamburger once in a while. And since there is no law preventing it, and nobody is looking over their shoulder, and most societies obliviously advertise, exploit, encourage, even laugh about it, why, then they can afford to ignore their own conscience for the few minutes that it takes to devour a fast-food lunch. Jains have analyzed those "few minutes" and worked out various meditations and disciplines to avoid such temptation, the same way that "Alcoholics Anonymous," or various drug rehabilitation centers have sought to assist those addicted to harmful toxins.
Killing,
"Jainism is of a very high order. Its important teachings are based upon science. The more scientific knowledge advances, the more Jain teachings will be proved true."
-L. P. Tessitori, Italy
7TH BIENNIAL JAINA CONVENTION - JULY 1993 For Private & Personal Use Only
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