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15th Biennial JAINA Convention 2009
NOISE POLLUTION - THE FORGOTTEN HAZARD Shaival Shah shaivalss@gmail.com
Dr. Shaival Shah is an alumnus of Jain Center of Southern California Pathshala. He is currently completing residency training in ophthalmology.
These days all the press is focused on carbon emissions, renewable energy and solar panels. Flying under the radar is a very important, often overlooked, issue: noise pollution. Overall, I think the Jain community has been ahead of other communities in terms of being environmentally friendly. A large part of this can be attributed to our culture's frugality. As a culture, we do not like to waste, and our parents have drilled this into our heads. There are many examples that I am sure the youth can relate to:
'Bring back the yogurt container - I am going to wash it out and use it to store my shaak.'
We are very good at reducing consumption and very good at recycling, but completely and utterly oblivious to noise pollution.
So what do we do about this? This is a very tricky situation, because people like to express their devotion to religion in their own way - nobody likes to be told how they can and cannot pray. However, when one's expression of spirituality becomes distracting and hinders the spiritual development of the person sitting beside them, perhaps reform is in order. Now I consider myself to be an intelligent fellow - I have been in school for a long time and have
'Hey! Turn off the lights when you leave the room! Do you think this is Diwali?'
'You do not need to use the air conditioner - done pretty well. After much thought, the most just open the window!'
effective solution I can come up with is to have an 'Auntie Brigade' wearing bright t-shirts that say 'Noise Police' patrolling the temple and 'Shhhh!' anybody who is too loud. People may not like it, but nobody argues with the Auntie Brigade.
So what do I mean by noise pollution? I realize the temple serves to help bring our society together. Anytime you have hundreds of people congregating in an area, it is going to be loud. People will talk, babies will cry, little kids will shout. This is okay and expected. The problem is inside of the main temple itself where people pray. This part of the temple ideally should be a sanctuary, a place of refuge,
Ecology - The Jain Way
contemplation and reflection, presumably in silence. Unfortunately, it is very common for people to sing their sutras out loud, to mumble their mantras, and sometimes just socialize! How is a guy supposed to meditate with so much noise? It is no wonder Mahavir Bhagvan had to escape to the forest for self-reflection!
Why do we have this noise pollution? This again can be attributed to our culture. We are a very loud culture, accustomed to having our voices heard and to speaking louder if we are not. As Indians, we come from a culture where the rickshaws have bumper stickers reading 'Honk OK Please!' Have you ever been to a quiet Indian dinner party? It is part of who we are, and it carries over into the way we pray.
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CRORER BOBO
A more realistic approach might be to print signs or raise awareness. Ultimately, what is required is a change in what we expect from each other. People know they are supposed to be quiet in the library, and they act accordingly. We just need to apply this to the temple. And if people are too set in their ways, we can always reactivate the Auntie Brigade.
We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence.... We need silence to be able to touch souls. ~Mother Teresa
