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15th Biennial JAINA Convention 2009
Ecology - The Jain Way
THE ANSWER IS JAINISM Debi Grand debigrand@sbcglobal.net
carried into adulthood and I have passed on to my own son.
We were taught the careful practices of not wasting (water, food, electricity, paper, gasoline and even time), of not littering, and not interfering with the natural world as much as possible.
Debi Grand has been a member of the adult Jain Study Group at the Jain Center of Southern California since 2003. Even as she still
considers herself a 'baby Jain' in many ways, she believes her soul is, and always has been, Jain.
I now realize how my upbringing laid the foundation that eventually led me to Jainism, which I know in my heart and soul to be the most true and evolved religion in the universe.
There are many reasons why I chose Jainism as my spiritual path. One of them is because Jainism is the religion of true environmentalism.
Every aspect of Jainism that I can think of - compassion, non-violence, non possessiveness, non-stealing, vegetarianism, and Karma theory-it all leads to the same thing. Everything in Jainism guides us in living carefully and gently on this planet for the good of ourselves and every single other soul here.
I had the extraordinary good fortune, or as I understand now, the punya, to be born to parents who were environmentalists long before the green movement really took hold in this country.
My parents raised my brothers and me to live respectfully on the planet. They instilled in all three of us a love for the beauty of the earth and an appreciation for the marvelous industry of the balance of nature. This is something all of us have
I truly marvel at the logical and practical simplicity and the absolute magnificence of the Jain way of ecology. If the rest of the world ever reaches a point where they really want to know how to save the planet, all they have to do is look to Jainism for the answers. It is all here--the Jain way!
ELLIS ISLAND MEDAL OF HONOR AWARD TO DR. DHIRAJ H. SHAH
Dr. Dhiraj H. Shah, Past President of JAINA and the current Chairman of JAINA's World Community Service has been awarded 2008 Ellis Island Medal of Honor by NECO (National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations).
Since 1986, NECO has sponsored an annual Ellis Island Medals of Honor to recognize and honor the diversity of American people that makes America a great nation. Past recipients include six Presidents of the United States, Nobel Prize winners, athletes, industry leaders, artists and others.
This prestigious award to Dr. Shah is in recognition of humanitarian services he has been associated with in his personal capacity and as chairman of JAINA's World Community Service.
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