JAINA Convention 2009 07 Los Angeles

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

Page 64

15th Biennial JAINA Convention 2009
WORLD RELIGIONS & ECOLOGY Chandrakant Parekh cparekh1@yahoo.com
With claim to no particular skill or talent, Chandrakant Parekh is grateful for the opportunity to team up with a talented group of editors and graphics artists to produce this fine publication, which is printed on paper with "post
consumer" contents.
A commitment to stewardship of the earth and the responsibility to sustain an ecological harmony are not exclusive to Jainism. Here are few samples of the opinions from other religions - as observed from cursory Internet searches. http://www.arcworld.org - a website of Alliance of Religions and Conservation is a good place to begin the search. The Religions of the World and Ecology book series, (Harvard University Press, 1997-2003) examines nine religious traditions and their ecological implications. The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology (Oxford University Press, 2006) explores traditional religious concepts of and attitudes towards nature; how these have been changed by the
environmental crisis; and finally their participation in environmental politics. Many informative resources are available to pursue the subject
matter further.
Buddhism: All beings are connected - Buddhism teaches that the idea of separateness is an
illusion. The health of the whole is inseparably linked to the health of the parts, and the health of the parts is inseparably linked to the health of the whole. This means that caring for the environment begins with caring for oneself: 'When our hearts are good, the sky will be good to us.' ~ Venerable Maha Ghosananda of Cambodia.
Christianity: 'At the time that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, created the first man, He took him and had him pass before all the trees of the Garden of Eden, and said to him: See my works, how fine and excellent they are! Now all that I
Ecology - The Jain Way created was created for you. Think about this and do not harm or desolate the world: for if you harm it, there will be none to fix it after you.' ~Midrash Koheleth Rabbah
Hinduism: A dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, is a clear and precise Life Science. It is narrated in the third chapter of this great work
that a life without contribution toward the preservation of ecology is a life of sin and a life without specific purpose or use. ~Bhagwad Gita
Shintoism: "In the beginning of the universe there appeared various Kami, or deities from the chaos. A pair of male and female deities appeared at the end and gave birth first to islands, their natural environment, and then to several more
Baha'i: Nature is God's Will and is its expression deities who became ancestors of the Japanese." in and through the contingent world.' ~Jinja Honcho, Shinto Shrines, Japan. ~Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p 142
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Islam: As for the earth, We have spread it out, set firm mountains on it, and made everything grow there in due balance (Qur'an 15:19) ~Muslim Green Guide to Reducing Climate Change, Lifemakers UK & Islamic Foundation for Energy and Environmental Sciences
Judaism: Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai said, 'Three things are of equal importance - earth, humans and rain'. Rabbi Levi ben Hiyyata said, '...to teach that without earth, there is no rain, and without
rain, the earth cannot endure, and without either, humans cannot exist'.
~ Genesis Rabbah 13:3
Sikhism: Sikhs use the term eco-sophism, which
literally means the wisdom of the universe. Such wisdom is required for the promotion of a
sustainable and peaceful ecology.
~ "Episcopal Concerns in the Sikh Tradition," by S. Lourdunathan.
Zoroastrianism: "Whoever teaches care for all these seven creations sky, water, earth, plant, animal, human and fire does well and pleases the Bounteous Immortals; then his soul will never arrive at kinship with the Hostile Spirit. When he has cared for the creations, the care of these Bounteous Immortals is for him, and he must teach this to all mankind in the material world." ~Shayasht ne Shayast (15:6)
caaa 0 goROSO
God made everything out of nothing, but the nothingness shows through.
~ Paul Valery