Jain Center Minnesota MN 2007 07 Pratishtha

Author(s): Jain Center Minnesota USA
Publisher: USA Jain Center Minnesota

Page 75

The Jain Way THE SMALL TWIN CITIES COMMUNITY OF THE INDIA-BASED JAIN RELIGION FOLLOWS THE PATH OF NONVIOLENCE AND REVERENCE FOR ALL LIFE.
by
Clark Morphew Published in St. Paul Pioneer Press on 10/13/1996
Every once in a while I enjoy worshiping with religious people who don't sing songs like "Onward Christian Soldiers" just after they have prayed for world peace. Not that I am a total peacemonger who expects the world to be free of conflict and violence. But there are times when we all need to be reminded that the world has too much violence and that we need to be a part of the solution.
And since Oct 2, marked the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the late, great leader of India and advocate of nonviolence, I thought it was appropriate to worship recently with the Jain community in the Twin Cities on Nonviolence Sunday.
Most Jains live in India, where the religion originated about 550 B.C. But some have migrated to the United States, and there is a sizable pocket of Jains living in London.
There are only about 40 Jain families around these parts, but they got organized in 1987 and have been preaching their message of nonviolence and reverence for life ever since. They combine with a small Hindu congregation for worship each week, meeting in a temple in northeast Minneapolis. Once a month, the Jains take over and speak their piece.
Here in Minnesota, Ram Gada, an engineer who works on commercial heating and air-conditioning projects, is the monthly speaker. The worship opens with the singing of sutras, the important tenets of the Jain religion. One sutra, for instance, is: "Our purpose is to free beings from agony and sorrow and wipe away tears."
Gada opened his talk with a few comments about Nonviolence Sunday and Gandhi's birthday. Then he launched into a very gentle talk about why violence is happening all around the world. What is going wrong?" he asked rhetorically. 'It all comes down to four things - ego, greed, deceit and fraud - and anger."
Gada said it is every Jain's responsibility to minimize intentional hurt of every living thing. Jains take this concept very seriously. In India, Jain monks wander from village to village begging their food and talking about Jainism to anyone who will listen.
They walk the rocky mountain paths barefoot, which forces them to look down at the ground. That way they step on very few bugs or snakes, and when they do see a bug, they take their small brooms and gently sweep the critter from their path. And some monks wear small masks over their mouths so their breath will not harm flying insects.
After Gada's talk, Mona Shah and Amit Shah, a brother and sister who are Jains, talked about the things that their religion tries to avoid, such as milk because cows are abused in many dairy operations. Eggs are off-limits because some chicken farms keep the hens caged and force the laying of eggs. Silk, too, should be avoided, they say, because silkworms are heated to force the eruption of silk thread.
Obviously, the Jains take their religion seriously. In fact, my host for the day, Diana Thompson, an Americanborn Jain, said some people who find Jainism attractive won't join because they think they would have to make too many sacrifices.
73