Jain Digest 1993 07

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

Page 29

Jain Digest
Jain Community to nonJains. Prepare scholars and lecturers in this country.JAINA should address the concerns and needs of women and seniors. Each Jain center should have a youth forum.Meditation is important for young people. While talking to youths, talk about the latest scientific discoveries that match with Jainism Set a standard time for Jain prayers for all Jains in North America. An example would be Sunday at 10a.m. Start an interfaith dialogue.
for our use and disposal? Most of modern politics and economics is based on the assumption that the earth only has value when we exploit and develop its resources into commodities. This is the same malignant reasoning that justified centuries of oppression of slaves and women and continues to be applied to animals, forests, soil and water today. As a result we measure
"The tradition of the Jainism is a high spot in the history of environmental spirituality, and I pray that you will be a beacon of light through the transition ahead."
California State Senator Tom Hayden sends regards
Dear Friends,
I deeply regret not being able to attend your conference. It is my loss, since it would be a rare opportunity for me to learn from so many dedicated representatives of your tradition. I hope it will be possible to meet in the near future with those of you in Southern California.
The planetary crises presents humanity with a spiritual challenge: do we hold the living earth sacred, or is it simply a storehouse of things
progress by the mindless expansion of GNP, clear-cut our forests on behalf of maximum productivity, we treat our oceans (and holy rivers like the Ganges) as vast dumping grounds for our sewage, and we preside over the greatest species extinction in millions of years with few words of official concern.
Many mainstream reformers believe we can correct the course we are on by electing a few more progressive leaders, making our busi
ness priorities more efficient and requiring that continuous development somehow be made sustainable.
I believe we need a more fundamental change of spirituality and consciousness to guide us through a transition to seeing the human community as part of a larger earth community.
It will be impossible to make this transition without the full engagement of organized religion, theologians and spiritual voices all over the planet. Unfortunately, organized religion has been slow to realize the environmental crisis; since organized religion has mainly rationalized human dominance over other living things, or tended to seek escape from bondage to our shared environmental destiny of birth, decay and death. To be concrete about what I mean, let me point out that in 12 years in Sacramento, I have never once seen a religious group testify on behalf of environmental legislation.
The tradition of the Jainism is a bright spot in the history of environmental spirituality, and I pray that you will be a beacon of light through the transition ahead. Though few in number, you have influenced great global leaders like Gandhi. You have demonstrated the compatibility of striving for environmental purity and successful livelihood. You have been cited by the expert scholar Lewis Regenstein as the world religion that goes to the greatest lengths to live your commitment to all of nature's creatures. And through the good work of Michael Tobias, you're becoming more known throughout our country as a successful model of an ancient earth-based spirituality.
A central contribution of Jainism to the common earth gospel each religious tradition must adopt is that of Ahimsa, not to destroy life. There may be different legitimate interpretations of what this means in theory and practice, but I think we can agree that it has not been extended very often or consistently to the worlds of environment and
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