Jain Digest 2006 04

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

Page 27

be created in the laboratory! A very precious life with a Two thousand and six hundred years ago, Lord Mahavir, strong will to live! A life that needs time to unfold its own the last prophet of Jainism and exponent of non-violence destiny on the earth, for a premature death breaks the cycle and compassion emphasized that thoughts that govern our of natural expression of that life. The philosopher Plutarch actions are the products of the food we eat. The food that said, "But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh, we feeds the system has a definite influence on the person deprive a soul of the life and time it had been born into the physically as well as cmotionally, psychologically and world to enjoy."
spiritually. Healthy, whole and harmless foods give rise to Very often people ask the question, "Why then, kill
healthy whole and harmless thoughts. Once the thoughts vegetables if not animals?" The Jain school of thought
are harmless and healthy, the actions also reflect the same answers this question precisely. According to Jain
qualities. Weakness in character always develops in those
who are in poor health, mentally or physically. philosophy, all life is divided into five categories: one sense, two sense, three sense, four sense, and five-sense beings Science has discovered in recent years that character having the sense of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing and personality are attributes of the inner workings of the Vegetables are one-sense beings having only the sense of body and have a great bearing upon our success in life and touch and animals are five-sense beings having all the five in our happiness. The personality reveals and expresses senses. The more the number of senses the more evolved itself through the physical body. The expression of the the life is and more the feeling of pain. Life has to go through face, the smile, which is the manifestation of joy, happiness a laborious and strenuous process to evolve from one sense and compassion, reveal the personality within. Without a being to five-sense being. By slaughtering an animal one healthy body, these manifestations are not possible. destroys completely the evolutionary progress of that life,
Thus a non-violent approach to life through which it has attained through suffering and pain. The
vegetarianism expresses our reverence for all life forms vegetable kingdom has not yet reached the blood
including ourselves- from the minutest micro-beings to the "consciousness" which the animals and humans have. So
major macro- beings. from the lowest developed the degree of pain is less. Where there is blood, there are
consciousness to the highest developed consciousness. more feelings, more emotions and greater possibility of feeling deep pain.
I would like to end this paper with a prayer of
Affirmation of Peace. Here I would like to quote the views of Roshi Philip Kapleau on the above subject. He says that, Flesh caters
Hidden Life. Vibrant in Lvery Atom often say that if you eat only vegetables you are also taking • Hidden Light, Shining in every Creature life. What, then is the difference between taking the life of
• Hidden Love, Embracing All in Oneness, say a pig and that of a vegetable? He answers: all the difference in the world. Does a potato cry out when it is
May each of us who feels as One with Thee taken from the earth the way a calf does when it is taken Know that we are therefore One with every other. from its mother? Does a stick of celery scream in pain and
Author Unknown terror when it is picked the way a pig does when it is being led to slaughter and is having its throat cut? And how sad, This lecture was given al "The Second Asian Vegetarian lonely, and frightened can a head of lettuce teel? We don't Congress" held in Bangkok, Thailand from March 19" need a polygraph to demonstrate that plants have 27" 2006. consciousness of a sort, but this consciousness is obviously of a rudimentary kind far different from that of mammals that have well developed nervous systems."
It must dawn upon you that mind Nathaniel Altman said, “a vegetarian actually cats tewer
is not operating, governing or controlling. plants than a mcat-cater docs, because the animals that the
Mind is operated, governed and controlled, meat-cater has for dinner consumed thousands of pounds
by whom of plants in order to reach slaughter weight."
by sentiment energy, It is a fact of life that our present stage of evolution
by atma calls for the cating of plants in order to survive. Until we
which has the living force of life, find a way of getting our nutrient from the sun we have to
a deep awareness of inner qualities. take it from the plant kingdom thus doing the least amount of harm to the sentient beings.
Gurudev Chitrabhanu
JAIN DIGEST. Summer 2006/25 Jain Education Intemational