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JULY, 1976
been immersed in boiling water? Since we believe in the beauty of living and are aware that all life vulnerable and sensitive, we wear ahimsa silk produced from the empty discarded cocoon, after the moth has emerged from it and flown away.
Are we going too far when we are repelled by fur garments, as we feel their rightful place is on an animal's back, and our imagination sickens at the thought of wild creatures being trapped and clubbed to death in the name of glamour and fashion?
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Are we going too far when we refrain from buying articles made of ivory, having in mind those magnificent elephants, the jungle monarchs who have lost their lives because of the high price set on their tusks?
Are we going too far when we are guided by a higher moral force to protect the whale from extinction? These highly intelligent mammals are being massacred in a most barbaric manner, their bodies converted into cosmetics, shoe polish and cat-food, among other things.
Are we going too far when we believe in the sanctity of life and try to promote the ideals of humane treatment for all living creatures, whether on land, sea or air?
And if this is going too far, how far then should we go? Dear reader, no one can answer this question for you. It is a personal matter which in each instance demands an individual decision. We all have to turn within for self-direction. We have to listen to our own hearts and act accordingly. So only can we be true to ourselves, so only can humanity progress and survive.
Then it is insignificant whether we are labelled a crank, or whether we so lable another. What does matter is that we be aware, quietly aware, that all living creatures have played their part in making for us a world of beauty and wonder and delight... that we be aware, humbly aware, of their right to live and enjoy their lives on this earth. How much depends on this, the future alone will reveal.
Reprinted from Compassion, Dec. 1975-March 1976, Kent, England.
Jain Education International
-PILU DADY
BWC India Branch.
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