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The Jainist Soul of Henry David Thoreau
Rev. Noel Rettig Jain
In a rare comparison of Henry David Thoreau and George Bernard Shaw, Albert Gilman and Roger Brown write :
"Both men attempted to found every action, even trivial ones, on principle. Both eschewed alcohol and tobacco, both were vegetarians, both admired fanatical men.""1
If we take those character traits which Thoreau had in common with Bernard Shaw, and add to them the traits which were uniquely Thoreau's, we find that we have an Occidental Jainist.
Jainism is the ethical religion par excellence. No other religion has taken temperance and other rules for living so seriously. At the base of this ethical system is the creedal statement, "ahimsa paramo dharma" (non-violence is the highest religion); on this axiom is built the whole structure of the faith. The founder of the religion, Mahavira, was an absolute fanatic in observing this precept. Refusing even to step on ants, he and his followers carried a broom with which they gently brushed them to one side. Knowing this, need we discuss the importance of vegetarianism in the creed ?
Every action of the Jainist must be in accord with the aforementioned axiom. Is it any wonder then that Jainism is a faith for renunciants ? The average property holder simply cannot avoid destruction of life, which is involved in safeguarding one's possessions and in building something more than a mere hermitage for habitation. One can almost hear Thoreau shout "Amen" from the realm of the departed.
1 Albert Gilman and Roger Brown, "Personality and Style in Concord", Transcendentalism and Its Legacy, ed, Myron Simon and T. H. Parsons, (Ann Arbor : Univ. of Mich. Press, 1966) p. 104.
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