Jain Spirit 2002 06 No 11

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 18

STOP PRESS
SWEETMEAT TO AVOID
The above photo is a part of the opening ceremony of the new Navkar Mantra Pillar at
Jamnagar, India. The project was inspired by Mr. Shashikant Mehta of Rajkot.
GENIUS OF AHIMSA
From Maneka Gandhi Many Indian sweets are decorated with a very thin edible silver foil - varakh. To make it, the intestines of cattle are pulled out, washed in the slaughterhouse, cut into small pieces and bound together like pages in a notebook. A silver block is placed in the middle of these bound intestines, then the whole thing is placed in a leather bag and sealed. Varakh makers then pound the bag with wooden sticks until the entire bag flattens out. The silver block then turns into silver foil which would be separated from the intestine pack and placed on paper. Intestines are used because they are strong and elastic. Definitely a sweet to avoid, even if you are not a diabetic!
PARIS CONFERENCE
ASHLAND, VIRGINIA, 21 JANUARY 2002 - "Boy genius Gregory Smith finished high school in two years with an A+ average. He was ten years old. A television crew from "60 Minutes" filmed his speech to the graduating class, and he lost a baby tooth while on stage," wrote the Washington Post.
His IQ is 'off the chart'. According to parents Bob and Janet Smith, Greg began speaking simple words at three months old and full sentences quickly followed. He could recite memorised books before his first birthday and read on his own shortly after that. He solved arithmetic problems at 14 months and at two he was reading about dinosaurs and chatting knowledgeably about the Cretaceous Period.
He observed that people had flat teeth like plant-eating dinosaurs and concluded that human beings must be herbivores not carnivores. He persuaded his family to become vegetarian. Greg, now 12, is a college senior at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia.
In addition to his vegetarianism, Greg has a rigid moral code: he walks out of a movie at the third curse word because he considers profanity verbal violence;
when a film in class contains nudity or sex, he puts his hands over his eyes or leaves the room; when his family rents movies, Greg vetoes anything rated PG13 because he is only twelve.
Since starting college, Greg has made the acquaintance of a handful of Nobel Peace Laureates. Because Greg had a previous speaking engagement in Denver, he had to decline an invitation from the Dalai Lama, but he hopes to have another chance. He has discussed current events with world leaders, lunched with Mikhail Gorbachev and Queen Noor, shaken hands in the Oval Office with President Clinton, and been blessed by tribal elders in a desolate African village. His simple appeal for non-violence and human rights for children has mushroomed into a philanthropic foundation called International Youth Advocates, with young representatives around the world speaking out on behalf of the world's innocents. Last year alone, Greg Smith travelled to six countries on four continents to lobby on behalf of children whose lives have been shattered by war, violence and poverty. He writes and delivers eloquent speeches and personally answers some of the thousand-plus emails and letters he receives each week.
An international conference on animals in Indian scriptures and literature was held in Paris from 25-27 March 2002. The eminent Jain scholar, Professor Madame Colette Caillat spoke on the Jain perspective on animals, and Professor Nalini Balbir spoke on domestic animals. There were papers on the Buddhist perspective, animals in Indian art and architecture and pets. Dr. Osier spoke on the Jain perspective of harmony with animals. In a country where meat is a central diet, deeply entwined with the French food culture, it is fascinating that intellectuals are addressing these issues and showing that the whole attitude to food and animals is different in other cultures.!
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Jain Spirit . June - August 2002