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EDITORIAL
WELCOME
Dear Readers,
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA-JANUARY 2: Relatives and family mourn the loss of a mother and her daughter during a special Buddhist ceremony that took place one week after their deaths.
(Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty)
Death can strike anyone at any time, so says the Acharanga Sutra. We witnessed this tragedy from our television screens and it brought all of us to a state of shock and disbelief. How could this happen? Why did it happen? How unlucky for those who were there at this unfortunate time. How will survivors deal with the trauma? How will locals start a new livelihood? The Tsunami demonstrated very vividly human frailty and the unpredictability of nature.
Already, millions of words have been written and broadcast about this tragedy. I have been following the media coverage on this, which has been excellent in raising awareness, and in helping raise funds and support for the relief efforts. CNN and BBC News 24 have been very daring in their coverage and have changed their schedules to give fair and prompt coverage. They have helped raise the masses to think and care for others and look beyond themselves - this is media at its very best. On radio and the press, there have been articles questioning the very existence of God. 'How can God do this to his people?' ask many journalists. Clearly this is one view of God, but not the only view. The Jain faith has been absent from this coverage, because as a community, we do not have trained media spokespeople, nor do we reach out to make our views heard. In this respect, we are way behind. Such events can help us re-examine our priorities, not just for our personal life, but also for our community and society. I know for a fact that even in North America, there is no media office for Jainism, nor is there any proactive attempt to get Jainism into the media. As the average person in the West consumes at least three hours of media a day (radio, TV, newspapers, internet), it would be desirable for us to have our own media relating to our culture
and identity. This is the unique mission Jain Education International
undertaken by Jain Spirit, and thanks to your help and continued support, it will flourish in the future. Do consider giving regular gift subscriptions to teachers, students, friends, relatives and seekers whom you know would benefit from Jain Spirit. You will be surprised by the Thank Yous you will get. All you need to do is call us or subscribe online and we will send the magazine anywhere in the world and tell them that it is a gift from you.
how we interact with it is critical to our progress. It is clear that life is delicate, demanding and often involves pain and suffering. However, it also offers hope and wisdom which we would do well to learn from and share with others. We wish you all a happy and prosperous 2005. I know it is going to be a great year for Jain Spirit and we thank all our supporters from the bottom of our hearts. We could not have made it without you. We would like to appoint ambassadors for Jain Spirit all over the world, and would love to hear from you if you can help us to get new subscribers for the magazine.
Jai Jinendra.
As part of the growth of the magazine, including news and Kid Spirit, we felt that it would be best to bring Art and Design in-house. We would like to thank James and Jason, who did excellent work to raise the quality and presentation of Jain Spirit, and welcome Joanne, our new Art Editor, to the team. This issue of Jain Spirit covers a varied range of topics, from the renunciation of a Digambar monk, to the practical relevance of simplicity. In our news, we try to cover a broad range of topics and events, recognising that we are part of a larger global community and
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Atul Shan
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Atul Keshavji Shah Executive Editor
www.jainqlibrary.org
