________________
VIEWPOINT
LE’GO YOUR
EGO
SUDHIR SHAH takes a closer look at controversial Jain practices
ecently, I visited a large Jain temple in the United States. It was a beautiful temple, but I felt quite
uncomfortable in that atmosphere. Underneath every large statue was an even larger plaque listing the donors' names; at times the plaques over-powered the statue! To make the matter worse, pooja rights were being auctioned off!
Our society and leaders have shown a strong bias toward people with money and many of our monks encourage that. We have replaced the cast system with class system. "Some people claim that no institution
The more I study Jainism, the more I see a disconnect between our philosophy and many of our traditional practices. I am sure, for many of the donors, contributing financially to the temple is an experiential aspect of renunciation and a practice in nonattachment. And yet, because of the overpowering need to satisfy the ego (an external stimulus) they end up denying themselves the great internal pleasure that comes from anonymous donations.
tell the donors to have greed "...DONORS WHO or ego or any kind of desires.
INDULGE IN CHARITY However, in TO SATISFY THEIR EGO actual practice,
HAVE VITIATED THE the names of donors and VIRTUE OF CHARITY." the amount of donations are publicly announced and publicised in newspapers and magazines. They are prominently displayed on walls of temples and buildings," writes Hukamchand Bharilji. "These customs amount to enticing the unsuspecting masses to engage in such practices that violate the spirit of Jainism. Fundraisers who are interested in satisfying their ulterior motives and donors who indulge in charity to satisfy their ego have vitiated the virtue of charity," he concludes.
Everyone likes to feel appreciated and everyone should be. However, when the recognition becomes a display of ego and competition, we should be concerned. Jain societies, like the one I come from, recognise only money donations and not time sacrifices, skill or other efforts and dedications. In the temple example, there were no signs of recognition for the many volunteers who may have put in countless hours in making the temple project successful! Many young people, the back-bone of our centres and their educational activities, are hardly recognised. They have fresh ideas and lots of enthusiasm. Instead of building them and empowering them, we tend to brush
them off as immature and unwise. Jain Education International
WWW.JAIN SPIRIT
.COM
Jains, the followers of Jinas, are certainly aware of the fundamental practice of Jainism that calls for an active effort in minimising our anger, ego, deceit and greed in our day-today activities. Certainly, these are not very easy practices. However, we can at least stop cooking up new rituals and put an end to old traditions that fuel these weaknesses. Young Jains around the globe are turned off by these practices. Let us act on this before we are written off as hypocrites..
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Sudhir Shah manages the website www. anekant.org and is a committed member of the JAINA Pathshala Education team.
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