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Jainism: The Cosmic Vision
annihilate the very idea of violence and fanaticism to reach the ideal of religious fellowship. Truth, detachment, nonpossessiveness are the fundamentals of universal religion preached by Mahavira.
Another important feature of Jain religion is that it has thought about food or diet and its effect on man's thinking. 'As you eat, so shall you think', it says. It lays greater emphasis on fasting, on abstemious habits as does Ayurveda. According to Carrington "Fasting rests the heart and it gains in strength. It also helps in the process of purification of blood." Not only that it helps one to get rid of unwanted desires. Similarly, Jain religion emphasises the importance of vegetarianism. In the present age when diseases such as heart-attack, blood pressure etc. have become rampant, vegetarianism is the answer to these ailments. The modern mind accepts nothing that is not scientifically proved. Fortunately all that our scriptures said centuries ago has been proved scientifically. American doctors advise the patients to finish eating before sunset and that is what the ancient texts advocated. Meditation and Yoga have been successful in easing tensions and stress and even in removing physical and mental disorders. There is pachhakhan to develop mind, kausagga for meditation, pratikraman to know one's faults, paryushan for the purification of mind, and forgiveness as an attribute of the brave - these will only help in the remaking of man. Jain religion's panacea is character, charity, penance and love. These alone can reawaken the dormant humanity.
Martin Luther King, who fought against apartheid, had a dream about a world where a person's identity is known not by the colour of the skin, but by the content of his character.'
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