________________
Jainism : The Cosmic Vision enviornment degradation today, elimination of pollution and digging of wells for storage of water, but the Jain religion dealt with these problems centuries ago. Bhagwan Mahavir gave the message of uniting the whole world एक्को हु माणुस्स जाई and it is time for the community to unite and contribute to the creation of a non-violent world before it is too late. Or in the words of novelist Ernest
Hemingway : "For whom the bells toll ?" [2] Jain religion is one of the world's ancient religions. It has
its own unique value-system, tenets and tradition. In times of Mahavir Swami, there were several religions and many of them do not exist today. This reflects the resilience of the Jain religion. It has survived through the centuries. We have to recognise its inherent strength and through its medium, we have to organise ourselves into an integrated society. I wonder why this has not happened. Is it because the world is too much with us or
are we indifferent ? [3] The philosophy of Jain religion is so unique that it needs
to be spread far and wide. For instance, it does not believe in conversion or agression. Rather it believes in cooperation, harmony, consensus, service, surrender etc. This philosophy needs to be resuscitated and a campaign be launched for strengthening its base. Non-violence leads to fearlessness, friendship to humaneness compassion to sensitivity and when we embark upon such a journey, then the jain culture will have its real justification. One is saddend at the thought that if we show apathy, we will have to pay a heavy price and the whole edifice of Jain religion will collapse and we will expose ourselves to
242
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
