Book Title: Jainism The Cosmic Vision
Author(s): Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: Mahavir Foundation

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Page 129
________________ Jain Diaspora G] If there is a central world-wide body, it could act as a representative body to raise our collective voice at world religion conferences, as and when they are held, and articulate appropriate views of the Jains in an appropriate manner. [8] Such a central body should have a federal structure and there should be co-ordination in each of the countries of the world. The proposed Central body may have two offices, one in India and the other in the US. Jainism: The Cosmic Vision and strengthen our belief in the philosophy of Anekant. Jain diaspora must unite the fragmented groups and find solutions to the problems besetting our society. We talk of a global village but our minds remains narrow and we skim on the sarface. The Jain community believes in unity. Mahavir's nonviolence is not confined only to human beings but it embraces the animal kingdom too. It believes in unity of life and hence unity in Jain community must be our prime consideration. Our unity will lead to harmony in the world based on the principle of परस्परोपग्रहो जीवानाम् । [s] The main aim of this organisation would be to ensure that the Jains all over the world speak with one voice on the principles and tenets of Jain religion. Such orgnisations do exist on a global scale among the Patidar community and the Oswal community. The Vishwa Gujarati Samaj, which is striving to serve the Gujarati community, is conducting various activities in this regards in different parts of the world. [6] The major problem we are facing today is the one that most of the people have been divided and subdivided into groups and into various religious sects. In such a situation, even if we want to raise our voice against any problem which harms our cause, there is no single worldwide central platform or a body through which we can raise our voice against such divisive tendencies. For instance, when the Gujarat government ordained that the Jain religion is part or a branch of the Hindu religion, we needed to have a global organisation to deal with the problem and solve it amicably. The Jain diaspora be divided into different wings. Jain religion emphasies three tenets - Gyan, Darshan and Charitra. [A] GYAN WING The Gyan wing will comprise all the activities related to the knowledge embedded in Jain Religion. 0] The manuscripts of Jain religion are located in Gyanbhandars and libraries in foreign countries and various other institutions. The Institute of Jainology has undertaken the work of cataloguing such manuscripts which were stored in Britain. There are about ten lakhs manuscripts in India, 2700 in Britain and some are in Germany, Italy, the U.S.A. etc. The Institute of Jainology is actively engaged in restoring the knowledge stored in these manuscripts and other organisations can also extend their helping hand in this momumental task. The Government of different countries are also eager to restore their precious heritage and we can colloborate with such agencies worldwide. 245 244

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