Jainism and World Problems

Author(s): Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown

Page 76

08
JAINISM UND WORLD PROBLEMS
the Deccan in the South and was spread all over Upper India.
The heart can best be softened under the influence of education in childhood. Many people now-a-days think that religion ought not to be imparted to young boys and girls and that they should be left free to choose for themselves whether they will have a religion or not, and if so, which ? This is quite proper if the religion to be taught is something which the intellect is likely to rebel against, later on, on maturity of understanding; for it is better that the understanding be left untarnished and unwarped by stupid prejudices and illogical concepts, than that it should be stuffed with deliberate non-sense. But it is just as well to realize that once the age of childhood is passed one may not have the same opportunities and impressionability later in life. Don't we teach all other arts and sciences to our children ? Why not, then, also teach them the science of salvation which will be their saviour here and hereafter ? The Jainas aim at imparting the truth in the most wholesome, that is to say, intellectual, manner to the boys and girls at school, so that by the time they are ready to take their share of the world's responsibilities, they should be endowed with wisdom, and should have their conduct grounded on a living active basis of morality (ahimsa), fully alive to the valuations of this world's goods as well as of those of their spiritual nature. This will enable them to keep their heads under all circumstances, and prevent barbarous and fanatical action. They will then be loving and sincere to themselves and others, and respect life and humanity all over the world. They alone will be able to lead a life of simplicity and kind-hearted sympathy. Those who are not endowed with the true cultural basis of ahimsa have no true understanding of the values of things spiritual and temporal, live only in the present, seeking to make the most of the life that is opening out or lies before them, have no fear of the hereafter, and are easily turned into hypocrites,