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philanthropic magnanimity by way of substantial financial contributions in raising, building or founding institution of common welfare and advancement such as educational, and vocational colleges, universities, research laboratories, hospitals, general libraries etc, as against their own temples, taking out congrega. tional pilgrimages, festivels after fastings' and collective elaborate ritualistic worship. etc.
It is time Jains woke up in all these directions stated above.
THE CENTRAL CONCEPT IN JAINISM
This will not come as a Surprise to those of you who have read my book, Jainism, published from New York in 1979: It is rightly said, "Great religions must be renewed by the intellectual and spiritual attainments of their adherents, otherwise they die. Each Age needs renewal, restatement and re-interpretation of the religious traditions but only, rarely does religion produce a creative genius, someone who not only travels along secure and welltrodden paths but also reaches out into the Unknown, explores new territories, scans new horizons and undertakes the difficult, dangerous and thankless task of challenging established dogmas and practices. Only rarely does a man arise whose devotion and dedication to his religion is matched by his determination to extend its domain into new areas of thought and action, even areas considered to be outside the pale of the established religious rituals, practices and observances in the observation of the distinguished California University Professor, Capro 'We live today in a globally interconnected world in which biological, social, psychological and environmental phenomena are all interdependent. What we need today is a new paradigm, a new
* A Paper read by the author during the Symposium on AHIMSA(Nou-Violence]
And PEACE organised by the International Mahavira Jain Mission (Founder: Acharya Sushil Muni), Montreal CANADA on June 1 & 2, 1985 SIDDHACHALAM (U. S. A.]i; also founded by Acharyaji.
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