Lighthouse

Author(s): Udayvallabhvijay
Publisher: Pragna Prabodh Parivar

Page 94

If one were to effectively describe the life of a Jain sadhu-it means abandoning materialistic pursuit and physical pleasures : particularly of married life. Yet another wonderful description would be lifelong abandoning of vehicles and electricity. Let us try and understand the immense wellbeing of the world achieved by leading the life of a sadhu or a sadhvi who are on this path basically for their own spiritual emancipation. The current century is a century of problems. Whenever the world leaders meet, two issues are invariably discussed: I. Terrorism ii. Global warming. The main reason behind global warming and climate change is carbon emission. The growing quantum of carbon in the atmosphere is leading to this situation. Vehicles and use of electricity are two major contributors to ever growing carbon in the environment. Some years ago, a world level conference was held in Copenhagen to discuss global warming. About 400 intellectuals from about 175 countries of the world had gathered there. Hundreds of journalists were also there. Emphasis was laid on controlling the un-frittered use of vehicles and electricity. However, none of the developed nation was ready to take any initiative towards this object. In the end, it was a mere celebration at the conference, lot of good food and drinks and everybody dispersed. A baby step like effort is underway at Sydney in Australia. The programme called “Earth Hour' involves switching off unnecessary lights during 7 to 8 p.m. on the last Saturday of every March. For one hour even tall towers also are enveloped in darkness.
Lighthouse
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