Dr. Sulekh Chand Jain
I have mentioned before that animals are specially reared, raised, and killed just for specialty leather that is used in sofas, home and auto furnishings, leather jackets and purses. A number of cows needed for the production of just one set of ordinary sized sofa seats will vary, but it is definitely more than one cow and in some cases may be two to three cows. Similarly, in the case of leather seats for cars, the number of cows sacrificed to adorn the auto seats for a car will be at least one to two cows.
My Jain brothers and sisters, I ask: Do we ever stop and think what we are doing? Are we only concerned with himsa to one- sensed beings but completely indifferent to the killing of five- sensed beings?
Are leather furnishings that much better and comfortable that several cows have to be killed for our perceived beauty and pride of possession?
We may choose to believe it or not, but by using leather and leather products in any shape or form, we are directly —not just indirectly —responsible for the killing of many innocent and helpless five sensed creatures.
There are hundreds of alternative materials to leather that are cheaper, beautiful, and comfortable.
Leather is the skin of a live animal, which is also laced with hairs, blood, and meat. In some cases, some of these (hair, meat and blood particles) cannot be fully removed before a product is made.
Have you ever smelled a leather product? It smells awful and the smell lingers on for a long time; in fact it never completely vanishes.
The design and aesthetic choices are very limited in leather products.
Everything in non-leather is available these days, easily, cheaply and just as durable. One can choose from thousands of selections on hundreds of web sites offering non-leather products. For non-leather automobile seats, for nearly all makes and models, one can order in advance from the factory. I can assure you that the experience will be worth the wait. Just try it.
About a dozen years ago I had gone to Australia and there I went to meet with a Jain scholar (he was a New Zealander) at the National University of Australia in Canberra. After he showed me his department and the university library (with a large collection of Jain books), I invited this scholar to accompany me to a dinner at another Jain’s (from India) house in that town to which my wife and I had been invited to earlier. My scholar friend agreed. When we arrived at my host’s house, we noticed that his house was recently furnished with a brand new leather sofa set. This was the only sofa to sit on as there were no other chairs or seats. As a courtesy to my host, I sat on that leather sofa but my New Zealander friend refused to sit on the sofa and instead he sat on the floor. After an hour so, when the turn came to have dinner, my scholar friend refused to eat there, left the house (without eating) and returned to his university campus. I really felt ashamed and small. Here was a lesson for me in ahimsa in practice.
I have met several of our Jain youth in America who will not buy cars with leather seats. I know of quite a few cases where some of my own young relatives wanted to buy expensive cars (luxury cars such as Lexus, BMW and Mercedes) where the standard seats are of genuine leather. In some cases, some models are not at all offered in non-leather seats. These mindfull Jain youths opted either for a cheaper model or, when feasible, placed a special order at a premium with the dealer for a non-leather seat directly from the factory. Under no circumstances would they choose a leather car seat, no matter what.
