An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide: Celebrating With Compassion

In 2005, I happened to visit India only a few days after the Tsunami, which had caused a huge amount of destruction and loss of lives in the southern coastal parts of India. Everywhere, in the towns and villages of India, people were volunteering and collecting funds to help the Tsunami victims. I heard the following story at that time; it moved me immensely.

In a suburb of New Delhi, one wealthy Jain businessman had invited nearly 1000 of his friends to a posh five star hotel to celebrate his twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with his wife. This celebration had been planned and arranged months in advance of the Tsunami. The host had made elaborate arrangements    for    decorations,    food,and    entertainment. Suddenly the Tsunami came. All the guests arrived as per the invitation but the sense of pomp and show was missing.

During the party, the host picked up the microphone, welcomed all his guests, and announced that all his guests would still be fed, but not the full thirty course dinner that he had planned. Instead, the entire resultant savings would go straight away to Tsunami victims. Every one burst into joyful applause and congratulated the couple even more heartily for this example in compassion. In fact, many people came forward and donated their own money to the cause in addition. This practical example was enough and no preaching was needed.

Similarly, I recently came to know that some Jain youths in the city of Indore, in India, have started celebrating birthdays of their young sons and daughters not by throwing extravagant parties, but by actually taking the children to poor schools, hospitals, and orphanages, where they distribute food, clothing, shoes, and medicine. I only hope that such examples spread throughout the country and abroad in the Jain community.