MARILEN ABESAMIS
On a recent trip to India, a few of us in our tour group saw two holy priests walking naked with their followers behind them. This struck us.
They were from the Jain religion, whose temples are exquisite paeans to the Divine Creator. These are marble inlaid with gemstones – etched painstakingly with a hammer and chisel – the artisans of the time giving all to God.
As the tour guide informed us, we learned that the Jains bolted from the Hindu religion. The caste system was too rigid. The Jains lived by five principles. These are: do not kill, do not hurt, speak the truth, do not attach to material pleasures, and live a celibate life. They care for the animals as they do themselves. They do not hurt animals, and most of them observe vegetarianism. Even insects are important. In order not to crush a single fly, they are famous for sweeping the floor first.
The mother of Mahatma Gandhi was a Jain. She must have inspired her son to call for nonviolence to break the back of the British empire.
How do these holy men survive in this super materialistic pleasure-seeking world? They can, and in this land of contradictions, they walk the streets like innocents.
Is it perhaps to teach us something about spirituality? That maybe it needs to be consistent, whole, and integral in our lives? Good thought, a kind word, right action. If one is to become an authentic Christian and a true bearer of the good news, these three need to be in the person.
