Many times, we read articles about evidences of the past time presence of Jainism in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan etc. Such articles tell us about a Jain idol, temple or shrine. It is good to know about it from the archeological and historical point of view. But most of such articles are written and spread all over by idol worshippers and they have nothing to do with archeology or history, or the presence of followers of Jainism at the regions in past or even today.
Such people know about the Jain temples in Pakistan, their photographs and their destruction by Jihadis. But they never think about the Jains living in Pakistan today. They just do not want to know about them.
As most of the Jains are yet living in Stone Age, They have nothing to do with people (the living shrines), but the lifeless stones.
If there are no followers, such idols, temples and shrines are of no use. Jains should know this.
The number of total Jain idols is very higher than the number of followers of Jainism. The number of Jain idols is increasing daily, while the number of followers is decreasing rapidly.
In near future, the Jain shrines in India will suffer from the same condition in Pakistan etc. Remember the condition of Jain shrines in Bihar, Jhar Khand, Orissa, Tamil Nadu etc.
If Jains do not wake up and open their doors for others, they should ready to see the death of Jainism.
This is interesting. It took me several attempts to get anyone from my local jain temple to call me back when I said I wanted to learn about Jainism. They finally left me a message saying there is no english language service (I am in US) but they would be happy to have me visit to see the idols. I am not interested in idols, I am interested in ethics.
ReplyDeleteThere r so many english books, I don't know what ur problem is... O.o Try to find one in german! I have to read all of this in english and we also don't have a temple or a community in Austria (Vienna).
DeleteStefani, i can assist you in learning more about Jainism, its principles. I am Jain by religion, so i can explain you about ethics of Jainism. Revert back, if you are still interested.
ReplyDelete