Observations & Views:
A family was contemplating a visit to India in June 2002. Both India and Pakistan were eyeball to eyeball. Both countries have nuclear weapons and have serious problems regarding the disputed region of Kashmir. News of incidents across the line of control were received everyday. The husband and wife were discussing the pros and cons of their visit. Their four year old daughter heard their discussion and asked, "Mommy and daddy, why are we thinking of not going to India?" The father explained, "Sweetie, there are some bad people who may cause some trouble there." The child said, "Can we do nice things for the bad people and make them good people?" - D. C. J.
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A group of monks, who wandered from place to place, came to a certain village. They stayed at a temple. In the evening, an individual came to see them. He suggested that to impress the people of the village they should relate some extraordinary event that had struck them in their exploits. One of the monks said that he did encounter a miracle but it was not for the consumption of a Jain. The villagers were curious and so they requested the monk to narrate the incident. The monk began:
At one place, I saw a large tree standing on the bank of a pond spreading its branches in all directions. Some branches overhung the pond as well. A bunch of leaves fell on the surface of water and they all quickly became aquatic animals. Some leaves form the branches that overhung the dry land fell on the ground and they immediately became land animals.
"Wonderful, wonderful," said one of the villagers, "Miracle of the Creator indeed. Please tell us what happened to the leaves that fell in the middle?"
Suspecting him to be a Jain layman, the wandering monk snapped back, "Well didn't I say this was not meant for the ears of a Jain."
Footnotes:
* Adapted from 'A Treasury of Jain Tales' by V. M. Kulkarni, published by S. C. E. Research Center, Ahmedabad.
Sent by a reader from Cedar Rapids, IA.
The story illustrates in a subtle way that Jains do not believe in illogical pronouncements or miracles.
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We forget there are mothers on the other side. I've often wondered about the mothers of Vietnamese children like this one, burned by American napalm. Or Afghan mothers, whose children were smashed and broken by American bombs.
- Bill Moyers on the PBS Program 'Now', October 18, 2002
(How To Break The Spiral Of Violence?)
(Excerpts from an article published in the magazine section of the daily 'The Hindu' of July 14, 2002. Some spellings in this article seem to be those prevalent in India.)
Let's face it: All predictable efforts have failed at the negotiating table. All, without exception; across cross-border and regional conflicts from South Asia to the Middle East. Diplomacy has reached an impasse, and economics and trade are indifferent enough to socio-cultural dynamics to be self-destructive; and religion in the absolute has exclusionary boundaries. If anything has to change from cul-de-sac to borderless empathy, then culture, in which all positive human aspirations are embedded, needs to be steered from neglect and abuse to positive, concrete engagement. It is the only sphere that can fulfil the desperate need for people to reclaim their mutual visitation rights; and reclaim the coerced constituencies of politics, fascism and terrorism back to the "human" zone. It is the only sphere in which you cannot do the giving; in which you cannot easily push hidden agendas and vested interests, because "culture" is what belongs to the people, it is the people, not something that is bestowed upon them like politics, religion, loans, dams and war.
India has always been a laboratory for cultural diversity and pluralism, which has been singularly responsible for India's pride in the world map. . . . Diversity is the existence of diverse traditions, and pluralism, the constant negotiation of diversity and difference towards a flourishing community life. . . . And it is the celebration of this diversity that has propelled Indians into connecting through profound and creative cultural symbols of identity and communication &emdash; food, ritual, clothing, oral and literary narratives, music, dance, craft, et al. . . .
What is culture? "That in its widest sense, culture may now be said to be the whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterize a society or social group. It includes not only the arts and letters, but also modes of life, the fundamental rights of the human being, value systems, traditions and beliefs." . . .
While policy makers, resource centers and academies have globally recognized subjective and normative social sciences, they have failed to address creativity that emerges from pure abstraction; where the terms for "values", "process", "method" and "output" get established purely through creative statement of the subtle mind. This adverse trend has popularly been deemed as the "westernization" of the globe, where industrialization and marketing determine the legitimacy of the human being; where the common theme between even religion and industry is entrepreneurship and merchandising; where power, hegemony and global dynamics are determined by the hypocritical presence of, and relationship between, economics and politics and their trivialization of culture in development; and where co-option, standardization and sameness take precedence over creativity, individuality and basic human dignity.
If dignity of human existence is to be restored, then creative rights must gain recognition, and substantial and sensitive support for cultural activity must return to the radar screens of those with the ability to support. . . .
>From those who understand that conflict resolution through cultural means will match the nuances of conflict itself but not act as a confrontationist counter-conflict; those who understand progressive, integrated development as going beyond political and economic empowerment to socio-cultural enfranchisement; those who aspire to veer away from the vested interests of violence and war towards a cultured and civilised celebration of life. . . .
The acknowledgment of differences and multiplicity is fundamental to restoring world peace. Human behaviour gets defined by its culture, and culture and community borders get defined as much by difference and multiple identities, as by commonality. The understanding, rather than the rejection, of the "other". And the degree of volatility or stability of borders is determined by the space for difference and lateral identification among various communities and the systems that govern them. . . . * * * * * * *
(A Hypocritical Exercise)
(Excerpts from an article published in the magazine section of the daily 'The Hindu' of July 14, 2002. Some spellings in this article seem to be those prevalent in India.)
The European Union Environment Commission Conference in Brussels in April was ostensibly to provide direction towards the Earth Summit later this year in Johannesburg. That "Jo'burg" even needs any impetus is a tragedy, but who can blame a group of people who made more than a mockery out of the expensive and wasteful conference in Rio 10 years ago. But to have another expensive, and hopefully, not wasteful, conference in Brussels is a huge "credibility dagger" hanging over the head of the E.U.. Commissioner Wallström . . . told me that the World Bank planned to integrate environmental sustainability into its global funding policy, (but) the Guardian reported document leaks revealing the E.U.'s real trade policies in the East. Opening markets in the Third World for its ailing services sector, while industries in the East beg for the E.U. to stop dragging its feet about opening itself up. Answers from politicians in press conferences were surprisingly ludicrous, especially for a Commission that prides itself on its transparent directness. . . .
From the huge media present to cover the conference, very few journalists actually had the heart (or the mind) to bring up anything concrete. . . .
. . . Green week was a tad extravagant. Expensive wine flowed through the day for anyone who cared to pick up a glass (which was always everybody); gourmet lunches and fancy cocktail parties were organised to entice the press. Jean-Francois Verstrynge, acting DG made the same speech four times in four different rooms, on the same day. This included the press-lunch, the most spectacular propaganda opportunity, . . .
The Gala dinner three days into the conference was an event for about 2,000 people. Sit down gourmet dinner, candles, performers, and enough wine to fill a small pool many times over. . . .
The environment is still not as important as it should be in global politics, and that sometimes seemed to show in some of the meetings. Pascal Lamy's (the most senior Trade official in the E.U.) hardlining style always went back to trade and commercialization. He refused to listen when I told him that more trade meant more emissions and further breaches of Kyoto. . . .