Dr. Sulekh Chand Jain
In spite of my criticism, there are plenty of places of oasis - places of compassion, karuna and ahimsa within the Jain community today. My fellow Jain brothers and sisters, all is not lost. Ahimsa means compassion, karuna, daya, feeling the pain and sufferings of others, and then trying our level best to alleviate and lesson/reduce those sufferings. Ahimsa also means giving a daan (donation) of abhay (fearlessness) to other living beings.
The full list of acts and programs of compassion and Seva (service) by the Jain community are numerous and I have been personally exposed to only a few, which I mention below. However a complete list would be quite large. A sampling includes:
- Cow and animal shelters throughout India. The most notable is the one in New Pavapuri in Rajasthan.
- Leprosy Centers. I have personally seen one in Mysore run by the Jain community there.
- Hundreds of orphanages, run by Jains.
- The bird hospital in Old Delhi, in Jain Lal Mandir, opposite Red Fort. This is likely the only one of its kind in the world.
- Medical camps. The Jain community organizes hundreds, if not thousands, of medical camps for the poor and sick throughout India. These camps offer free cataract surgeries, hearing aids, artificial feet and limbs, and mobility equipment. The one medical camp, held at Palitana at the end of December 2009, was the largest supported by the Jain Community. Similarly, Bidada Medical Camp, in Gujarat, has been going on for several decades. Similar medical camps are always organized by Veerayatan and hundreds of Jain organizations all over India.
- Jains have opened and established many hundred free and charity hospitals to serve all sections of the Indian community. Ayurvedic and other dispensaries are quite common in many places.
- Veerayatan, JAINA, and several other Jain organizations are actively engaged in seva (service) to the community at large. Whenever there are any natural disasters (Tsunamis, earthquakes, cyclones, floods, droughts, and epidemics), these organizations swing into action right away, not only in India, but also in many other parts of the world.
- Jaipur Foot and the incredible charitable work this organization is doing in providing prosthetic feet, knees, and legs (more than 1.5 million so far), throughout the world nearly impossible to describe. When one realizes the enormity of their compassion, words fail.
- Jain doctors have organized themselves in doing seva and providing free medical aid and assistance to many.
- The number of Jain, free educational institutions runs in the thousands.
- There are organizations in villages and towns that provide training in vocational skills to widows to help them earn their living.
