Yesterday after yoga and meditation I went with Babu and Visha to walk on the Monon Trail. We started at the corner where East Westfield Boulevard turns into North Westfield Boulevard, a block north of Broad Ripple Avenue (E. 63rd Street) and walked in the rain to 86th Street. We crossed to Nora and visited Whole Foods, visiting the produce section. Visha noted how fruits and vegetables at American groceries and food markets all look a picture of perfection, unlike in Asian or even European markets where produce display their natural states of imperfection.
I learned a lot about my two new friends. In particular I learned more about Babu and his grounding in the Jain tradition of his childhood in India. I had shot close to an hour of tape of two Jaina nuns when they were visiting at the Banthia's east side home last June. I had locked myself out of my car along with the Sony HVR-Z1U and my microphones so I used a small handheld Sony to do the shoot. I told Babu I didn't have enough material to make even a small but coherent documentary introduction to Jainism and asked if he would let me interview him. He said he would and would also look for other Jain materials that we could shoot for the video.
Few people outside India know about the Jains. In 2001 there were slightly over four million Jains living in India, in about a hundred communities in states like Gujarat, Bihar and Rajasthan. Only a few thousands are said to live in the U.S. Small as the population of Jain adherents is, their influence on contemporary Indian culture outstrips their numbers. The main tenet of Jain practice is ahimsa or non-harming of all sentient beings. (Plants and animals are categorized into how sentient they are. Plants are said to have only sense organ as contrasted to humans that have five. Jains are strict vegetarians.) Buddhism arose around the same time in the 5th and 6th century BCE. Gotama Buddha is said to have studied with a disciple of Mahavira who is referred to in Buddhist Pali scriptures as the Nigantha Nataputta. Buddha chose to follow a less ascetic path that he called "the Middle Way."
I think people in modern societies can learn from knowing more about Jainism as a way of life. There are some films on Jainism (like Ahimsa: Non-violence by American writer and filmmaker Michael Tobias). We can use a few more. I want to explore the possibilities of making a small documentary of one of the world's oldest religions, Jainism, the way of the Jina (literally meaning "victor" or "conqueror." We all too often seek to master the world outside us, neglecting to understand the struggles brewing inside ourselves where perhaps the greatest and most profound conquests can occur.
