German man joins sect, vows not to kill insects

Press, 23 July 1987, Page 14

German man joins sect, vows not to kill insects

By LAI KWOK KIN NZPA-Reuter New Delhi Markus Mossner, a West German, aged 24, has taken a vow not to squash any insects under foot or to swat mosquitoes biting him if he can help it

In an elaborate ceremony in New Delhi, the Freiburg businessman became one of very few foreign converts to Jainism, a faith whose priests are easy to spot

Such is their reverence for all animal life that they carry brooms to sweep the path before them of insects, and wear facemasks to avoid inhaling microscopic airborne creatures.

Through a handkerchief covering his mouth, Mr Mossner solemnly intoned his vows and prostrated himself three times in an indoor stadium packed with hundreds of believers. Jainism claims about four million followers, almost all of them in India. Its priests say they would like to spread the faith further afield, but this is difficult because of their vows only to travel on foot.

The priests say that Jainism, which has remained virtually unchanged since it began in India 2500 years ago, promises reincarnation and salvation through the path set by its first prophets, known as tirthankars.

They say their faith predates organised Hinduism. The two religions share some of the same deities and beliefs. Jains are divided into two sects, the Shwetambaras (white-clothed) and the Dlgambaras (skyclad), whose priests go about completely naked because even clothes are deemed materialistic. The frail, bespectacled Mr Mossner belongs to the Terapanth, one of three main Shwetambara subsects.

“I became interested in Jainism after reading about the life of Mahatma Gandhi. He was influenced by Jain principles of non-violence,” Mr Mossner said.

During the ceremony, he was given the name Saman Swayan Pragya (the Knowledgeable One) "because he had read so much about Jainism.” He said the name change symbolished the new life he would lead. His vows, which are binding for three months, include abstaining from sex, not eating meat, limiting his possessions to three white tunics and studying English translations of Jain scriptures. “I have some travellers’ cheques but I won’t use them for this period,” Mr Mossner said. "I also had a camera when I came to India but that was stolen.” At the end of the period Mr Mossner will either return to West Germany

as a lay Jain and spread the faith or join the priesthood, a prospect the Knowledgeable One admitted he was not too keen on.

Jain priests, numbering a few thousand, follow an austere routine. f They are initiated after having their hair plucked out by the roots and from then on subject themselves to hardships such as meditating under the baking summer sun, with temperatures reaching 48deg. Strict vegetarians, some of the Jain priests also strain micoscopic creatures from the water they drink. They are allowed to accept cooked food — and whatever life destroyed with it — if it is prepared by other people. Acharya Shri Tulsi, the high priest of the terapanth, had to walk the 600 km from western Gujarat state to conduct Messner’s initiation in New Delhi, covering the distance at the rate of 20km a day. Tulsi, aged 73, estimates he has walked more than 100,000 km since he was named high priest at the age of 22. He is believed to be the youngest high priest in the history of Jainism. Tulsi said one of the problems of spreading the faith was the discipline, which many people found hard to accept "Jainism is very strict

and I have expelled some people from the priesthood for lack of discipline," Tulsi said, but declined to elaborate. All Jains are expected to commit themselves to non-violence, honesty and limited wordty possessions, but Tulsi said priests were expected to cany these to the limits of human power. "I have practised complete celibacy since becoming a Jain at the age of 11,” he said. Tulsi and his priests move from place to place, eating only one or two meals a day.

"Food must not be specially cooked for us or we will reject it," said Tulsi, who was accompanied by about 100 masked priests each armed with white brooms. The holiest place of Jainism is the town of Sravanabelagola, in southwestern Karnataka state, the site of a giant statue of Gomateswara, a Jain saint.

In a ceremony held every 12 years, Jain priests walk there from the furthest corners of India to gather at the 17metre high statue. More than a million people were reported to have attended the 1981 ■ceremony, which co incided with the 1000th anniversary of the building of the statue.