Hindustan Times
Lucknow Edition
June 28, 2010
Delving into mystery of death
UNIQUE MISSION Foreign researchers are in Varanasi to study Jain literature and
explore the philosophical dimensions of death
Anuraag Singh
VARANASI: For ages, Varanasi has been described as the City of Moksha, which Hindus visit in the quest for salvation through death.
Two young researchers from the West, however, are currently in Varanasi to explore the nuances of death.
Sean Hillman, a student of Religion Studies and Bioethics from the University of Toronto (Canada) and Ana Belelacqua Bjazelj, a PhD scholar in Asian Philosophies at the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), are going through Jain scriptures in Varanasi to explore the philosophical dimensions of death.
For 13 long years, Sean was a Buddhist monk and lived in India. He is now probing voluntary death in Jainsim. The aim is to develop a secular palliative care model (particularly for hospitals) for peaceful and controlled death of terminally ill patients suffering from excrutiating pain.
Over the next ten days, Sean will explore in detail the eternal Jain Philosophy of Sallekhana and Samadhimarana - voluntary death through fasting and reduction of activity.
In fact, he is delving into monastic texts dealing with conscious death and dying, the practice and principles of bioethics at hospices. Sean aims to know how a decision can be made to end a terminally ill person's life by those close to him or her if he or she is unconscious.
"The ultimate aim of this research is to develop a secular palliative care model for having painless/peaceful and controlled death, particularly for those suffering from terminal ailments," Sean told HT on Sunday.
Ana, on the contrary, is looking more into philosophical dimensions of death (as dealth with in early Jainism and Buddhism).
Ana, who already has a Bachelor's degree in Chinese philosophy, says her research focuses on exploring [the] concept of change and identity (identity sustained even after death via rebirth).
Both Sean and Ana are part of a[n] 11-strong team of university students, teachers and professors from different parts of the world, on a ten-day summer trip to Parshvanath Vidyapeeth (PV) in Varanasi.
Parshvanath Vidyapeeth is a centre of excellence for Jain Studies and Research.
The trip has been organised under the auspices of the International Summer School for Jain Studies (ISSJS) and PV Global Centre for Ahinsa and Indic Research established at PV-Varanasi in 2008.
While Sean and Ana are researching the ultimate truth, other members of the group staying at PV-Varanasi are researching on other religious and philosophical projects.
Among them is Brianne Graham Donaldson [who is] doing [a] PhD in Process Philosophy at Claremont School of Theology and Centre for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University, Los Angeles.
Brianne, during the course of research will blen science, experience, philosophy and ethics to study the human-animal divide, particularly how philosophy and religion have perpetuated it.
Another interesting [area of] research underway is by 59-year-old chaplain and PhD student from the Charles University in Prague, [Joseph Bartosek], who is aiming to promote inter-faith/inter cultural dialogue in the era of terrorism and ethnic conflicts. He is studying stories and parables in Jainism and compar[ing] it with those in European traditions (Christian and Pre-Christian traditions).
The group also includes P[rof.] Christian Haskett, a professor teaching Asian Religions at a US university.
Hasket[t] says his trip to the centre of the Jain studies in Varanasi is three-pronged: starting with collecting vital content for teaching students in one full semester on Jain studies in the spring of 2011, writing an article on how to teach Jainism and ending [with] collecting material on Sanskrit and Prakrit literature.
HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE
VARANASI: It'll not only be research and lectures which will mark the 10-day stay of 11 students and researchers from America and Europe in Varanasi.
The group will stay with Jain families to know the way they live, said Dr SP Pandey, assistant director of Parshvanath Vidyapeeth, the institution hosting the travellers from the west in Varanasi.
Varanasi houses over 500 Shwetambar and Digambar Jain families, Sharda Singh, research officer at PV-Varanasi, said, "They'll also visit and offer prayers at Jain temples in Varanasi, including Parshvanath Temple in Bhelupur and Suparshvanath Temple. Braving the scorching heat, the group visited the temple at Bhelupur on Sunday morning." PV-Varanasi director Dr SL Jain told journalists on Sunday that lectures would cover Jain icinography, art, meeting points
of Jainism and Buddhism, [the] concept of soul in Jainism and Buddhism and [a] project synopsis discussion, besides visits to Ganga Ghats and pujan.
The 11-member group, which arrived in Varanasi on June 23 and will stay here till July 3, is the third group of researchers-students from 15 foreign universities who ha[ve] travelled to PV-Varanasi this month. HTC
