Saturday, March 3, 2012

Jain, Jainism, and Jains

Jains practice strict vegetarianism. The practice of vegetarianism is instrumental for the practice of non-violence and peaceful co-operative co-existence. Basic non-violence principles can be performed depending on one's capability and specific situation in terms of meeting one's life's demands and expectations. Jainism acknowledges that it is impossible to discharge one's duties without some degree of himsa/violence, but encourages to minimise as much as possible. Jains are strictly forbidden to use any leather or silk products since they are derived by killing of animals. Jains are prohibited from consuming root vegetables such as potatoes, garlic, onions, carrots, radishes, cassava, sweet potatoes, turnips, etc., as the plant needed to be killed in the process of accessing these prior to their end of life cycle. In addition, the root vegetables interact with soil and therefore contain far more micro-organisms than other vegetables. Also, the root vegetables themselves are composed of infinite smaller organisms, hence, consuming these vegetables would mean killing all those organisms as well. However, they consume rhizomes such as dried turmeric and dried ginger. Eggplants, pumpkins, etc. are also not consumed by some Jains owing to the large number of seeds in the vegetable, as a seed is a form of life. However, tomatoes are consumed normally as its seeds are difficult to be killed (even at high temperatures/pressures). Jains are also not supposed to consume food left overnight because of contamination by microbes. Most Jain recipes substitute potato with plantain.[46]

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism#Vegetarianism

Thursday, March 1, 2012

humility vs humble

humility |(h)yoōˈmilitē|
noun
a modest or low view of one's own importance; humbleness.
ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French humilite, from Latin humilitas, from humilis (see humble ).

humble |ˈhəmbəl|
adjective ( humbler , humblest )
1 having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's own importance : he was humble about his stature as one of rock history's most influential guitarists.
(of an action or thought) offered with or affected by such an estimate of one's own importance : my humble apologies.
2 of low social, administrative, or political rank : she came from a humble, unprivileged background.
(of a thing) of modest pretensions or dimensions : he built the business empire from humble beginnings.
verb [ trans. ]
lower (someone) in dignity or importance : I knew he had humbled himself to ask for my help.
• (usu. be humbled) decisively defeat (another team or competitor, typically one that was previously thought to be superior) : humbled by his political opponents.
DERIVATIVES
humbleness noun
humbly |-blē| adverb
ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French, from Latin humilis low, lowly,’ from humusground.’


THE RIGHT WORD
While all of these verbs mean to lower in one's own estimation or in the eyes of others, there are subtle distinctions among them.
Humble and humiliate sound similar, but humiliate emphasizes shame and the loss of self-respect and usually takes place in public (: humiliated by her tearful outburst), while humble is a milder term implying a lowering of one's pride or rank (: to humble the arrogant professor by pointing out his mistake).
Abase suggests groveling or a sense of inferiority and is usually used reflexively (: got down on his knees and abased himself before the king), while demean is more likely to imply a loss of dignity or social standing (: refused to demean herself by marrying a common laborer).
When used to describe things, debase means a deterioration in the quality or value of something (: a currency debased by the country's political turmoil), but in reference to people it connotes a weakening of moral standards or character (: debased himself by accepting bribes).
Degrade is even stronger, suggesting the destruction of a person's character through degenerate or shameful behavior (: degraded by long association with criminals).

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