Jain Digest 2011 04

SR No.: 527119
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA
Publication Year: 2011
Total Pages: 80
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, USA_Jain Digest, & USA
File Size: 18 MB

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DID
JAIN DIGEST .. May 2011
environment. Therefore, practice of the religion
is bound to change. The young NA born affluent and educated Jains from various backgrounds will bring a set of diverging approaches and they will defiantly question the tradition base. On the other hand, we will have young immigrants who will be more inclined to retain the Indian traditional base. Further, considering the trend in many Jain centers of a majority of the dedicated young volunteers are actually new immigrants and not natural born NA USA citizens, there is a serious danger of losing the NA born Jains from participating in the Jain Centers. The responsibility of setting up a framework that will facilitate maintenance of all the key elements of the Jain faith while ensuring the participation of next-generation Jains by adapting to the different thinking and multifaith, multi-cultural lifestyles still lies on the shoulders of this generation.
conscious new migrants from India (as has been the case so far, and more will continue to come), or traditionally liberal youth brought up in a different social environment? Over the next few decades we will see a mix of immigrant Jains with traditional outlook, while on the other hand there will be the second generation of Jains growing up in US with their fairly agnostic outlook towards both traditions and languages. Can Jain Centers of NA centers that have largely tried to unify under the banner of Jain heritage, but have still been based on a traditional outlook attract the next generation to practice and understand the essence of Jain heritage? The factor of common cultural roots that has helped the Jain community of NA to cement may lose its effectiveness in the next few decades. This is not a criticism, but a fact of life. We bring with us our experiences based on our environment and learning, and incorporate the same in our personal, professional as well as other aspects of our lives. Let us understand the environment and make-up of the second-generation Jains. i. Based in socioeconomic survey of South Asian
Indian (specific survey of Jain was not available), and the general business aptitude of the Jain community, we can safely say that over 75% of the Jain youth will attain a bachelor's or a higher degree and many of them will be involved in high income, generating jobs or enterprise. This will put the next generation in the elite USA category in
terms of education and prosperity. ii. Next, let us examine cultural heritage, just as
children today are growing up color-blind to various skin colors in the melting pot of US, most youth of coming generation will grow up tradition-blind. Most of these children may not have the opportunity to absorb traditions from grandparents and other family members as their counterparts in India. (Studies have shown that the most meaningful gift grandparents give are memories and traditions) It is important to realize the difference between value systems and traditions. Traditions are procedural, while value systems are set of principles that a person believes in. While, parents play a huge role in the child's value-system, grandparents invariably play a huge role of passing the
traditions. iii. Many of the second-generation Jains may
marry a non-Jain spouse, and thus their children will grow up in an inter-faith
The affluent and educated young
NA born Jains
Future
Attracting and grooming Future Leaders The difference in approach of different generations is already evident in some of the challenges we are seeing today. In spite of very successful Pathshala programs at all the Centers, where the number of students in lower grades is increasing year after year, these programs in general seem to have failed to maintain the same level of interest amongst children in higher grades - the defining years in a young person's life. We have to be able to sustain the momentum seen in younger grades by being able to retain the students as they go further up in grades. The
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