Jain Digest 2016 08

SR No.: 527140
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA
Publication Year: 2016
Total Pages: 44
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, USA_Jain Digest, & USA
File Size: 6 MB

Page 12

Growing Up as a Jain in North America By Urmi Mota, Satej Shah, Parthvi Harde,
Uttami Godha, Zeel Kothari
Jain
Urmi Mota, Age 17 Jain Center of Greater Phoenix
When I first arrived in Phoenix at the age of three, how was I supposed to know I would soon join a community that would change my life? Moving away from Texas was an event that I barely remember since I was basically a baby. Leaving your old home with the best hiding spots for hide
and-seek and your first friends whom you've known for less than a year or two is one of the biggest struggles of a wise, experienced, practical toddler. That same year we moved was the year that my parents decided to join the Jain community that used to meet every Sunday morning in a high school in Phoenix. From a community that grew from a few families to over 150 families that now make up JCGP, I can say with confidence now, as a teen about to approach adulthood, that I witnessed a staggering change in a community that altered my perspective in life. Looking back on that day, there were two things that I recall clearly: the fact that there were less than fifty people sitting in the middle of the creepily quiet school library and the scene of my dad introducing himself along with my mother and me to the new group that would become some of our closest friends in the future.
From that day on, Pathshala classes became as much of a norm and necessity in my life as watching the Disney Channel. More than just a class, Pathshala was also a diverse environment in which we got to listen to amazing stories, engage in arts and crafts, and develop our drama skills through the lives of Bhagwan Mahavir Swami or Shravan Kumar. Growing up as a Jain in a country where the religion isn't well known has both its benefits and its downsides. While you get to be a part of a unique community and people can be
very curious and interested about Jainism, claiming "it's really cool how different” we are, it also means that I had to answer a lot of questions, some that an elementary school kid cannot answer concisely. "Is reincarnation the same thing as Karma? Wait, so is Jainism like a cousin of Hinduism? You can eat fish, its vegetarian, right? Would you eat meat for a million dollars? How can you not love McDonalds, it's delicious!? Why are you drinking boiled water on a warm day in August?" While it is very simple for us to answer these questions in Pathshala since we are surrounded by other children and by our gurus who teach and guide us, how was I supposed to explain the meaning of Paryushan and Tap to a friend born and raised in Arizona with barely any knowledge about other religions or Indian culture? Targeted to these questions countless times, I often approached the point where I would regretfully resort to sometimes replying, "Umm, its kind a hard to explain, maybe I'll tell you later."
For most of my childhood, I would avoid talking about Jainism and tried to follow the principles and ideas that my Pathshala teachers would implement in us without openly discussing it. It wasn't until my parents and I joined monthly Satsangs as a part of Raj Parivar in which I truly started to talk and discuss the thoughts of my mind. As an only child, it was common that I kept my thoughts secret and rarely talked about them out loud, yet these monthly gatherings for merely a few hours were so impactful that they had truly an effect on me and my family. They taught me how to live the best life that I could using Jain principles and the thoughts from Gurudev Rakeshbhai Jhaveri, devotee of Shrimad Rajchandra. These Satsangs not only made me realize how amazingly rare our lives are and how grateful we should be, but they inspired me to strive for goals that before I thought, "nah, I couldn't do that".
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS ONLY
ONCE
Most of the last five years of Paryushan, my mother has always cleverly hinted to me that she wanted me to attempt Athai, and every year I would refuse. My first thought would always be, 'nope, that's impossible, I can't last a whole day without food, how would I last eight?" Being the food lover I was, even doing Upvaas was a dramatic experience, so there was absolutely no way that I imagined even attempting athai in my life. Well, that is, until last year. Gurudev's words and my past Pathshala learnings inspired me to do the one thing that I never imagined I'd do. In a three-day convention in New Jersey last July, Gurudev said something that changed my entire perspective: a simple joke. "Knock Knock. Who's there? Opportunity. Not true, because opportunity never knocks twice." Eye awakening to me personally, that joke remained in my mind on that plane ride back to Arizona, inspiring me to decide to do Athai, because who knows when I would get this opportunity again?