YJA Convention 2000 07 LA Fourth

SR No.: 527607
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Young Jains of America (YJA)
Publisher: Young Jains of America YJA USA
Publication Year: 2000
Total Pages: 88
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, USA_Convention YJA, & USA
File Size: 9 MB

Page 64

TIC-TAC-TOE: Three Jewels in a Row
presented by the Jain Center of Greater Boston
What is the importance of these three jewels? Are any of the jewels more important than the others? How does one define what is Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct? Is Right Knowledge tangible or gained only through religion?
Jai Jinendra. The goal of any presentation is to inform the audience of valuable information needed to help one lead a better life. In the process, the presenters wish for the audience to have a good time and vice versa. After many idea changes and advice from previous participants at other conventions, it was decided that a game show would be presented in the format of Hollywood Squares. This is a nationally televised game show with many celebrity participants. The name that was thought of for this presentation was "Tic-Tac-Toe: Three Jewels in a Row."
18. The function of akash is to act as a receptacle for all the other
dravyas. 19. Pudgal forms the material) basis for the body, speech, mind and
respiration. 20. Pleasure, pain, life and death are effected through the agency of
pudgal. 21. (Worldly) souls act as causes for mutual support in relation to one
another. 22. The function of kaala (time, composed of discrete time-monads)
is to facilitate the continued existence, transformation, activity, and
priority or non-priority of things (that is, of souls and pudgalas). 23. Pudgal is characterizeable by touch, taste, smell and color. 24. Manifestations (and characteristics) of pudgal include sound, union,
fineness, grossness, figure, divisibility, darkness, shade, light and
heat. 25. Pudgal exists in the form of indivisible elementary particles
(paramanus) and their aggregates (skandhas). 26. Aggregates are formed by splitting, union, or a combined process
of both. 27. Indivisible elementary particles are obtained solely through splitting. 28. Aggregates may be obtained by combined splitting and union,
processes which are observable to the eyes (that is, which can
take place on a macroscopic level). 29. The differentia of a dravya is (defined as its) sat. 30. Origination of states, cessation of states, and permanence
constitute sat. 31. Permanence is the indestructibility of basic essence. 32. The determination of a dravya is done by giving priority to its
indestructible essence and secondary consideration to its
changeable conditions. 33. Pudgalas unite according to their degrees of snigdhatva and
rukshatva. 34. Union does not take place between components which are snigdha
or ruksha of a minimal degree. 35. When the degrees concerned are equal, union does not take place
between like components (that is, between one snigdha component and another or between one ruksha component and another,
regardless of their respective magnitudes). 36. Union takes place between components whose degrees differ by
two units or more. 37. In the union, the component with the higher degree absorbs the
component with the lower degree. 38. A dravya (by definition) possesses gunas, or intrinsic qualities,
and paryayas, or variable forms and modes of existence. 39. Kaala is also a dravya. 40. Kaala is composed of infinitesimal time fractions, called samayas. 41. Gunas (by definition) cannot exist independently of the dravyas of
which they are possessed, and there cannot be a guna of a guna (that is, a true inherent attribute, or guna, cannot be decomposed
into sub-attributes). 42. A change in the actual manifestation of a guna is called a parinama.
The basic format of this game pits two contestants against each other to see who can get three 'x's or 'o's in a row, either diagonally, horizontally, or vertically. The game board is set up on a 3 X 3 square, like a tic-tac-toe game.
In "Tic-Tac-Toe: Three Jewels in a Row" two contestants are selected at random from the audience to play against each other. The JCGB youth will pick random members. One of the JCGB youth will host the show, and the other JCGB youth will help educate the contestant and the audience about the contestant's choices.
Moving on, the stage will be set so that in a large 3 X3 screen or platform can be seen. This will either be a computer screen 3 x 3 board built on a platform in the center of the room.
By random choice, one contestant will be deemed Contestant "x" and the other contestant "o". At the start, the host will introduce the game, the rules, and so on. He/she will ask contestants if they wish to answer a question regarding "Right Knowledge", "Right Faith", or "Right Conduct." Whatever the contestant chooses, they are asked a corresponding question.
Questions deal with various topics ranging from everyday practices to facts about karma and the 24 Tirthankaras. Questions may range from an easy level to a somewhat difficult level as the game progresses. An example question (if Contestant "x" (who goes first) chooses "Right Conduct") is : Why does Jainism consider it improper to spray pesticide on your lawn? Hopefully, one would answer something in the vicinity that pesticides would cause insects to die, therefore causing violence.
The host will determine if the answer is acceptable, and will prompt the audience to help him/her with the decision. If the answer is right, an X will be placed on the tic-tac-toe board, in the place where the contestant desires it. One of the JCGB members (or more) will explain the answer to the audience.
Then, contestant "o" gets a chance at a question by choosing one of three categories of questions.
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