ISJS Transactions 2018 07 To 09 Vol 02 No 03

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 14

Shrimad Rajchandra Mission runs schools teaching Jainism to Jain children ages four to sixteen in a program called “Divine Touch". Though none of my interview subjects mentioned sending their children to these schools, according to his website there are 230 centers worldwide. According to Neha Patel, a member of the Shrimad Rajchandra Mission, householders can apply to be trained as teachers for this program, known as Divine Touch."
Jains seem to prefer to fall back on the strength and wisdom learned in their own childhood homes or the wisdom of matriarchs within the families into which they are married. No interview subject mentioned receiving parenting advice from a guru. It is possible that, like some Catholic critics, many Jains would be unwilling to take parenting advice from a spiritual guide, who has never had children him or herself. However, more research would need to be done before such a determination could be made.
Challenges
According to the interview subjects, teaching compassion and non-violence seem to be the easiest of the Jain principles to inculcate into the next generation. Children do not seem to question the necessity of incorporating these virtues into their lives. However, contemporary parents still find teaching children to follow the Jain principles they themselves were raised with challenging. Amisha, an architect with her own architectural firm, states: "We could not inculcate our practice as much as they did (her parents and her husband's parents). When asked which principles were the most difficult to teach, the householders gave a variety of responses generally fell into three categories: the influences of the surrounding society, 21 century rationalism, and gender issues within Jainism.
Societal Influences
Teen-aged Jains are particularly influenced by the global night culture adopted by many youth and young adults. This comes into conflict with the Jain rule that one must eat before sunset. This rule is also difficult for young persons attending university and working at the same time. Parents would rather see their children eat than not. One university students reported that she has made a year-round eight o'clock eating vow for herself. In the winter the sun has set by the time she eats, but in the summer it has not. This vow has allowed her to find a peaceful solution to navigating her work/study/eating schedule."
Young people also have difficulty finding Jain food to eat when out with their friends. One householder reported that her children find it impossible to find food without onions and garlic. Another householder has decided that this rule is antiquated and should no longer
8 ISJS-Transactions, Vol.2, No.3, Jul-Sep, 2018
apply to Jains. She chooses to ignore its application. A third householder said that not eating root vegetables can cause problems for Hindu children eating alongside her own and that, in her opinion, it does violence to the self-esteem of the Hindu child to imply that she or he is killers over their lunch food."
Professor Prakash Jain, Emeritus fellow in Sociology at Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi claims that media watching has influenced Jain women in particular in their expectations for a future life. One householder confirmed this view by stating that her daughter has much larger wardrobes than she was allowed as a child." Another householder