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"Extending Jain Heritage to the Next Generation"
such as Canada, Japan, and Kenya.
The efforts of two Jain saints in organizing the Jain community of the U.S.A. and Canada and for preaching Jainism in the Western world are very worthy of mention:
Gurudev Chitrabhanuji (now living the life of a house holder) was the first Jain saint to travel to America and establish a Jain Meditation Center in New York. Many American citizens practice at this center.
The dynamism of another eminent Jain saint, Acharya Sushil Kumarji, prompted him to travel to America and Canada in 1975. Encouraged with the devotion of American and Jain followers there, he has established the Jain Ashram in Siddhachalam. It has a li- brary, meditation hall, and a temple.
The first World Jain Conference was organized by Acharya Sushil Kumarji in New York in 1981, which was attended by 700 delegates. The second conference was called by the Jain Association of the U.K. in London in October 1983 and was attended by 2000 people, including many from India, the U.S.A., Canada, Germany. The third and fourth World Jain Conferences were organized by the World Jain Congress and Ahimsa Internationalat New Delhi in 1985 and 1987. Each were attended by 2000 delegates.
The Asian Jain Conference of the World Jain Congress was held in Bangkok (Thailand) in March of 1988. In March of 1989 another successful Asian Jain Conference was organized by the Jains in Singapore.
At all the international Jain conferences held so far, the promotion of brotherhood, understanding, peace, vegetarianism, and the education of our youth has been stressed, especially the preparation of audio-visual material. At all these conferences, the younger generations participated with enthusiasm and gave evidence of their faith in the Jain religion through active participation, public address, singing of devotional songs, and paying deserved respect to the message of Tirthankaras and the literature emerg. ing from their real knowledge.
Teachings in Jainism through literature or preachings should not be
confined to Jains alone who have settled in foreign countries. There should be a wider scope to cover the followers of other faiths as well. Jain fundamental principles and its various doctrines need to be widely explained to the people of the world as those lay stress on the making of the "perfect" man by his own efforts-good deeds, without the "super assistance.
Jainism has the unique system of very liberal standpoints to avoid conflict and to have tolerance to understand the standpoints of others, known as Anekanta and Syadvada. We need to explain to the world that reality can be looked at from many standpoints and that not one alone is the only valid point. Reality being complex, any one simple proposition cannot express the nature of reality fully. Flexibility in standpoints with patience to hear and understand the views of others is imperative for peaceful existence.
Editor's Note: Satish Jain is an active leader of the Jain community. His contribution of this article and more than 100 pictures of Jain temples for possible inclusion in this special issue is highly appreciated.
religions. One prayer goes as follows: "Whosoever sings the prayer of Lakshmi (goddess of prosperity), gets happiness and wealth." Another one states: "Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth in return for the paradise which will be theirs." Yet another prayer reads: "I will sing unto the Lord because he hath dealt bountifully with me...let my adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
The author further obseves, "Sycophancy (belittlement) is another lesson that a person learns by (some) prayers..._the devotee) calls himself ignorant, nothing, less than nothing, uselesss sinner and what not."
These observations should open our eyes to the wide gap which exists between the principles of the Jain religion and the meanings of some of our prayers, worships, and religious songs. Many Jain scholars and reformers observed such undesirable features of Jain religious practices and have composed prayers and worships which conform to the teachings of Jainism. There are a numerous compositions of this type in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi, and Gujarati. Here are a few such prayers and worships in English: 1. Chauvees Santhav (Logassa)
Sutra, English adaptation published in Jain Study Circular, Janu
ary 1991, page 20. 2. My Aspirations (Meri Bhaavna)
by Pandit Jugal Kishore Mukhtar, translation into English verse by Devendra Kumar Jain, Studies in
Jainism: Reader 1", page 46. 3. Song of Soul by Sahajanand Varni,
Studies in Jainism: Reader 1", page
Jain religious practice By Duli Chandra Jain, Flushing
NY "Believe It or Not, Religion Prompts Us to Pray for Selfish Ends" is the title of an article by Bhagwat Swarup Goel, published in the India Tribune of March 16, 1991. The writer continues, "It may be strange, but it is a fact that the more religious and more full of devotion (Bhakti) a person is, the more selfish he or she turns out to be. Though religion may teach the service of humanity and what are called 'higher value of life', the truth is apparently otherwise."
In the authors' opinion, "the reason is not far to seck. When a person prays to God or some deity, he asks for blessings for himself or his family. Generally, prayers are for wealth, health, and the betterment of the person who prays, and not for the good of others...the seeds of selfishness are ingrained in every prayer which is made."
In the article, some examples of prayers have been cited from various
35.
4. Jin, Jin, Bless His Name, by Leona
Smith Kresmer, Studies in Jainism,
Reader 1", page 7. 5. What Are You, by Devendra
Kumar Jain, Studies in Jainism,
Reader 1" page 23. 6. Worship of Dev (Supreme Souls),
Shastra (Scriptures) and Guru (True Sages) composed in Hindi by Jugal Kishore, English adaption by Dr. Trilok Chandra Jain, published in Jain Study Circular, January 1989, page 12.
6TH BIENNIAL JAINA CONVENTION
JULY 1991
35
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