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10th Biennial JAINA Convention
WHO NEEDS JAINA?
Dilip Shah, Philadelphia, Pa.
As a JAINA volunteer, people often ask me about JAINA. Their questions tell me that there is a lot of misunderstanding out there as to what JAINA is or what JAINA does. I have heard apathy and I have heard agony. I have sensed hostility and I have noticed ignorance. But behind all that what comes across most is that people do want something that they can rely upon to preserve their Jain heritage. The land they left behind had many institutions that offered constancy. Cultural and religious sustenance was ever so present that most of the time they did not even take notice. But in this adopted land, trying to raise a family and preserving Jain identity, one longs for bedrock. Where can they find an institution that could guide them from cradle to cremation? How can they impart their Jain heritage into their children and grand children? They want to know what is JAINA doing for my family? Or even why do we need JAINA?
Let us look at the history of our people in this land. The first large-scale immigrant group that came from India in mid sixties or early seventies as students or professionals in search of better opportunities certainly remembers the landscape when they arrived. There was very little available in terms of Indian groceries - no Jain Societies-no temples- no Indian Newspapers and no one to speak for us in Washington or New Delhi. Just work, work and more work. Gurudev Chitrabhanu tells the story of his first arriving in New York twenty seven years ago and living with an American family for the first few months. There were no Jain centers or Jain community to take care of the visiting scholar. As the immigrant community matured and became financially secure, community centers, Sanghs and temples sprang up all over the land. Today, JAINA helps any financially and organizationally any community that wish to build a Jain temple.
With inspiration from Gurudev Chitrabhanu and Acharya Sushil Muni, JAINA was founded in 1981 with just 4 centers. Today JAINA is an umbrella organization of 56 Jain centers all across North America. The organization is truly democratic (every center appoints one or two directors to the board of JAINA) and completely transparent and open to anyone who would like- to volunteer. Although centers join willingly, there has never been a Center that has not opted to be the member of JAINA. These Jain centers pay nominal yearly dues of $100 or $200 depending on how many families they have as members but most of the financial support for the JAINA comes from individual donations. Many other Jain organizations like Siddhachalam enjoy affiliate status with JAINA and work together on common agendas. Nearly 300 volunteers give their time, talent and treasure to fulfill the vision of the two founders of JAINA- An institution that is the voice of all the Jains in North America without division along any sectarian, regional or linguistic considerations.
Let us examine how JAINA services individual Jain families in USA or Canada. JAIN DIGEST, a quarterly journal, is mailed to 7,000 Jain families free of charge. This is the only link many families have with the Jain world. Parents in search of suitable mate for their son or daughter eagerly await JAIN DIGEST the 'Young Minds" brings our youngsters together. Anyone not receiving JAIN DIGEST has to only write to JAINA headquarters (or Email to
EK
PHILADELPHIA, PA
Jain Education Interational 2010_03
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www.jainelibrary.org
