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COURAGE TO BE DIFFERENT, TO BE JAIN, AND TO REMAIN JAIN IN THE WESTERN CULTURE
Payal Kapadia desikudiyas@yahoo.com
¡"Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared," said Eddie Rickenbacker, U.S. World War I ace and an industrialist. We don't need courage to be different, to be Jain, to remain Jain in the Western culture and today's environment. Living in the United States does make it a little hard to follow it because we do live on the land where most of the people are not friendly to animals and himsa is done. It's not easy to follow our principles here, but it's not impossible either, and we don't need courage, we need practice and the right environment.
Courage is needed when we are doing something for the first time. When I sat behind the driving wheels for the first time, I needed courage. But with practice and the right environment, I was able to get used to driving. It seemed that I didn't need courage after that time. In the same way support of our parents, practice, and environment are important to follow the right beliefs, so courage is needed to be different.
If Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, etc. can follow their religion in the Western culture, then why can't Jains follow their religion! Upon uttering a few words by Pujya Pramukh Swami Maharaj of Swaminarayan Organization, thousands and thousands of Hindus devote their life and time in helping the humanity, regardless of what culture they live in. Despite living in a different cultural environment, they did not leave their culture and principles behind. For a whole month, Muslims can fast and pray without making an excuse of living in the Western culture. So what if we live in the Western culture, aren't we still Jains! Do Jains here think that since we are living in a Western cultural environment we should live like a westerner and follow their
culture and compromise our own principles? I believe we should definitely adapt good things from the surroundings but also never forget our principles and culture.
It is true that we are a minority. Not many people know about Jainism, so I think it's our job as Jains to let the world know about Jain principles. I remember, until middle school when someone asked me what religion I followed, I would say Hinduism, thinking that they wouldn't know about Jainism. But as I grew older, I understood I was wrong. "Why did I never say that I was a Jain?" Then in high school, I began to tell that I am a Jain and they would ask what Jainism is about. I would tell them as much as I knew, and at that time I didn't feel the need of courage. All my Indian friends from high school were either Hindus or Muslims. Some of them ate meat, but when I visited their home, they made sure that there was no meat in the house. I don't eat potatoes, onions, and garlic so they cooked all the food pure Jain. I'm not saying about Hindu friends only but also Muslim friends. I think that if you stand up for the right beliefs everyone will respect you. You don't need courage to stand up for the right beliefs.
Sometimes we underestimate our religion as well as ourselves. We become so involved in the Western environment, that at times we forget our roots. I remember last year on Diwali, a friend of mine and I went to the Swaminarayan temple for darshan, and I was so surprised to see how many teenagers had come there. I had never seen that many teenagers in our Jain Center ever for anything unless there was a party or picnic hosted by the Center. It's sad to realize how many Jain parents never tell their children to come to Jain Center. They leave that decision up to them.
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