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The Jains overseas face a serious challenge
in preserving the jain heritage. They are a small minority within a small Indian community. It is hard for a young Jain to explain to others. what Jainism is about and what is special about it
of institutions like the Hindu University of America or University of Notre Dame etc. It plans to initiate its activities by offering a distance learning program on Jainism. It will use the web as the primary distance learning medium to bring Jain Studies to the whole world. It aims to seek cooperation with established professors and programs. A committee has started to work on its mission and the code.
The ISSJS initiative can potentially lead to goals that appear infeasible today. It can lead to the creation of Jain Centers of Excellence or Jain Chair at universities. It may even lead to a special Institute for a systematic, broad, multi-dimensional for training scholars and perhaps even monks/nuns.
The success of ISSJS during the past three years has been due to the contribution of the volunteers and donations by the supporters. These will be critical resources for time to come to ensure success of the Jain Studies
overseas. <>
14h
4th Biennial JAINA Convention 2007
Jain Education International
Photographs by Thomas Dix
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