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JAINA CONVENTION 2011
"Live and Help Live"
sectarian affiliations. Jain youths and young Jain professionals are losing bonding with the Jain sangh.
more contributing factor is the lack of quality teaching material in English language.
Many of our religious speakers are concerns about the Jains in INDIA unaware of the needs of the young Jains, having never been exposed to In India the Jain population has declined the Western society and their greatly in many regions. In some regions discourses consist of other worldliness, such as coastal Karnataka and Tamilnadu, and academic intellectualism.
several communities used to be mainly
Jain but now only traces remain. In There is no appreciation of activism in Rajasthan and Gujarat, a large fraction of Jain Community unlike the Americans Vaishnavas are descendants of former groups. The Jain youths who are highly Jains. The history of Agrawals in North motivated feel no connectivity with the India is entirely Jain until the Mughal rule. Jain organizations.
Texts only a couple of centuries ago
suggest that even then half of the Often there is a lack of pride of being a Agrawals used to be Jain. Today only 8Jain and the practice of Ahimsa and 10% Agrawals remain Jain. vegetarianism. What used to distinguish Jains from rest of the pack Here are some of the factors contributing is very quickly getting lost.
to the continual decline of Jain population
in India. Many Jain families are regularly visiting non-Jain institutions such as Chinmaya Gender Selection and Female Mission, Swami Narayan and even Feticide/Abortion is a new trend. The Christians organizations. This causes recent Indian Census data shows that them to gradually drift away.
in Jain community there are only 74
girls for 100 boys between the ages of There are institutions that are making 1-6 years. This will cause a positive contributions, but they need disintegration of the Jain society. A few support and encouragement. The two Jain monks have now started speaking major Jain Youth organizations YJA out against this to (Young Jains of America) and YJP (Young Most Jain couples today have 2 or Jain professionals) are well organized and fewer children. This is below the dynamic but represent only a tiny fraction number needed for maintaining the of Jain youths. JAINA is a significant same population". The population of institution in North America however its the prosperous KDO community in main energies are devoted to organizing a Mumbai has already started declining" Convention every two years. Many of the issues affecting the Jain community in North America need careful attention.
For example "Vardhamana Puran" of Navalsah Chandeia, In several Jain Centers, there are Sunday 1768 AD.
10'Fight female infanticide as women play crucial role in Jain Pathshalas for youths age 5-17.
society' - Muni Tarun Sagar, Ahima Tmes, Jan 2006. Beyond that, there is nothing to sustain
"Replacement level fertility and future population growth, J. this teaching. Many teachers emphasize Craig, Popul Trends. 1994 Winter;(78):20-2. rote learning of mantras and stutis. One
12 KDO Jains attempt tracing causes of fast decline, Times of
India, Apr 25, 2004 127
