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2015 JAINA Convention
Community
GOOGOOOOOOOOOOOOO Leadership
Youth Power Inspiration Jainism
Friendship Network Values
Strength Peace
Knowledge
Social
PROMOTING A WORLD OF NON-VIOLENCE THROUGIL ART by: Binoy Shah and Sunny Dharod
YJA Local Representatives or only the third time in American history, with Nelson-Atkins, as they informed us that H a piece of Jain art has been on display at they have the Kalpa Sutra written on palm leaves
an exhibit for public viewing. On March in golden ink within their museum. We hope to 29th, 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri, the Nelson- bring this or any other Jain art for display. Atkins Museum of Art showcased a Jain shrine as a centerpiece for its Passport to India event. Many of us can agree that Jain communities in which was a celebration of Indian culture that the United States continue to do a remarkable featured Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain art. The job of raising awareness of Jain rituals and shrine, which was most likely created in the practices, especially for us youth. Resources such 16th Century, was excavated in the early 20th as temple activities, Pathshala, YJA, and JAINA century but spent nearly seventy years in have allowed us to instill a sense of pride about storage. The restoration process began in 2013 our heritage and religion. All these educational as it was cleaned, conserved, and examined for tools give Jains living in the United States an over a full year by conservators before it went opportunity to network with each other and on display. It will be open for public viewing create a forum for sharing Jain religion. until May of 2016.
Pravin and Vinita Madhani welcome you to the 18th Biennial JAINA Convention
Atlanta, Georgia
"We Salute JAINA and JCNC for teaching our youth
Jain values and culture. We hope you continue to imbibe the right values
in every Jain in USA in decades to come." -Akshay, Avni, Vinita and Pravin Madhani
Resources such as temple activities, Pathshala, YJA, and JAINA have allowed us to instill a sense of pride about our heritage and religion.
In the months leading up to the Passport to India event, we worked closely with the museum by attending meetings with program directors and curators, generating new ideas of how to properly display the shrine, and answering any questions related to Jainism. At the actual event, various members from the Kansas City Jain Sangh played a key role in ensuring that visitors walked away with a greater understanding of our religion. For those in attendance, we fostered a dialogue and explained the basic educational aspects of Jainism
Looking back, this event was extremely successful. As mentioned before, Kansas City is only the third city in America (after Los Angeles and New York City) to host such an event with Jain artifacts. The museum was expecting approximately 2,000 individuals, but they ended up doubling their expectation, as over 4,000 people were actually in attendance. Also, we are planning to keep a strong relationship
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As we continue to grow our presence in this nation, we must keep in mind that Jainism must become more prevalent inside and outside of our respective sanghs. By exhibiting our way of life to people who practice other faiths through engaging mediums such as art history, we will be able to draw connections between Jainism and other religions. For instance, at the Passport to India event, we met a high school student who was doing a research project involving Jainism. By sparking open-minded discussions with individuals like this student, we will be able to promote nonviolence and humanitarianism to our peers, whether or not they practice Jainism.
"The more we increase the active participation and partnership with
young people, the better we serve them and the more
comprehensively we work with them as service partners, the more we increase our public value to the entire community."
- Carmen Martinez
Jainism: World of Non-Violence 201
