Jain Digest 2007 11 2

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 32

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Jain Digest Winter 2007
Unity A Any Cost by Any Mean's
by Vinit M. Doshi, Connecticut
Jains today are facing a crisis of confidence in defining what it means to be united. We are a small boat in a big sea. Our numbers are mere rounding errors in comparison to those of more popular religions, we are geographically dispersed across the country and around the world, we intermarry with other religions, we don't proselytize, and our numerous sects and groups practice the religion in many different ways. For some, this all adds up to a serious source of concern. While the facts behind our small numbers are apparent to everyone, the underlying diagnosis and remedy is anything but simple or clear. The leaders of Jain organizations are faced with the difficult challenge of what to do. Unfortunately, as is common in such situations, it is easier for many organizations to respond with fleeting short-term fixes than to inspire effective, lasting solutions. They tend predictably to react with a fanatical drive towards territorial ideas of "unity" in which the community, instead of coming together, becomes more divided and less involved.
In our own Jain community in Southwestern Connecticut, we have been subjected to a remarkable show of the forces of unity. It began several years ago with a group of dedicated teachers conducting Jain Pathshala for children independently of the local Jain Center with the simple desire to conduct all aspects of the Pathshala autonomously, without administrative burden and oversight by the center, and with complete authority to make decisions on the basis of children's educational goals. The "Fairfield Pathshala", as it came to be known, never solicited students from the Jain Center, yet welcomed any student to participate by choice. It never asked for nor received any financial support from the Jain Center, and never set out to compete with it. Many of the members and teachers continued to participate in the Jain Center's broader activities outside of Pathshala. Over time, however, as the Fairfield Pathshala
The Unity Spectrum:
Absolute Conformity
Sameness Uniformity
ducation International
Absence of Multiples
Lack of Diversity
gained new participants and improved attendance, the Jain Center experienced adverse effects on its own Pathshala activities, felt threatened, and demanded that the group stop operating independently and join into the Jain Center. The group offered to work together, but only under the condition of maintaining autonomy in all decisions relating to Pathshala. This proved unacceptable to the Jain Center, based on the "no one is above the samaj" principle which required everyone to be accountable to the elected board members. After repeated requests for integration, the Fairfield Pathshala teachers confirmed their intention to maintain the group's independence based on its requirement of complete autonomy. From there, it deteriorated into a one-sided war by the Jain Center to stop the group and force integration with its own Pathshala, essentially as one administrator explained, "to regain our members by any means necessary." Eventually, the teachers and most parents of the Fairfield Pathshala resigned themselves to discontinue the group in the interest of ending the war and keeping the children together. Fairfield Pathshala kept its autonomy, and Jain Center won its unity. Hooray.
On reflection, I feel both encouraged and saddened over the events of the past year - encouraged that my fellow Jains recognize the importance of religious or spiritual education for themselves and for our children, and saddened at the same time to see relationships between community members being strained in the supposed pursuit of unity. Like others, I find myself asking, why? What exactly did Jain Center gain? Did it really win? And what did we all lose?
At one level, it appears that the Jain Center succeeded in achieving something resembling unity, at least superficially. This leads to the question of what is unity? The literal definition of unity describes the concept of unity in a range of different connotations, depending on the intended use, from the idea of one, uniform conformity to a harmonious co-existence of different entities, as depicted in the Unity Spectrum below:
Tolerance
Acceptance
Agreement
Oneness
Mutual Co-existence
Togetherness
Concord Harmony