Jain Spirit 2002 06 No 11

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 26

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USA
The prospect of assimilation in a foreign land can be daunting, but Jain values can help one to adapt successfully
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HERE ARE TWO CONCERNS FOR THE JAIN COMMUNITY IN America I wish to address in this essay. The first is
population of 272 million, preserve the Jain tradition in an environment which is so far removed from the one that gave it its original shape? The second is the question of growth. How do we contribute to the life of our new home so that America is a better place for our having come to its shores? The underlying theme for these concerns is: home away from home.
What is home? Home is a very special place. If we are away for some length of time we develop homesickness. Yet home is more than a place: it is a state of mind. It is the source of our karmic existence and the cradle of our values. But the past is never past; it exists in the present form of memories and habits. We have deep roots that connect us to our past. You can immigrate but you cannot uproot. You can take a Gujarati out of Gujarat but you cannot take Gujarat out of a Gujarati. This does not mean that we are justified in attempting to replicate life of the old country in our new home. What was good in
Jain Spirit June-August 2002
For Private
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
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explores how Jains can be good citizens in the West
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Bombay is not necessarily good in Boston. We must seek to become fully integrated into American society. But how? This brings up the question of survival: how do we co-opt the new without compromising the old? It is fine to blend into American culture; it is folly to bend what is distinctively Jain. Integration, not homogenisation is what we should aim for..
There are some good news and bad news. The bad news is that Jains have had to struggle to survive throughout their long history due to the smallness of their numbers. Even now they are less than one percent of India s population. Unlike Christians and Muslims, Jains have not been interested in. augmenting their numbers by conversion. The good news is that Jains are the quintessential survivors in history. How did the Jains survive when other sramanic movements perished following the demise of their founders? By the 14th century Buddhism vanished from its Indian homeland, due to the onslaught of the Muslim invaders and its absorption into Hinduism, as Lord Buddha was made into an avatar of Vishnu. Survival must be viewed as a total package, involving political, social and religious dimensions. On the political front we must