Jain Study Center NC Raleigh 1999 08 Twenty Years

Author(s): Jain Study Center NC Raleigh
Publisher: USA Jain Study Center NC Raleigh

Page 50

Our Jain Center by Lalit & Rekha Banker
We have been members of the Jain Study Center (JSC) of NC at Raleigh from its inception in 1979. As a newly married couple moving in Raleigh, we were delighted to know that there were a few Jain families in Raleigh and that they were planning to form a new group. We were happy to join, primarily because we didn't know many people. We saw this as an opportunity to get to know some families. Also, this was an excellent chance for us to continue following the religion that we were raised with back home. Fortunately for us, it turned out to be the best thing we have done in our lives, as we have found out to our amazement over the years. Let us describe that good feeling briefly in the following paragraphs.
As many young people coming from India generally have a good background in the Jain religion because of the family support and guidance, we also had some basic knowledge of the religion, some understanding of the rituals, and a very thin understanding of the principles of the Jain religion. We felt that we were very novice and any more teaching or guidance from the other families would be a significant improvement upon what we knew. After the JSC was formed, we started with about 10 families meeting regularly once a month at each family's residence. Our monthly meetings included various activities. Meeting began with singing stavans; then, children presented what they had prepared from the children's religion book that contained prayers, stavans, Jain stories, and descriptions of Jain principles, etc. Then, adults would discuss Jain philosophy or principles. In this way, adults and youths were involved and families came to be close to each other, religiously and socially. The foundation was laid for adults to learn from each other and for children to grow in a very productive and loving environment. We have witnessed this with several children from other families as well as two of our own. To this day, we have continued to follow this tradition once a month, with a number of families. We can proudly say that being a part of this center was indeed the best thing that ever happened in our lives.
As I mentioned above, our monthly gatherings would include various principles. They included the principle of Bahya Tap, which is singing stavans and leading people to the inspiration of performing puja in the temple and doing Tapascharyas during Paryushan; Antarik Tap, discussion of philosophy of Karma, principles of Jainism etc., and Vyavaharik Dharma, having lunch together and being socially active. In other words, practicing different facets of Jainism so that people can pick and choose whatever they are interested in and pursue it more. That is, some maybe more interested in doing Tapascharyas or someone else may delve deeper into Swadhyay whereby learning more about Jain philosophy and principles, etc. This is another reason that I said we have been very fortunate to belong to this center.
One other activity that we did as a group that was very crowd-pleasing, was the annual camp that we did for several years. The adults liked it and the youth loved it. We would go to a state park where they have cabins and true wooded areas where we stayed overnight. We could really enjoy the nature in the heavily wooded area, take walks on the trails, picnic and play games, and truly enjoy the nature in a very peaceful and blissful manner. This certainly was a very relaxing way of getting away from the everyday busy and hectic life and just spending the time with your
48
Jain Education Intemational