YJA Convention 1994 07 Chicago IL First

Author(s): Young Jains of America (YJA)
Publisher: Young Jains of America YJA USA

Page 52

quality of being creator and ruler of the world.
(Cont. from page 64)
Crisis in Youth Education
realize that the attributes of Deity are also his attributes, latent in man, but that, owing to worldly desires and aversions, these divine qualities are obscured in man. So that, while external Deity neither gives anything to anybody nor takes away anything from anybody, still the worship of Deity is a means whereby one's own spiritual nature can be developed, and it is therefore most beneficial to worship Deity in this sense.
To contribute to the concerted effort the following objectives are suggested:
1.
Indicate to the youth the intention to provide systematic instruction to broaden their basis of understanding of Jainism; and follow through
2. In conjunction with the youth, present
situations and educational materials for the accomplishment of objective #1.
3. Develop educational programs and materials
for usage at various age levels according to Western approach.
There is another question that might be asked, namely, if God is not the creator and ruler of the universe and does not do anything in the matter of its affairs, how then can Deity be said to be all-powerful? There are two consideration that may be urged in answer to this question; first, a king who has fought and conquered his enemies and is able to maintain himself from being further molested by them, is called powerful. There is nothing mightier for man than his own passion or lower-self, completely, in such a way that it can never again molest or trouble him, is the most powerful kind of man, and he may be called all-powerful. The second consideration is the answer to the question what in reality is power? In reality, whatever is the essential nature of a thing is its power. The essential nature of the soul is to know, to have unlimited knowledge, and that is its power. And as knowledge is power, in possessing infinite knowledge he possess infinite power.
4. Develop an educational materials source
center for the gathering and dissemination of successful materials from other Jain societies to other Jain societies.
5. Develop Pathshala (Jain youth and children
religious classes) teachers according to Western methods and upgrade the teaching skills (according to Western methods) of existing Pathshala teachers.
So we have seen that, although Jainism does not regard Deity as creator and ruler of the universe, nevertheless Jainism acknowledges Deity and advocates worship. It has been shown that God cannot be regarded as creator without also being regarded as unwise or weak; that the fact of there being system and order in the universe is not consistent with Jain idea of Deity: and that the belief in Deity as our creator is not only unnecessary for a virtuous and divine life, but that it positively feeds some of the base passions, such as meat-eating and wine-drinking, and lust, on the ground that the creator sent these things for the use of his creatures. Thus in defining Deity, Jainism does not include among the attributes the
Recommendations: The two fold need of educating youth and children, as well as presenting the Jain tradition to non-Jains, can be accomplished successfully by adopting a two phased approach. Due to limited resources it is necessary to apply them first of all to Jain society needs. As the objectives of the phase one are accomplished the resources can be directed toward the promotion of Jainism in the West. With regard to our primary (at this time) concern, 'A well-informed Jain is a secure and happy Jain. And with regard to the greater, Western society concern, an additional thought can vitalize our efforts; 'Teach Jains to teach non-Jains'.
Jain Education Intemational