YJA Convention 1996 07 San Francisco CA Second

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

Page 16

Culture/Religion/Stereotypes/Labels
Do we think about the karmic bondage and mental violence we engage in when we make generalizations and stereotypes or when we use certain terms indiscriminately? After realizing this mental violence, why do we still feel the need to use these categorizations; Are we so rigidly bound by social conformity that we lose individual ability to reason? Why does it really matter the way people are or what other people do?
How many of us display a different personality in an Indian/Jain setting versus a Western setting? Why do we do this? Is it better to just play the part of the "good Jain" or "good Indian" to appease our parents, knowing that we are engaging in Asatya? Who are we fooling? How does this make you feel about your own lives; spiritually, mentally, and emotionally? What can we do to resolve living like this?
There are many dimensions to culture and sometimes culture and religion are treated like they are interchangeable, particularly by our parents. We may also view these interchangeably. Do you believe that you have to be culturally rich in order to be spiritually rich? Do you feel that our religious functions (holidays, conferences, temple openings, daily pujas etc.) mix the social and religious in a way that undermines religion? Why or why not?
Do you feel like our social communities promote actions which are incongruous with what we are taught to practice from a religious/philosophical perspective? How do we practice Aparigraha in our Western society? How difficult do you find it to fulfill social expectations (career choices, family life, salary expectations, acquiring wealth and property) while fulfilling the tenants of Jainism (nonviolence in thought, speech, and action)? What kind(s) of violence do you see generated from these activities which are expected socially? How do we resolve this dichotomy?
Traditional Expectations
Are there different expectations between males and females in our society? Are there a different set of 'rules' for each? How do we deal with gender bias and gender inequity in our society? How can certain males justify the double standard of being raised in the west and living a western lifestyle, but wanting a 'traditional' wife? How will we handle these types of scenarios in the future when raising our children?
What can we do to help our parents understand that balancing both an Eastern and Western upbringing does not automatically mean that we are rejecting one (the Eastern, Indian, Jain) or blindly accepting another (Western, non-religious)? Is there any way to help them to understand that we are in a unique situation, being 1st generation Indian, Jain, raised in the West and that we carry the burden of "fitting in," into two different cultures daily? This is something that most of our parents did not truly think about when emigrating from India.