YJA Convention 2002 07 NJ Fifth

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

Page 34

Cocktails and Dreams
Parin Tolia
A sa Jain living in the United States in today's day see alcohol as the root of the issue at all, instead the problem is Hland age many times we are faced with the daunting in an individual's inability to observe aparigraha, or non-postask of strictly adhering to the values we have been sessiveness. brought up with. Multiple factors work in a complex way to influence us to behave in certain ways. One such Finally, we hope to close this session with a powerful story of example is with alcohol. Peer pressure, environmental one individual's addiction to alcohol and how it affected him in influences, and even the media tempt us to consume his life and, furthermore, his attempts turn himself around to rid alcohol to "fit" in, and many of us give in to the desire the demons of alcoholism often to find ourselves compromising what we initially knew was morally wrong. But do we really lose our values/morals and defy Jainism by consuming alcohol? As human beings, is alcohol harmful or beneficial to us? What are the pros and cons behind the long debated issue of alcohol consumption in religious philosophy?
First and foremost, there will be an explanation in to the biological ramifications involved in drinking, for example, a can of beer where you will learn how the alcohol effects the different parts of the body and what the body needs to do to detoxify this "bodily poison."
Additionally, you will become skilled in understanding why Jainism takes the stance that it does on alcohol. The Jain perspective is a very unique one in that it does not
notes:
Jelin-Education International 2019.08.
For Private
Personal-se-Only
beard