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Jain Center of Southern California
8072 Commonwealth Avenue Mailing Address: P.O. Box 549 Buena Park, California 90621-0549
Phone: (714) 670-0890 A Non-Profit California Corporation
federal ID #33-0612037
July 2016
Jai Jinendra,
Welcome to Los Angeles, a city of thousand dreams and aspirations. It is also the location of the first ever Jain Temple built from the ground up in North America. We are extremely proud of our Jain Center, home to the one and only, unique, amazing, beautiful, historical piece of the Jain Art 'The Famed Wooden Temple Replica', a gorgeous temple complex, home of the extensive JAINA Library, and a hub for a very vibrant Jain Community. I invite each and every one of you to visit during your current and future visits.
You may already know that Los Angeles is also the Birthplace of JAINA and site of its first convention. Our Jain Center has always been very supportive of the younger generations participation. Its youth wing named 'JAYA' (Jain Association of Young Adults) started 20+ years ago, and it is still very active and thriving.
The Jain Center started its religious classes for the young generation more than 25 years ago. Our Jain Center has one of the largest educational programs, with approx. 400 Students of High School age or younger, approx. 50 + young adults and over 100 adults, along with 100+ teachers, volunteers and administrators. Our Jain Center has also been working with various local main stream universities to offer Jainism courses.
I can continue on and on - I feel like the biggest cheerleader of our Sangh serving my 5th year as Jain Center President. However, I want to talk to you about you. How fortunate you are to have been born as a Jain here in USA, inheriting the Jain religion, Indian Culture and the best of what both East and West have to offer. Growing up in small village in India, I hardly had any opportunity to learn much about Jainism and what a wonderful a religion it is, with the answers for every one of world's problems. However, we Jains have not done a good job of spreading information and knowledge about Jainism. Most of our community, particularly in India, have been too busy earning money and comforts of life to learn, value, and spread the wisdom of our religion. Jainism does not believe in converting non-Jains. Instead, it teaches that every good human being who follows core moral values is already Jain. Every good person is Jain, and not every person born in a Jain family may be a good person and therefore be a Jain. One's behavior makes one Jain, and not one's birth.
Due to thousands of years of neglect, our community is now less than 1 percent of India's population. The entire Jain Population of the world could easily be populated in one of the mega-cities of the world. However, there is a bright ray of hope particularly in USA. The Jains here are better educated, informed, knowledgeable and active. It is a vibrant community, which has built a number of temples and organizations and is involved in numerous educational, charitable and cultural causes. You have an opportunity to take this torch even further by engaging in various noble causes with out-of-the-box approaches. You are limited only by your own imagination.
I wish you a very wonderful experience in the YJA Convention.
Thanks,
Virendra Shah/President Jain Center of Southern California, Buena Park, CA
AGENTS OF CHANGE
