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Jainism's Intersection with Contemporary Volume 2 | Issue 2 Jainism’s Intersection with Contemporary Ethical Movements: An Ethnographic Examination of a Diaspora Jain Community Brett Evans Elon University, [email protected] ABSTRACT s the second generation of Jain immigrants in the United States transition from youth to full-fledged adults, significant changes to the interpretation and practice of Jainism in diaspora have begun to emerge. Relying on participant A observation at the Jain Study Center of North Carolina community and eight interviews with members of this community, my research investigates the critical shift present between the younger generation and the older generation of this population and examines its potential causes. I argue that the absence of religious authority in diaspora and the increase of Western influence have redirected emphasis from ritual to ethical practice, particularly within the younger generation. This increased focus on ethical practice has presented itself through the incorporation of elements from contemporary Western environmental and animal rights movements. Additionally, it has increased the prominence of the core Jain values of ahimsa (non-violence), aparigraha (non- attachment or non-possessiveness), and anekantavada (non-one-sidedness), as well as their corresponding day-to-day actions, at the expense of traditional ritual practices such as puja (worship). Keywords: Jainism, Diaspora, Religion, Environmentalism, Veganism 1 The JUE Volume 2 Issue 2 2012 1 I HAVE BEEN HERE IN THIS COUNTRY FOR THE LAST 42 YEARS. I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN INDIA. I got married at the age of 23, and then I came here. So, I have lived more here than in India. Of course, in India, I am Jain. I go to the temple; I worship the god, [Mahavira]; don’t eat these things [—animals, eggs, root and many-seeded vegetables, honey, alcohol]; get in by dark; eat before sunset. Those things—the rituals—I knew them. But what is Jainism? Who is arhat 1 ? Who is siddha 2 ? I had no idea. The prayer we do every day, I used to do it when I was five years old—when I was very little, okay? And, everybody is supposed to know that ‘hey, you started eating, first pray god’. So, I was doing it, but I didn’t know what it means. Maybe, at that time, I was not mature enough; I was too young. But, here [in the United States], I started putting two and two together. I learned so many things after coming here to this country… So, in that way, yes, it is better here. But, I am missing so many things in India that I am not getting here: some moral support; some motivation; if he, [my husband], doesn’t “do it, suppose then my sister is there, or my sister-in-law, or mother-in-law, suppose today they are fasting or they are going to perform some ceremony. I say ‘Oh, you are doing [that]? Let me do it also’… In the initial stage, you need support, or company, or motivation. We get it over there [in India]. Here, no. We don’t get it. Once a month, we go [to the temple], pray together, [and say], ‘Hi. How are you doing? Goodbye.’ That is not motivation. But, remember one thing: religion is not in a group. A person should be doing by himself or herself. It is not a group activity, but in this initial stage, we need company, because we have not reached to that stage where we don’t need anybody. [Eventually], we have to do that. - Arati (Interview, 2010) 3 1 2 The JUE Volume 2 Issue 2 2012 INTRODUCTION On opposite couches in Arati’s living room, we drank deli- cious, homemade chai tea. This was not the chai tea that I was used to encountering: this was made with spices from India and soy milk. It had a rich flavor, stronger than any I had tried before. More importantly for me, I did not need to question the ingredi- ents, because a vegan made it. This home felt like a sanctuary for me. I was with others who shared some of my most important and personal beliefs and practices. For a little while, while I conducted this interview, I could remain among like-minded friends. As an individual who strongly believes in non-violence, similar to that which is espoused by core Jain doctrines 4 , I found it easy to empathize with Arati’s experiences of insufficient com- munity and desire for external support. Just as runners spur each other on in a physical race, community members spur spiritual progression in their fellows. I would soon leave her home, ending our companionship and forcing me to become the outsider again. In this same way, Arati felt that the monthly meetings of the Jain Study Center of North Carolina (JSCNC) were brief and far too infrequent, leaving her once again as an outsider each time one ended. These gatherings were no replacement for the community she had left behind many years ago in India. In coming to the United States, immigrant Jains left be- hind more than friends, family, and other lay members: these individuals were also unable to take their monks and nuns with them. These honored and respected religious leaders, who have renounced their worldly possessions and dedicated their lives to their practices, are largely absent in diaspora. 5 Due to monastic vows which restrict their ability to travel, very few monks and nuns are willing to journey abroad. Monastics serve as the tra- dition’s primary exemplars, who all other Jains strive to emulate. Moreover, much of Jainism as it exists in India is centered on these leaders, with the lay population worshipping and supporting the sacred lives and dedication of ascetics (Babb 1996). Lay Jains in diaspora are cut off from these role models and their teachings, which effectively creates a significant gap in religious authority and ritual practice. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork and schol- arly literature, this paper demonstrates ways in which American Jains have sought to fill this gap with decentralized lay leadership and lay agendas that shift community focus from renunciation and traditional practices to ethical and social actions, particularly those associated with contemporary environmental and animal rights movements. 1 The JUE Volume 2 Issue 2 2012 3 LOCATION, COMMUNITY, AND PARTICIPANTS As I first attempted to assess the feasibility of an ethnograph- In order to contextualize the narratives they presented, ic project which would investigate diaspora Jainism’s relationship some background about my research participants is necessary. All with contemporary environmental and animal rights philosophies, of them were middle- to upper-class individuals living within the I was relieved to locate a Jain community an hour’s driving distance Research Triangle. While I attempted to achieve gender balance from my university. This community is centered in Cary, North among those I interviewed, I managed to secure interviews with Carolina, a wealthy, residential suburb of Raleigh. Situated in the only two females out of eight total participants. I believe because middle of what is known as the Research Triangle (Raleigh, Dur- I am a male undergraduate student, female community members ham, and Chapel Hill), a region which is notable for its high con- were less willing to interact with me outside of meetings than centration of universities and engineering and technology firms, males. This disparity is unfortunate. Yet, due to time constraints, it has a sizable South Asian immigrant population, including a it was unavoidable. Of the six participants born in India, all were number of Jains. Many more Jains live in the surrounding region, originally from North India, most commonly Gujarat, and they enough to justify the creation of a formal Jain community—the immigrated for education and employment opportunities. As the JSCNC. Though this community has several hundred members, table below demonstrates, the majority of those I interviewed were an average of 50 attends the scheduled monthly meetings. Due to working in medical, engineering, and business fields, and most its membership size, among other factors, it has chosen to share of adults were well educated, with graduate degrees as the norm. temple space with Cary’s Hindu Society of North Carolina, rather Three of the adults who participated in this research were actively than purchase its own building. While not a sectarian organiza- involved with JSCNC as members of its executive committee. tion, the JSCNC’s membership is predominantly of Svetambara lineage, which is the majority sect of Jainism. Research Participants: Name Estimated Age Occupation Country of Birth Nirmal Mid 20s Graduate Student USA Pranav Mid 20s Graduate Student USA Piyush Early 40s Engineer India Sujash Early 40s Engineer India Rajmati Mid 40s Homemaker India Suchit Mid 50s Business Consultant India Purav Late 60s Engineer India Arati Early 70s Homemaker India 1 4 The JUE Volume 2 Issue 2 2012 METHODS Initial contact with the JSCNC was made in August, 2010, that male monastics should be nude (Jaini 1991, xix). Beyond through email correspondence with the respected lay Jain scholar these differing interpretations of monastic dress, there are many Pravin Shah, a leader of both this community and national North other articulated and prominent divisions among Jains. One such American Jain organizations. Pravin and I arranged to meet at further example can be found in the opposed Jain categories of St- his home to discuss my research, and he generously agreed to in- hanakvasis—those who believe that constructing temples involves troduce me to the JSCNC community and invited me to observe unacceptable violence and do not worship images (murtis)—and their monthly meetings, which take place at the Hindu Society of Deravasis—those who find temples acceptable to construct and North Carolina in Cary.
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