JAIN Vision 2020

Live and Promote a Jain Way of Life (in North America)

Over the past 30 years we Jains have accomplished a great deal. We have over 60 Jain Centers and over 20 temples and 1000’s of Jain Youths that are attending Pathshalas. We have conventions where 5000 Jains attend. In this great land of opportunities and possibilities we have come a long way. But as we all know there is a lot to do.

So now that we’ve had great success for the past 30 years, what mountain should we climb over the next 15 years. Should we build more temples, should we build more organizations, should we focus on our kids, should we share Jainism with our American friends, should we focus on rituals and traditions. So what do think our vision should be for year 2020?

About two years ago JAINA established a think tank called the Long Range Planning Committee. This team interviewed and surveyed over 500 people and organizations including JAINA,YJA, YJP, Local Jain Centers and Jains in small town and large cities. They also looked at strong operational and service and religious oriented Jewish and Swaminaryana organizations. Based on the research and your feedback, a vision has emerged which we would like to share with you.

Before we share the vision, let’s take a short historical journey. We Jains have been on a path of Non-Violence, Non-Absolutism (Anekantvad), and Non-Absolutism (Aparigrah) for 1000’s of years. And recently Science is walking with us – hand in hand on this path. Specifically:

• For 1000’s of years Jains have been practicing Mediation and Yoga. Today in some of our local schools before the kids take a standardized test, the students meditate for a few minutes.

• For 1000’ of years Jains have been practicing vegetarians and animal compassion. Have you seen the latest FDA food pyramid? - It is mostly vegetarian. Today, we all prefer to drink filtered water.

• For 1000’s of years we Jains have been environmentalists. Today science is discovering that only good environmental practice can save the world.

• For 1000’s of years Jain have believed in Anekantvad – that is respecting other’s view. Today, the world is realizing that this is the only way towards peace. Also, much of management science is based around this principle.

• For 1000’s of years we Jains have believed in equal rights for women, the power of forgiveness as path to happiness, and much much more.

• And for 1000’s of years, we Jains have embraced Non-Violence even before any culture or tradition or religion had embraced it.

• Corporations and business schools are talking about ethics and compliance. Company Boards and Wall Street are rewarding and recognizing people who rule with a fair hand rather than the autocratic style. Those that don’t comply are ending up in jail. This ties into the theory of Karma which Jains have been practicing for 1000’s of years.

• Magazines like “Time” are featuring topics like Meditation, Yoga, Benefits of Vegetarian Diet, Non-violence, etc. Unfortunately, Jainism is rarely mentioned in these articles.

And now even more than ever, the western world can leverage our Jain philosophy. Only now North America and the rest of the world are discovering and practicing what Jains have known and practiced for 1000’s of years.

You see we Jains are sitting on a treasure. We have so much to offer. Imagine if we had shared this treasure with the world 1000’s of years ago, this world would have been a very different place. But it is not too late. When you plant a seed, the soil has to be right, there has to be enough light and water for a great big tree to grow. The environment has to be conducive. In the same way, the North Americans are conducive to sharing the treasures which are in Jainism.

The Vision that we have for the Jainism in North America is

To Live and Promote a Jain Way of Life

Focus #1: Evolve - our practices

Focus #2: Grow - our Numbers

Focus #3: Expand – our Awareness

Focus# 4: Strengthen and Unite– and Organizations

In expanding on the elements of our vision, first what do we mean by Jain Way of Life. Jain Way of Life is life full of happiness, challenge, discovery, and spiritual growth. JWOL is mindfulness and contemplation. JWOL is living a life grounded in thoughts words and speech of our three core principles:

• Non-Violence – (that is Ahimsa) vegetarianism and use of non-animal tested products as well as Non-Violence even in our thoughts. Controlling A.G.E.D. (Anger, Greed, Ego, and Deceit).

• Non Possessiveness – (that is Aparigraha) practice is where we balance our possessions and desires for them.

• Non Absolutism – (that is Anekantvad) is where we strive to keep our mind open and understand other views

But remember the vision is not just to LIVE a Jain Way of life but to PROMOTE it. For promoting a Jain Way of Life, we are not asking people to go door to door and convert. We are saying that we should share our treasures in a respectful and impactful way.

The following is a further elaboration of our vision in four major focus areas (also refer to detail goal and metrics).

Focus #1: Evolve – Our Practices… Maintain and Update:

The Jewish tradition is strong. Compare that to the American Indian tradition which is nearly extinct. Research shows and we see all around us that our young people are turned off by strong ritualistic focus. We Jains don’t want to be extinct, we want to thrive for many 1000’s of years. To cater to our Youths, just one of the many goals for this Focus area is to: Evolve our rituals – to refresh 6 rituals and add 6 new rituals over the next 15 years.

In evolving our practices, we want to raise the bar. We as Jains want to avoid silk, leather, and animal tested products. Probably 5% of Jains avoid this today and we need to target 25% of the Jain population to evolve their practices.

EVOLVE - Maintain and update traditional Jain practices and adopt new relevant practices for NA for Jain Way of Life

Focus #2: Grow our Numbers:

Our findings showed that one out of every two Jain will marry a non-Jain. That’s chemistry, but let’s look at that as an opportunity. Here our goal is to educate our kids on JWOL. And if they do decide to marry non-Jains, we want these kids to be so strong and confident and educated Jains. And through love and care we want them to teach their non-Jain spouse JWOL. We believe today that only 20% mix marriages are living a JWOL and our vision is to expand to 60% of the mix marriages living a JWOL. To achieve this, we need to come up with specific literature, web-training material for mix marriage couples so they can appreciate the richness and relevancy of JWOL – and the best part is – the non-Jain spouse need not convert to Jainism.

• GROW - our numbers to a strong united, educated, and growing practitioners of New Jain Way of Life

EXPAND - to Impact Trends and Create Awareness - Strengthen Jain Way of Life in North American and build strong strategic partnerships with non-Jain organizations. Create NA wide positive awareness and respect for JWOL and Jainism

• STRENGTHEN - our Organization - Create a vibrant self sufficient professionally run central Jain Organization with strong links to members and all centers

In conclusion,

To accelerate and achieve this vision – Jain centers need to re-engineer themselves –

not just Jain Centers need to re-engineer themselves but JAINA needs to re-engineer itself. Not Just JAINA and Jain Center but each and every one us has to re-engineer ourselves. And only through this will we be able to achieve our Vision for North America – to passionately “Live and Promote a Jain Way of Live”

If we succeed in meeting this vision, our families and our kids will have a better and happier life

During our retirement, we’ll have an organization to channel our creativity and talent. If we succeed in our Vision by 2020 - ahimsa will be a household world. Our children will be proud to say I am a Jain and heads will turn. Vegetarianism will be the preferred food choice in restaurants, and finally in business schools – Non-Absolutism will be part of every course.

And together we can EVOLVE, Grow our numbers, Expand Awareness, Unite and Strengthen our organization.

The world is changing, change is inevitable. Let’s manage the change. Let’s be proactive about the change. Our vision is to plan and execute towards our destiny to Live and Promote a Jain Way of Life.

Thank you.