Jainism

The Jaina religious tradition originated in northern India. It emphasizes the observance of nonviolence (ahimsa) to purge the soul ( jiva) of karma. The ultimate goal of Jainism is to achieve liberation (kevala) from rebirth. Many Jainas engage themselves in the businesses of trade, publishing, and jewelry. Two early teachers, Parsvanatha (ca. 800 b.c.e.) and Mah?v?ra, the Jina (ca. 450 b.c.e.) organized large congregations of nuns and monks. Mah?v?ra, a contemporary of the Buddha, emphasized the observance of nonviolence, truthfulness, not stealing, sexual restraint, and nonpossession.

Jainism first came to America when Virchand Raghavji Gandhi spoke at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. In 1933, Champat Rai Jain presented a talk on "Ahimsa as the Key to World Peace" at a meeting of the World Fellowship of Faiths. A handful of Jainas came to the United States from India and East Africa in the 1950s and settled in America. Through the World Jaina Mission, a few Americans of European descent converted to Jainism at this time.

Two factors contributed to a sharp rise in the number of Jainas in America during the 1960s. In 1965 the Asian Exclusion Acts of the 1880s and 1920s were overturned by legislation that allowed greater numbers of nonwhites to become permanent residents and citizens. Kenya and Tanzania expelled large numbers of South Asians in 1967 and 1968; many of these were Jaina merchants. In 1971, all Indians were required to leave Uganda during the repressive regime of Idi Amin. Many Jainas left for England, and some of them then proceeded to the United States.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Jainas often teamed with Hindus to create worship spaces to serve both religions. The Jain Center of New York was established in 1966, and the first Jaina-only temple was opened by the Jain Center of Boston in 1973. The Jaina teacher Muni Sri Chitrabhanu opened the Jain Meditation International Center in New York in 1975, and Acarya Sushi Kumarji established Siddhacalam, a Jaina ashram in the Poconos (in northeastern Pennsylvania) in 1983. The Jain Society of Southern California established a Jaina temple and library in 1986. The largest Jain temple complex in America, established by the Jain Society of Chicago, was dedicated in 1993. Other temples can be found in Washington, D.C., in New Jersey, in Richardson, Texas, in Toronto, and in other cities. Every two years the Jaina community convenes a major convention sponsored by the Federation of Jaina Associations in North America. Surveying event attendance and temple rosters, Bhuvanendra Kumar estimates that between sixty to one hundred thousand Jainas live in North America.

Jaina holidays include Mah?v?ra Jayanti, the birthday of the Jina, which occurs in March or April, and Paryusan, a special seven-day fast observed during late August. The Nammokkara Mantra, the primary Jaina prayer, ideally chanted twice each day, pays homage to the Jinas, the liberated souls, the teachers, the leaders of religious orders, and to the nuns and monks who have taken vows of nonviolence. The two Jaina denominations, the Svetambara and Digambara, both look to Umasvati's Tattvarthasutra (ca. 100 c.e.) as the authoritative text on Jaina philosophy, cosmology, and ethics. The Jaina community in North America publishes three journals: the Jain Study Circular (New York), Jain Digest (various cities), and Jinamanjari (Toronto).

The Jaina tradition has attracted interest from the animal rights movement, and many Jainas have become involved with vegetarian societies. Web sites, newsletters, teacher training, and a variety of community events for young people seem to indicate that the Jaina community, which has survived for nearly three millennia as a minority tradition in India, will continue to thrive through successive generations in North America.

See alsoAnimal Rights; Hinduism; Karma; Pacifism; Vegetarianism.

Bibliography

Dundas, Paul. The Jains. 1992.

Jaini, Padmanabh S. The Jaina Path of Purification. 1979.

King, Noel, and Surendra Singhvi. "Jain Studies in the West." Jinamanjari, 9, no. 1 (1994): 56–63.

Kumar, Bhuvanendra. Jainism in America. 1996.

Umasvati. Tattvartha Sutra: That Which Is, translated by Nathmal Tatia, with the combined commentaries of Umasvati, Pujyapada, and Siddhasenaguni. 1994.

Christopher Key Chapple