Finding Jainism in Cultures Around the World By Riya Patel

Finding Jainism in Cultures Around the World

Riya Patel

Riya Patel is a student at the University of Texas at Austin studying chemical engineering. She has been the YJA South Regional Coordinator in 2020-2021 and loves to be involved in her local Jain community.

(This article was originally published in Young Minds Magazine is September 2020)

Growing up, I often struggled with my Indian identity. While attending a predominantly white school in the middle of North Carolina, questions about my “missing red dot” and jokes about being a “Hindu cow worshipper” were a daily occurrence. I let this happen for years — masking my own culture and never correcting, nor educating others about my fascinating religion. It wasn’t until I saw my grandma openly practicing Jainism and her absolute devotion to it that a change occurred within me. From blatantly telling servers she will not eat meat due to religious beliefs to clearly going out of her way in public to avoid stepping on grass — that sparked a realization. Maybe there was no need to hide my cultural and religious beliefs?

From then onwards, I began to slowly open-up and have some of the most interesting conversations with others about how aspects of my seemingly uncommon religion can be seen around the world.

Japan, Asia

I once was explaining how one of Jainism’s fundamental beliefs is Anekantavada and elaborated on the importance of multiplicity of viewpoints since there is no singular one that is correct. That is when, Aya, my Japanese friend told me about a practice called Kintsugi: when one accidentally breaks a piece of pottery, it is not thrown away, but rather mended back together by applying gold on the cracks to create a new, beautiful piece. She explained how by looking at the destroyed pottery from a new point of view, it is able to become something more special and valuable than before, but failing to do so would cause this potential artwork to end up in a trashcan. This could be applied to people too. We cannot judge them from what we see, but rather must change perspectives to understand their underlying inner beauty. After hearing from her, I was able to share the story of the six blind men feeling small parts of the elephant and coming up with different ideas of what the creature might be. Seeing how the idea of multiple points of view can completely change one’s reaction to a situation was quite fascinating and emphasized its need to be applied in all situations.

Colombia, South America

One of my best friends in middle school was of Colombian descent. Aside from enjoying endless arepas and cheese empanadas at her house, one of the most notable memories with her was when I learned about Tranquilo. I had just dropped my brand new phone and was worried that I cracked it when her mother said nothing but “Tranquilo!” I found out that this is a word very commonly used in Colombia to tell one to not stress over little things and just relax. The idea of not obsessing over materialistic matters reminded me of Aparigraha, the importance of letting go. Much like how Aparigraha is a key part of Jainism, Tranquilo is heavily embedded in the vocabulary of people in Colombia. While for Jains this concept also helps avoid the four key internal passions of Krodha (anger), Maan (ego), Maya (greed), and Lobh (deceit) to limit unnecessary bondage so liberation can be attained, Colombians also intend to avoid these by attempting to stray from unnecessary tension to live a more peaceful life. Despite being from opposite sides of the world, I was able to explain to my friend how these underlying beliefs were not much different.

Iceland, Europe

After a friend came back from her trip to Iceland during winter break, the first thing she told me about was not the breathtaking lagoons and the waterfalls, but rather a shocking tradition they had called Jolabokaflod — translating to: “The Christmas Book Flood.” On Christmas Eve, people gift one another books, not iPhones and PS4s, and then read together. In fact, the Bokatidindi’s delivery, or catalog of all books published that year, is what starts off the holiday season. The clear importance of reading in Iceland parallels the importance of education in Jain and Indian culture. This can be seen through the determination to travel long distances to reach schools and hours spent flipping through textbooks in India. Particularly, Jainism itself also has an emphasis on Samyag Gyan (right knowledge) with it being one of the three jewels or Ratna trayi. While people in Iceland are not directly aiming for Keval Gyan (ultimate knowledge), they are acquiring Punya from the selfless giving and are gaining general knowledge from all their books.

My Local Community

In science classes, I had some fascinating conversations with my teachers about how Karmic particles are thought to behave similarly to the photons and electrons we learned about in the lecture. I also saw similarities between being taught the Law of Conservation of Mass in class, which states matter can neither be created nor destroyed, much like how Jainism believes in non-creationism. Not only was I able to see how it is hidden in traditions around the world, but also in Jainism’s compatibility with universal scientific beliefs.

More importantly, I saw how Jainism had the potential to foster acts of kindness. For instance, when one of my teachers found out about my Atthai (an eight-day fast where one cannot consume any food and can only have water between the times of sunrise and sunset), he made me a bed out of scrap cardboard, T-shirts, and other materials in case I wanted to take a nap. He then went out of his way to look up my schedule and email all my teachers saying I could come there to sleep. I was amazed to see his extreme generosity and quick creativity to put something together without me even mentioning it. Without knowing, that teacher had acquired so much Punya, and his simple act of kindness is something I will never forget. Thank you, Mr. Wilson.

Another instance of these realizations was during my previous year’s Atthai at a cross country meet where one of the other runners overheard me talking about how I was in the middle of an extended water fast and was feeling a little tired. During the second mile of the race, she noticed me slowing down and giving out, so she locked elbows with me and picked up the pace. She pushed me to not give up; though the panting she said phrases like “You got this! Keep it up!” and was the reason I finished the race strong. From hearing about a Jain practice, she went from being an opponent to a motivator. In these situations, the generosity that was facilitated by people being exposed to Jainism led to a feeling of warmth that is indescribable by words — a feeling I will never forget.

From seeing ties of Jainism in other continents around the world, I began to realize that my religion is not so taboo after all. Although it may be a small minority that many people do not know about, its key values are part of something larger than life. Rather than hiding my Sanskruti (culture) and Dharam (religion), I learned to take pride in it. I find myself using Jain morals in daily decision-making or even writing about it in my personal statement. As an Indian American, it can be hard to balance both cultures, but it is important to stay close to your roots and not be afraid to share your beliefs. It may be easy to lose touch, but making a conscious effort to have unique conversations can lead to many memorable revelations. Seeing how Jainism can be applied to almost anything in the world was fascinating and promoted my spiritual awareness. Jainism resonates not only in temples, but rather is present everywhere I look now, and all it took was an open mind.

There indeed was no need to hide my cultural and religious beliefs.