The ancient Indian religion of Jainism, a close relative of Buddhism, has an adherence to nonviolence that forbids eating meat, encourages days of fasting and places value on the smallest of insects.
Now younger Jains, who resist the elaborate rituals of their parents, which include meditating 48 minutes a day and presenting statues of idols with flowers, rice and a saffron-and-sandalwood paste, are trying to reinterpret the traditions of their religion for 21st-century American life. They are expanding the definition of nonviolence to encompass environmentalism, animal rights and corporate business ethics, volunteering alongside other faiths, learning to lobby through political internships and youth groups, and veganism.
Veganism--a step beyond the vegetarianism that the faith requires--is on the rise among young U.S.-born Jains, but younger Jains find it otherwise difficult to follow traditional rituals, with modern life and its excesses.
Jains believe, for example, that even microbes in the air and water are sacred life and any action that impacts other living things--such as driving or using electricity--can add to bad karma. Yet many Jains are top doctors, lawyers and businesspeople, who use computers, cellphones and drive cars — and so they are increasingly seeking a compromise between their faith and practicality.
For the most part, elder Jains support the modified approach to 21st-century American life, but some worry their children will miss a deeper understanding without completing rituals that are so detailed that some Jains carry a small booklet with illustrated instructions. For instance, worshippers must shower, remove their shoes and change into loose-fitting, clean garments before approaching statues of 24 idols and must don a white mask to avoid breathing or spitting on the marble figures.
The faith’s Western evolution is being talked about openly and with greater urgency now that the small expatriate community that arrived in the 1960s has established itself by having a national umbrella organization, youth groups and more than 100 temples, including an enormous one south of Los Angeles.