As Diwali Celebrations Begin, Jains Choose a Quieter Ritual

October 21, 2006

Author: Michael Scott

Source: Vancouver Sun

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=e7e50c46-2aa0-4071-a38f-bc8bbd12f46c&k=24330

The south Asian autumn festival of Diwali is celebrated by many cultures in the subcontinent, including Hindu, Sikh and Indian Buddhist communities. In the Lower Mainland, Diwali is best known in its Hindu and Sikh manifestations as a joyful Festival of Light, with dancing, drumming, floral displays, great arrays of glimmering lamps, illuminated gurdwaras, and bounteous feasting.

But one religious community in the Lower Mainland adopts a much more serene and non-material approach to Diwali. The Jains, an ancient religion of northern and western India, take this time to throw off the excesses of daily life in favour of quiet meditation and an inward search for enlightenment.

"We celebrate Diwali because it reminds us of the possibility of achieving nirvana, or eternal bliss," says Anand Kumar Jain, a West Vancouver jeweller and a leader in B.C.'s tiny Jain community.

Although Jainism is one of the smallest of the world's major religions, with 10 or 12 million adherents, its antiquity and influence are significant. Many scholars now believe that Jain culture and philosophy helped give rise to Buddhism in sixth-century BC. Hindu culture has also been affected by several thousand years of co-existence with Jainism.