Bhagvan Adinath Jain Research and Study program: Distinctive values and non-violent practices of Jainism and ‘Jainness’ in southern Europe

This research aims to investigate and map distinctive practices of nonviolence in southern European Jain communities, with an initial focus on Italy. While Northern European Jain communities have been studied, nothing has been done to date about Southern Europe. Jain values - non-violence and respect for all forms of life (ahimsa), non-attachment to the material world (aparigraha) and pluralism (anekantavad) - are relevant for human and animal welfare, yet a lifestyle based on introspection, calmness of self and spiritual liberation by self-effort is not always easily adaptable to the consumerism-oriented and frenzy way of living that characterizes European countries. We aim to investigate what kind of negotiations Jain people living in Southern Europe need to do in order to live a spiritually and physically healthy life integrating the precepts of their religion into daily life. This research will create a core group that can interact with the local Jain communities as well as with the academic environment, with the aim to lay the groundwork for the establishment of Jain studies at the University of Turin.”