Elemental Climate Conversations: AIR
An Interfaith Exchange
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
7:00-8:30 pm
Jain Center of Southern California
8072 Commonwealth Ave
Buena Park, CA 90621-2520
Optional tour of the Jain Temple (limited spaces available)
5:45-6:55 pm (please arrive by 5:35 to allow parking time)
Free and open to the public. RSVP to attend.
Responding to the climate crisis requires new forms of imagination. In this second of a series featuring the four elements (Water, Air, Fire, and Earth), immerse yourself in an interfaith conversation about air with a focus on the Indian Jain tradition. According to the Jaina cosmology, the universe is permeated with jiva, an individual core life force inhabiting every living entity, including air-bodied beings. This recognition informs many ancient and modern Jain ethical practices related to air. In this interactive evening of study and communion, learn about Jain cosmology and nonviolent practice and reflect on the relation to air in diverse faith traditions. Enjoy Jain snacks and make new friends. And find out how air quality inequitably affects different regional communities, and what you can do to make a difference.
Tour of the Jain Temple: meet at 5:45 pm; tour at 6:00 pm
Wonder what to wear or do in a Jain temple? Check out these tips for temple etiquette (#7, 8, 10 will not apply to the Jain temple visit).
Program will include
UCI Faculty Co-Host and Moderator
Brianne Donaldson, Director, UCI Program in Religious Studies and Shri Parshvanath Presidential Chair in Jain Studies
Yoga Meditation
Christopher Key Chapple, Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology, and Director, Master of Arts in Yoga Studies, Loyola Marymount University
Rituals of Repentance and the Jain Climate Statement
Professor Donaldson with the Jain Center and UCI Students
Climate Justice and the Air You Breath
Leonel Flores, GREEN-MPNA and Andrea De Vizcaya Ruiz, UCI Health
Interfaith Interludes
Local faith leaders share breathing practices and the role of air in their traditions (Rev. Lamont Hartman, Reconcile Church and Janak Kaur, United Sikh Mission)
Air and the Arts
An adventure in Jaina expressivity
Refreshments and snacks prepared in the Jain manner will be shared upon arrival.
Hosted by the Jain Center of California
Co-hosted by the Shri Parshvanath Presidential Chair in Jain Studies, the Program in Religious Studies at UCI School of Humanities, and the UC Humanities Research Institute
This event is a project of the Interfaith Climate Action Working Group, part of WUICAN, Wildland-Urban Interface Climate Action Network. Based at UC Irvine, WUICAN is a consortium of community organizations, California Native American Tribes, land managers, and universities working together to develop community-driven policies and practices for land and water stewardship in response to the climate crisis. Our interfaith working group members hail from the following organizations:
Church of the Messiah | Harbor Christian Church | Jewish Collaborative of Orange County | New Hope Presbyterian Church | Pacifica Institute | Reconcile Church | St. Mark Presbyterian Church | UC Humanities Research Institute | UCI Religious Studies Program | UCI School of Humanities | United Sikh Mission