svadhyaya

Svadhyaya means self-study. Because of the rules prohibiting Jain monastics from traveling by mechanical means, the lay community in the United States has had to take greater responsibility for its religious education. It has done so by forming lay-led svadhyaya study-groups which meet in family homes or Jain centers to discuss commentaries on Jain scriptures or to listen to lectures given by Jain scholars.