Vijay Shah, graduate student studying chemical and biomolecular engineering, is hosting his Tending the Spiritual Roots of Nonviolent Action at the University YMCA on Monday from 5-6:30 p.m. He welcomes students and activists to register for the second installment of this workshop series to learn about nonviolent activism and Jain teachings and enjoy a free vegetarian dinner.
“Organizing this workshop really forced me to reexamine every aspect of my life,” Shah said. “Because in order for me to share this with other people, I need to make sure I’m walking the walk and I don’t take that lightly.”
Shah envisions this workshop to be an evolving project. He intends to create a space encouraging people to slow down and think about their own actions and how they matter. Shah understands that it is a complicated task and has designed the workshop to be a continuous series that will expand in the upcoming spring semester.
“I’m trying to do a lot of things in a relatively short time, but in hopes that people can start to use it the moment they leave the workshop,” Shah said.
Explaining his vision for the “Roots” series, Shah says he plans “to get into the weeds and tiny details of what nonviolent actions look like.” By examining the beliefs these small actions are based on, Shah then connects them to a wider scope of activism.
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“I want people who are skeptical of nonviolent activism to also come participate,” Shah said.
According to Shah, the workshop welcomes anyone who might be interested in learning and bringing their ideas to the conversation, regardless of how they participate in activism.
“It truly doesn’t matter what kind of organizing people are doing,” Shah said. “These ideas apply no matter what.”
Sydney Curts, director of student leadership and engagement at the YMCA, and Jennifer Romine, Bailey Program administrator at the YMCA, have worked with Shah over the years to help develop his workshop. Shah credits them for their help and support in organizing the “Roots” workshop series.
“(Shah has) been so thoughtful about creating an intentional space where folks can feel grounded and connected to one another,” Curts said.
Faizi Tofighi, senior in LAS, participated in the first “Roots” workshop on Sept. 22. According to Tofighi, the workshop reinforced many of his own beliefs while providing more context, resources and conversations, including new ideas.
Tofighi explains the workshop as “a space that people were able to share about ways they’ve been trying to improve themselves and embrace nonviolence within themselves.”
Shah traces back the inspiration for this workshop to his experience at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Harry Boyte and Marie-Louise Ström presented a workshop on constructive nonviolence that influenced Shah to develop his own workshop series.
Shah had been studying chemical engineering with solving environmental issues already in mind when he began his volunteer experience at the UMN Native American Medicine Garden.
Through that volunteer experience, Shah learned from Native American gardener Cânté Sütá-Francis Bettelyoun. Shah recalls how he was originally interested in drawing connections between Indian Ayurvedic medicine and Native American medicine. He imagined what connections could be drawn from Indian and Native American historical culture.
“My perspective of everything changed because of what Cânté Sütá taught all of us who volunteered at the garden,” Shah said.
As he continued engaging in social and environmental issues of justice for Indigenous communities, he found himself acting on his own Jain values.
With this realization, Shah worked on finding a clear way to bring these ideas to the “Roots” workshop. In the workshop, he builds a working definition of nonviolence referencing Jain scriptures and ideas.
Shah makes a direct point that the Jain scriptures he brings in are for understanding nonviolence in a framework originally built around it. Shah goes on to say that the scriptures are like detailed manuals for how to live more mindfully.
Shah reiterated that the “Roots” workshop is for everyone who wants to learn more about making a positive change in their community and gain a better understanding of their own personal values.
“If there’s any good that can come out of me sharing this now, instead of waiting until some nebulous future time, I want that good to go out to the world now,” Shah said.
