20.05.2017 ►JAINA ►Newsletter

Jai Jinendra!

Parliament of World Religions will be held in Toronto from Nov. 1-7, 2018. JAINA had introduced and co-sponsored "Ahimsa Award" at last Parliament of World Religion in Salt Lake City in October 2015. Please register yourself and take advantage of super saver rate now..

Pujya Namramuniji Maharaj Saheb is one of the young religious leaders of Sthanakwasi Sangh and has been instrumental in transforming lives of many youngsters and we present a brief profile of Maharaj Saheb.

Sincerely,

Ashok Domadia
JAINA President & Chairman
San Francisco

Only that science is great and the best of all sciences,the study of which frees man from all kinds of miseries.

- Mahavira (Isibhasiya, 7/1)

We will be sharing 50 stories on our Parvadhiraj Tirth Shatrunjay, Palitana, and given below are next 2 stories as we start from Taleti and Babu mandir. These stories gives us awareness of the history of our Tirth.

Jay Taleti is the worshipable rock at the base of the hill. It represents the sacredness of the whole Shatrunjay hill as it is impossible to worship the whole hill from top to bottom. Every day, people worship this base rock with water, sandal wood paste and flowers..

Most Jains conduct the first of five required rituals of the pilgrimage here. This ritual is called "Chaityavandan". There are 11 mini-shrines above Jay Taleti that houses foot prints of enlightened souls who walked up this path and made it sacred. The center-most shrine has the foot prints of Adinath, the first Tirthankar, to whom the main temple is dedicated.

Across the walkway is a shrine of the foot prints or "Paduka" of Pundarik swami, the chief disciple, and grandson of Adinath, the first Tirthankar. Pundarik swami achieved salvation on this hill. One of the 108 names of this hill is "Pundarikgiri" named after Pundarik Swami.

When we are at the summit, you will once again see the importance of Pundarik Swami to the Jains. Now walk back up and make your way to the temple of Babu as shown in the map. Leave your footwear where they were. We will come back to them after visiting the temple of Babu.

Click to read the story & listen to an amazing audio clip in or .

This temple was constructed in 1900 by Babu Dhanpat Singh to fulfill his mother's wish. His mother, Mehtab Kumari visited Shatrunjay in her later years. She found the journey to be arduous. She asked her son to build a temple at the base of the hill so that old and feeble Jains could also undertake the pilgrimage. She decreed that the temple should be built as an exact replica of the main Adinath temple on the summit. The obedient son replicated not only the main idol but also the other main features of the main temple. Today, many elderly Jains visit only this Babu temple and experience the same satisfaction of making the journey to the top.

Once you climb the steps, turn slightly left and then right to proceed straight to the main temple. After visiting the main temple, please retrace your steps back to the entrance gate. There are three other mini-temples inside this Babu temple complex that are worth a visit.

Click to read the story & listen to an amazing audio clip in or

The Parliament of the World's Religions will be held from Nov. 1-7, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. The Parliament made the official announcement last week at a press conference with the Government of Toronto.

JAINA is a regular participant at Parliament of the World's Religions and also had co sponsored AHIMSA award at Parliament of World Religions which was introduced for the first time. Jain temple was an attraction at the entrance of the Conference held in 2015 at Salt Lake City, Utah and also JAINA booth was well visited. Many Jain scholars were keynote speakers at the Opening and Closing ceremonies.

JAINA encourages you to register and attend the next Parliament. For those of us who were at the 2015 Parliament in Salt Lake City know it was truly a once in a lifetime experience for a unique interfaith event. Toronto promises to be more.

The super saver early registration is open at $295 until August 10, 2017.



Please forward onto others who may be interested.

More information on the 2018 Parliament can be found at:

Sadguru - An Insight

Shree Namramuniji MaharajSaheb is an individual whose words, work and thoughts leave an indelible mark on every life that they touch. His visionary thoughts, his immense positivity and his deep connection with the Self helps one experience the glory of Spirituality in his Sanidhya.

26th September, 1970, saw the humble beginnings of Kumar Mahavir Kanhaiyalal Bhayani in the city of Nagpur (Maharashtra), whom seekers across the world fondly revere as Pujya Gurudev today.The youngest among the 4 siblings, Namramuniji Maharaj Saheb had an uncanny curiosity from a very young age. He tried to discover the reason and purpose behind everything, every situation and every object. It was this thirst for knowledge, which made Namramuniji Maharaj Saheb experience a connection with himself and Parmatma.

Once upon a time, there was a framer called Datadin. He used to tell bedtime stories to his son, Gopal. One night he told his son never to forget that God is everywhere and notices all our work. After some days, there was a famine. Nothing grew in Datadin's field. One day, he went to another farmer's field to steal grain. He told Gopal, "Look around. If somebody comes to this side, inform me". As soon as Datadin started to cut grain, Gopal said, "Wait father, somebody is here". Datadin looked around and asked his son, "Where is he?" Gopal said, "You told me God is everywhere and sees whatever we are doing. Will he not see you stealing the grain?" Datadin was ashamed and he kept the grain back and returned home empty-handed.

Jain Study Center of North Carolina celebrated Mahavir Janma Kalyanak at the HSNC Cultural Hall on Sunday April 30. With a record turnout of about 450 people, and an active participation in puja and the program, the event was regarded as a success. The army of volunteers, the many sponsors, and the calibre of children, youth and adult performances underscored their hard work and dedication put behind this event.

The Jain Center of Southern California celebrated Mahavir Janma Kalyanak on April, 9th 2017 same day as his birthday according to the Lunar calendar, Chaitra Sud 13. With preparation well on its way 4 Months ago, the events of the day began with Snatrapuja, followed by Mahavir Panch Kalyanak Puja, Asthprakari Puja, Aarti, Mangal Divo and Shanti Kalash in the morning. The Evening ended with Children's Cultural Program followed by Swamivatsalya Dinner served till 6:30 pm so as to avoid Ratri Bhojan. We had 200 Kids participate in 14 performances based on Jain theme and philosophy which included skits, musicals and variety of dances such as Garba, Raas, Bharatnatyam, Rajasthani Kalbeliya, fusion and Bhangara. Our center's kids, their parents and hundreds of volunteers worked very hard to present a quality program and look forward to this day, as we all have fun and truly come together as one to celebrate it.

Vinay is an internal quality of jiva. Vinay is considered the root of the religion as per Jain canonical books. Vinay is given the utmost importance in Jainism, for example, it is discussed in the first chapter of Uttaradhyan Sutra and also in the 9th chapter of Dashvaikalik Sutra. True meaning of Vinay is absence of ego. There are eight types of ego, and the person with Vinay does not have any of them.

Vinay is of seven types:

1) Gyan Vinay - means Vinay for knowledge which is of five types.
2) Darshan Vinay - Vinay for Perception which is of 55 types.
3) Charitra Vinay - means Vinay for conduct which is of 5 types.
4) Man Vinay - means Vinay of mind. We should be very careful regarding our thoughts.
5) Vachan Vinay - means Vinay of speech. We should be very careful while speaking.
6) Kaya Vinay - means Vinay of Body.we should be very careful while doing any activity.
7) Upchar Vinay - means Vinay for paying homage which is of 7 types.

YJA is excited to present the longest-ever issue of Young Minds at yja.org/youngminds! With six feature articles and over 30 writers, it is truly a community effort.

So much has happened in the last few months, we couldn't help but tell you about all of it. Inside, you will find the latest on new YJA programs, an update on the executive board's meeting with the JAINA Long-Range Planning Committee in Chicago, and thought-provoking articles about Jainism in our lives. Through the LR Spotlights and Retreat Reflections, you can learn more about how Jain youth are engaging with members of their community.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we hosted a webinar with YJA members, Amit Shah and Pooja Mehta, along with our Dir. of Education, Anjali Doshi, and past convention speaker and mental health activist, Ramey Ko, for an honest chat about mental health, wellness, and Jainism. You can watch a recording of Talking Taboos: Mental Health, Wellness and Jainism at .

THE 5 CAUSES OF KARMIC BONDAGE

1) Mithyatva(Irrationality and a deluded world view): The deluded world view is the misunderstanding as to how this world really functions on account of one-sided perspectives, perverse viewpoints, pointless generalisations and ignorance.
2) Avirati(non-restraint or a vowless life): Avirati is the inability to refrain voluntarily from the evil actions, that harms oneself and others. The state of avirati can only be overcome by observing the minor vows of a layman.
3) Pramada(carelessness and laxity of conduct): This third cause of bondage consists of absentmindedness, lack of enthusiasm towards acquiring merit and spiritual growth, and improper actions of mind, body and speech without any regard to oneself or others.
4) Kasaya(passions or negative emotions): The four passions-anger, pride, deceit and greed are the primary reason for the attachment of the karmas to the soul. They keep the soul immersed in the darkness of delusion leading to deluded conduct and unending cycles of reincarnations.
5) Yoga(activities of mind, speech and body): Each cause presupposes the existence of the next cause, but the next cause does not necessarily pre-suppose the existence of the previous cause. A soul is able to advance on the spiritual ladder called guṇasthana, only when it is able to eliminate the above causes of bondage one by one.