Jain Sangh Birmingham
53 Sunningdale Close, Handsworth Wood, Birmingham, B20 1LH
0121 554 825
4th September 2008
Paryushan in Birmingham
With your blessings and the presence of Samani Jyoti Pragyaji and Samani Him Pragyaji, our Paryushan parva was celebrated in a very special and informative way. The Jain community were very motivated to learn more about simple and practical ways of implementing changes in our way of life, through the teachings of Lord Mahavira. There were workshops organised on Meditation, Swarag–Narak, Health issues, Question Answer time which were all conducted in a very interesting, educational, enlightening and thought provoking manner. They also helped us to shed a lot of myths and realities were clarified.
The morning workshops were held at the Jain Ashram, whilst the afternoon workshops were at the homes of the devotees. A lot of families were able to benefit from the Samaniji’s knowledge and wisdom. During the evenings Samanijis bestowed organised lectures and talks on practical and simple teachings of Lord Mahavir through storytelling and Stavans. We especially enjoyed the spontaneous songs sung by Jyoti Pragyaji during her address.
The Birmingham Jain Community found the insight and deliverance very inspiring and flexible to accommodate a very diverse community. Samanijis used their varied language skills of Hindi, English Gujarati and Punjabi to satisfy us all. We feel grateful to Samanijis for imparting their perceptions. This will help us all to adopt and implement changes in our daily lives for our physical, mental and emotional well being.
The reciting of Mangal Bhavnas and giving meaning to each virtue they blessed all present with the same virtues giving emphasis to the importance of Mangal Bhavnas. The correct way to recite Navkar Mantra, the power of positive energy created through visualisation of different, the centres of power within us helped us to truly feel what we were reciting.
The English Pratikraman took place at the Jain Ashram by Jyoti Pragyaji, whilst the Gujarati Pratikraman took place at the Shakha Hall on Court Road. Today the community will benefit from a practical demonstration of meditation and also observe the way in which Samanijis practice Pratikraman. Saminijis will visit Coventry families tomorrow to benefit the Jain community there.
We thank you whole heartedly, that in the presence of Samanijis and with your blessings our Paryushan was a success. We will feel a vaccum in our heart and minds where the Samanijis created a place of respect and love. In their absence we will strive to fill it with the honourable lessons learnt throughout the Paryushan Parva.
We hope we will be fortunate to receive Samanijis again in the coming years and keep the spiritual light burning in the Jain community in Birmingham.