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| Samani Akshay Pragya | Samani Vinay Pragya |
“Change ourselves first if we need to change the world. Changing others is easy, but changing ourselves requires lot of efforts”. This is the message that Samani Akshay Pragyaji gave to Houston community. Member of Jain Vishwa Bharati Houston Center (JVB) welcomed the arrival of Samani Akshay Pragyaji and Vinay Pragyaji to center on February 11th 2007.
The event began with melodious Bhajan by Hemant Bhavsar et al, followed by a grand welcome by the Gyanashala children with symbolic Kumkum, Akshat, Phool, Kalas, Gud, Deepak, and Mala.
In his welcome speech Hasmukh Patel, current president of the center, appreciated the generosity of Sri Sunil Bhai Mehta in providing the space for JVB activities, and praised the contributions made by past presidents in shaping the JVB Houston. He also requested the community members to make use of Samaniji’s presence in JVB centre by attending yoga classes, meditation, camps, Gyanshala, counseling, and many other activities.
Gordon Anderson, one of the members of the Working Committee, who had been to India recently to attend Maryada Mahotsav, shared his experiences with the audience. He said “ meeting with Gurudev was a magical experience”.
Ila Patel et al sang welcome song for Samanijis. This was followed by a session where a number of attendees shared with Samanijis what there expectation was from the center.
Samani Akshay Pragyaji in her pravachan emphasized that changing others is easy, but changing ourselves requires lot of effort. Therefore, our aim should be changing ourselves. Samaniji also requested audience to make use of Gyanashala and other activities, especially for children. Samani Akshay Pragyaji in her vision 2007 for JVB center emphasized that “there should be training on non-violence, and everyone should strive to bring down cruelty in all activities around the world”.
Samani Vinay Pragyaji, who is visiting USA for the first time expressed the confidence that Houston JVB centre will reach to the next level with the guidance of Gurudev and support of the community. Samaniji also observed that it was good to see so many people in touch with religion with so much devotion and dedication even though they live so far away from their homeland.
In the end, Mr. Swatantra Jain made a presentation on construction of New JVB center and introduced the architect, John Tsai, to the audience. He also welcomed Samanijis to JVB with appreciation for Gurudev’s esteem kindness in sending Samanijis back to Houston to continue the work that was started 7 years ago.