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President's Message
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Dear Sadharmik brothers and sisters,
Pranam & Jai Jinendra!
JAINA sends condolences to the family of Panditji Shri Dhirajbhai Mehta who passed away at the age of 87 on July 10, 2020. Please read a short bio about him below.
The year 1893 - A twenty-nine years old Jain Scholar left a lasting impression on thousands of people by his eloquence, brevity, and impartiality of outlook at the first-ever Parliament of World Religions Conference in Chicago, USA. While many of us and the younger generation are not aware of why his name is written in history. Let us know Shri Virchand Raghavji Gandhi through an English documentary, created by a Tamil Historian, Mr. Sakithyan Vathiyaar for Jains in the USA. Watch the documentary below.
Shri Virchand Raghavji Gandhi Memorial Committee is pleased to announce an essay contest for Jain youth ages 14-29 years in the USA and Canada. The deadline for the essay submission is September 30, 2020. The contest details are given below.
Jain Center of Greater Phoenix is organizing a Food Drive to Support St. Mary's Foodbank on July 18, 2020. Read more about it below.
Let’s understand the COVID-19 situation under the light of five causes for every situation: 1. Time (Kal), 2. Intrinsic nature (Swabhav), 3. Predestination (Niyati), 4. Instrumental cause (Nimitta), and 5. Determination, Self-Effort, or Freewill (Purushartha).
Read a short story on Marudevi Mata.
Watch an interesting documentary on Jainism - The jain way of Living.
Don't forget to join YJA Day 2020 this Saturday, July 11, to see a number of prominent speakers discuss topics like social justice, environmentalism, professional anekantvad, listen to Keynote Speaker, Maulik Pancholy, as he talks about his life and more. YJA Day 2020 is free and all ages are welcome.
Sincerely,
Mahesh Wadher
JAINA President
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PANDITJI SHRI DHIRAJBHAI MEHTA
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A dark cloud passed over the Jain universe on Friday 10th of July. Panditji – Shri Dhirajlal Dahyabhai Mehta - passed away peacefully at the age of 87 in his home in Surat.
The most eminent Swadhyakar for the Sanghs in America, Panditji was a prolific writer. Every year during his stay in America, he was able to write and publish a new book. In all, he has written over 43 books on difficult subjects like Karma Granth (6 volumes), Ratnakaravtarika (3 volumes), Gandharvaad, Yogvishika, Yogshatak, Yog Drashti Sammuchaya, Tatvarth Sutra, and a Jain Dictionary. He had the gift of being able to explain the most complex Jain subjects in a simple, easy to understand language. During the Coronavirus lockdown, He continued providing Swadhyays on the web.
For the previous 10 days, his hand was aching but on his last day on the earth, after the morning Dev Darshan etc. he told his son that he needed to sit down and resume writing for his upcoming book – 100 Gathanu Stavan. These were his last words and his last deed! A lifelong devotion to spreading knowledge of Jain Dharma practiced unto his last breath!
Hundreds of Jains in America learned many Jain subjects from him over the 30 years of his visits to various Sanghs. He started coming to America from 1991. He also gave Pravachans in UK, Belgium, Kenya, Singapore, and Dubai. In all his travels, he only wore his trademark white Kurta, White dhoti, and black cap. He attended JAINA Convention of 2015 and his last Paryushan in the US was at the JCSC (Los Angeles) in 2017.
Panditji studied at the Shri Yashovijayji Jain Sanskrit Pathshala under Pandit Pokhrakji and Pandit Chandrashekhar Jha. For the last 30 years, he has been teaching Sadhu Sadhvis in Surat and Ahmedabad seven hours a day. Many sadhus and Sadhvis chose to spend 4 months of monsoon in Surat so they could avail themselves of Panditji’s knowledge. Panditji was also frequently invited to speak at the Dharmpur Ashram of Shrimad Rajchandraji. He was the head of all India Pathshala Teachers association for many years and was instrumental in creating scores of Pathshala teachers who will keep Panditji’s legacy alive. Dr. Kumarpal Desai has aptly said “The void left in Jain Samaj will never be filled. We have lost a true Shravak, a jewel of the Jain Dharma and a teacher of teachers.
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Shri V.R. Gandhi Documentary in English by a Tamil Scholar
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September 11, 1893, was the opening day of the first-ever Parliament of World Religions Conference - the first such conference ever organized in the History of Mankind. Over the 3,000 delegates of different religions and nations had congregated for this
landmark event. Among them was Shri Virchand Raghavji Gandhi (VRG), a young man of twenty-nine left a lasting impression on
those present by this eloquence, brevity, and impartiality of outlook.
Who was Virchand Raghavji Gandhi? Why people talk about him even after so many years?
Let’s watch this documentary for answers. The documentary was originally created in Tamil by a Tamil Scholar, Mr. Sakithyan
Vathiyaar. He then translated it into English for the Jains in the USA who are the admirers of VRG.
Shri Virchand R. Gandhi was born on August 25, 1864, in Mahuva, near Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. After primary and secondary education at Bhavnagar, he joined Elphinstone College in Bombay. He graduated and took a B.A. degree with honors from the University
of Bombay in 1884. Among many of his accomplishments was the command of fourteen languages including Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali,
English, Prakrit, Sanskrit, and French. He delivered more than 535 lectures on Jainism, Yoga, Indian systems of philosophy,
Indian culture, occultism, and spiritualism.
JAINA is thankful to Mr. Sakithyan Vathiyaar for creating an informative documentary of Shri V. R. Gandhi.
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CALL TO JAIN YOUTH IN NORTH AMERICA FOR AN ESSAY CONTEST HOSTED BY JAINA VRG MEMORIAL COMMITTEE
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 Shri Virchand
Raghavji Gandhi (VRG) Memorial Committee is pleased to announce an essay contest for Jain youth in the USA and Canada.
In an effort to engage and inspire today’s youth, the committee has chosen a very interesting topic:
"Jainism in the Western World – The Beginning, Progress, and the Future. My commitment to take it forward towards the 22nd Century."
We hope the students across North America will take time to broaden their writing skills during the summer break and participate in this contest.
The contest is open to Jain youth ages 14-29 years.
Winning prizes are:
$250 (1st place)
$150 (2nd place)
$100 (3rd place)
The deadline for submission is Sept. 30, 2020.
We request all Pathsala teachers to encourage students in your centers to participate and shine across North American Jain Community.
For more information, application packet and rules of the contest please contact: VRG Memorial Committee Chair, Kamlesh Shah at
vrgcommittee@jaina.org
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Jain center latest News
Jain Center of Greater Phoenix
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 Jain Center of Greater Phoenix is organizing a Food Drive to Support St. Mary's Foodbank on July 18, 2020. It will be a drive-through
donation where they will be picking up the donation bags from the car trunks. They will be donating food, toiletry, and cleaning
supplies.
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Jainism Says: Spiritually Navigating the Current COVID-19 Pandemic (Continue…)
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The Jain philosophy does not look at these five causes from a single point of view, nor does it consider one cause as the right one. It considers the collective effect as valid and the whole truth. All five causes are functioning simultaneously when any
event happens in the universe or in our life.
Let’s look at the COVID-19 situation under the light of these five causes, 1. Time (Kal), 2. Intrinsic nature (Swabhav), 3. Predestination (Niyati),
4. Instrumental cause (Nimitta), 5. Determination, Self-Effort, or Freewill (Purushartha).
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A short Jain Story: Marudevi
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 Marudevi was married to King Nabhi. On the night she conceives the baby who becomes the first Jina of this era. Marudevi had
the auspicious dreams that foretold the birth of a Jina. In Marudevi's case, the bull was the first dream rather than the elephant,
and therefore she named her son after it, calling him Rishabha. This is why the emblem of Risabhanstha or Bhagwan Rishabhadev
is the bull.
Rishabha then reaches adulthood, marries, and has a hundred children including Bahubali, Bharata, Brahmi, and Sundari.
Later, he decides to renounce the householder’s life to become the first Jain mendicant. He soon reaches enlightenment.
According to Swetambar accounts, Marudevi rides on an elephant to hear the sermon being given by some newly enlightened
teacher. When she arrives, she sees the holy man is her son, Rishabha. Marudevi looks down from her elephant and sees the splendor
of the universal assembly of a universal ruler. When she realizes the universal ruler is her own son, she attains omniscience
and then dies, achieving liberation.
In Digambar accounts, however, the first person to be liberated in the present cycle of time was one of Marudevi’s grandsons.
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Documentary on Jainism - The Jain way of Living:
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Watch this documentary on Jainism where various Jain Scholars, Professors talk about how Jainism is the way of living which counts every living being equal.
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Quote
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All Souls are alike and potentially divine. None is Superior or Inferior.
- Bhagwan Mahavir
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JAINA CALENDAR 2021
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 The JAINA Calendar Committee mails over 15,000 calendars each year to the addresses in our database. JAINA Calendar committee is updating the records to avoid
duplication and calendar wastage. Your cooperation will help us achieve this efficiency
This is to remind you that if you haven't filled the Calendar 2021 form yet, please fill out this
JAINA Calendar 2021 form by July 15th to enable us to place the appropriate print
order and to make sure JAINA Calendar 2021 reaches you in a timely manner. The form asks for:
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Your current and old address so that we can update it accurately. (In case, your address is, unchanged, still, fill out the form.)
- Your email address and mobile number to communicate with you "just in case".
- Some other basic information.
The JAINA 2021 calendar will be mailed to you at the current mailing address that you provide in the form.
We thank all those who have filled in the forms.
PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU DO NOT FILL-OUT THE ABOVE FORM, YOU WILL MISS RECEIVING THE JAINA 2021 CALENDAR.
Thanks for your understanding and cooperation! We hope to hear from you soon.
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