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AHIMSA TIMES - MAY 2009 ISSUE - www.jainsamaj.org
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participating. ISSJS 2009 Class will consist of, 10 full time teaching faculties, 6 PhDs, 4 Grad Students and rest Undergrads. This also includes 2 distinguished Professors attending ISSJS 2009 program.
Prof. Padmanabh Jaini, Prof. Emeritus at University of California, Berkeley, California will also be teaching. In addition, he will also deliver public lectures at Jaipur and Mumbai, Parshwanath Vidhya Peeth, Varanasi is being revived and upgraded right now to open as a year round study cum residential ISJS -PV Global Center for
Ahimsa & Indology Research in Varanasi, India. Dr. Pankaj Jain; a 2006 Alumnus of ISSJS and now a faculty member at North Carolina State University will be offering a regular on-line course in Jainism. With ISSJS 2009 the Summer School Programe would have served about 120 scholars from 30 universities,
DIKSHA CELEBRATIONS
DIGAMBAR JAIN DIKSHA FESTIVAL AT KUNDALPUR Kundalpur is a religious pilgrimage destination, formed exclusively of Jain temples built on the surrounding hills. The place has a divine and peaceful feeling to it. The white temples are connected through paths. . The occasion was Diksha Ceremony where fifty women embraced the Jain mother positions. They swore celibacy and renounced possessions. The ceremony took place in a huge tent, filled with thousands of Jain followers. The Jain Mothers, called 'Aryikas' wear white saris and the part of the sari covering their heads has blood spots. The Jain saints and Aryikas have shaved heads. They use their own hands to pull their hair out. The ceremony was attended by over eighty Digambar saints and also. Aacharya Vidya Sagar Ji Maharaj.
AN YOUNG DEVOTEE FROM USSR PREPARED TO ACCEPT MUNI DIKSHA IN TERAPANTH SECT - An 11 years old boy named, Mark Kovalov belonging to USSR is keen to accept diksha and become a Jain Muni with the blessings and inspiration of Acharya Shri Mahapragya, head of Shwetambar Terapanth sect. Presently, he is busy learning Hindi and studying Jain literature and has been moving with Acharya Shri and other saints for the last two months. He mentioned that he became acquainted with Jain philosophy, while studying the subject of Universology' in Germany. He had come to know about Preksha Dhyan propagated by Acharya Mahapragya two years ago from a close relative in Russia. He then came to India with his mother, and collected information about Jain religion before returning to Russia. Inspired by the jain philosophy, he soon came back to India and joined the group moving with Acharya Shri Mahapragya. He has travelled with the Acharya Shri from Bidasar to Ladnun and is now fully prepared to accept Muni Diksha from Acharya Shri.
STHANAKWASI SECT - Vairagi Shri Amrit Kumarji accepted Jain Bhagwati Diksha in the holy presence and blessings of veteran saint, Shri Sumati Prakash Ji Maharaj belonging to Shwetambar Sthanakwasi Shraman Sangh at Rohtak. Other eminent saints and Sadhwi present on the occasion included Yuvacharya Dr. Vishal Muni, Shri Padm Muni Ji, Acharya Shri Subhagra Muni Ji, Shri Achal Muni Ji, Shri Agam Muni Ji, Shri Alok Muni Ji, Sadhwi Shri Shanti Ji, Shri Yashojyoti Ji, Shri Vandana Ji and many others.
BOOKS NEWLY RELEASED CONTRIBUTION OF PURSHOTAM JAIN AND RAVINDER JAIN TO PUNJABI JAIN LITERATURE - This literature is inspired by late Jain Nun "Upp Pariwartni Shree Sawaran Kanta Ji Maharaj." Purshotam Jain and Ravinder Jain brothers have jointly presented number of books on Jain Religion in Punjabi language. Translation from Ardh Magdhi Prakrit into Punjabi (Gurumukhi Script) - Click Here to see list of books..
THE KEY TO THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE -By Hermann Kuhn : (A practicable English translation of Umasvami's Tattvarthasutra), Sanskrit text + English translation 200 x 140 mm 204 pages Paperback Rs. 120. Time and again we receive fleeting glimpses of other modes of our consciousness. In his Tattvarthasutra, Acarya Umasvami explored dimensions of the human consciousness. Hermann Kuhn studied Indian philosophy and yoga for 25 years before he came across the Tattvarthasutra for the first time. He studied the Tattvarthasutra under his Jain guru Acarya Aryanandi and discovered for himself hitherto unknown dimensions
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