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Toth Anniversary Celebration
and others. A special thanks to Shri Kiranbhai who had conducted special sessions on Jain philosophy for past Five summers.
Diwali/New Year's Day: Three days during Diwali, around the clock AKHAND NAMOKAR MANTRA JAP is being held at the Derasar. Derasar is kept open for 24 hours for darshan. Navsmaran is read on the early morning of the New Year. Over 800 people come for Darshan throughout the day. Many people stand in line for puja. From morning puja, until late nite Bhavna, the day is filled with various religious activities.
9.
Ayambil Oli: Twice a year Center gives an opportunity to those who wants to do ayambil on weekend at the Center. Many people sign up in advance. Over 100 Ayambils were recorded in one day.
Jivdaya & Sadharmik Vatsalya: Jivdaya and Sadhrmik Bhakti are the founding stones of Jainism. During Parushan celebration center is beting donations from many members. Hard cash is being collected through the Jivdaya Bhandar. Ever year the center manages to send a total of about $6,000 to various panjarapoles in India. Also Center sends $500 per year to two institutions in India towards Sadharmik Bhakti. Jain Center of New Jersey had donated $25,000 to Jain Sangh of Pennsauken in South Jersey, and $5,000 to Siddhachalam of Blairstown, New Jersey to support the establishment of new temples.
Clothing Drive: Since 1982, the Center has always kept its door open for collecting clothes for the Share & Care Foundation, a non-profit organization. Through Share & Care Foundation, the clothes are being sent to India for the needy people. In November 1992, the Center was able to dispatch a full trailer of about 22,000 pounds of old clothes to Shree K. T. Mehta Trust, Rajkot, India. These clothes were distributed to needy people in Saurashtra, India by Shri Shashikantbhai Mehta under whose auspices we celebrated paryushan parv in August 1992.
Tapascharya: A few Atthais (8 Upvas) were performed, when the Center was established in 1980. Since then the number of Tapasvi's (8 or more upvas) went up each year. The Jain Center recorded 41 Tapasvis in one year. The Center is proud to have a tapasvi who performed a MASKSHAMAN (30 Upvas) and four tapasvis who performed VARSITAP (14 months continuous tapascharya). Needless to say that numurous people were registered for EKASANA, BESANA, AYAMBIL etc. during all eight days of Paryushan Parv Celebration.
3.
Youth Group: Our youth group is fully aware of the need to understand and practice Jainism. The first R.S.V.P. (Religious, Social, Vegetarian, Practical) seminar was held in 1990 at the Center. Over 100 youngsters (age 16 to 26) came from different parts of the country. After the tremendous success of the first seminar, more youths were interested to do this on a yearly basis. The second seminar was held in 1992 which was attended by over 150 youths from northern United States.
Visit To Other Centers: Jain Center organized a very successful trip to Boston to participate its 10th Anniversary Celebration. Jain Center also performed Chaitya Paripati (Pilgrimage to
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