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News And Announcements
JAIN DIGEST
Florence. Samanis were warmly received at each Jain center. They left for Bari, Italy on September 23, 1990 to attend the Fourth International Meeting on Peace. After attending the peace conference, samanis will spend about a week in Rome, Italy. They will teach Preksha-Dhayan to an Italian group.
Two other samanis, Madhur Prajna and Bhavita Prajna, spent one month in Japan, where they gave discourses on Jainism and Preksha-Dhayan to several Japanese groups. They arrived in the United States on August 7, 1990. During the last two and a half months, they also visited Jain centers in Hawaii, San Francisco, Los Angles, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Phoenix, Columbus, and St. Louis. They plan to visit Dallas, Montreal, New York, and New Jersey before leaving for Hong Kong on October 25, 1990.
First USA Visit By Samanis
6th Biennial JAINA Convention
Reminder
The Jain Center of Northern California cordially inbout ten years ago, recognizing the needs of Jains A living abroad and current times, Acharya Shri Tulsi
vites you to attend the 6th Biennial Convention of
Federation of Jain Jain Associations in North America (Head of Jain Terapanth, one of the four Jain sects) created a
(JAINA), Thursday - Saturday, July 4 - 6, 1991 in the San new category of sadhus and sadhvis. They are called samans
Francisco Bay Area, California, U.S.A. The convention will and samanis , respectively. The samans and samanis follow
celebrate the 10th anniversary of JAINA. the same life style as other Jain sadhus and sadhvis with two
The site of the convention is Stanford University campus, exceptions. First, at the time of the diksha (being initiated as
Pal Alto, California. The convention's theme is Extending nuns), they are granted permission to use mechanical transportation for travel. The second exception is a little more
Jain Heritage to the Next Generation. subtle. According to a Jain creed, sadhus and sadhvis can
Various dignitaries, Jain monks, scholars, young Jains and share food which people prepare for themselves but can't
prominent Jains from around the world are expected to
attend this historical event. take food specially prepared for a sadhu or sadhvi. Since many people are living abroad and don't fully understand
The convention will feature many programs, sessions,
panel discussions, art/book exhibition and presentations this subtle restriction, samans and samanis are allowed to
relating to all aspects of Jainism with special emphasis on take food specially prepared for them. These are the only two
young Jains. major differences between the samanis and sadhvis. Before taking a saman diksha, each person goes through an
The San Francisco Bay Area is laden with many points of extensive training for six to seven years. During this period,
interest. Among its famous attractions are: Golden Gate
Bridge/Park, Lombard Street, Carmel by the Sea, Muir they study principles of Jainism, comparative religious analysis, and ancient Jain scriptures at the Jain training center
Woods, Silicon Valley, Stanford and Berkeley University. in Jain Viswa Bharati in Ladnun, Rajasthan. They also study
More information on the exact details of the program will various languages including Sanskrit and English
be sent later. If you have any questions or comments, please Today, there are 44 samans and samanis. They travel
feel free to contact the following address, telephone or FAX extensively in India and abroad, giving discourses on Jain
numbers. ism. Over the last ten years several groups have visited
JAIN CENTER OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Europe. They
3143 Fremont Blvd. have conducted several Preksha-dhyana (a form of medita
Fremont, CA 94555 or Prem Jaini (415) 770-0503; Pravin
Turaknia (415) 794-9700; Navin Dednia (408) 629-1723 or tion) camps for Japanese, Europeans and Indians. More recently, two samanis, Smit Prajna and Akshya
contact by FAX (415) 659-8042. Prajna, spent three months touring Holland, Belgium, West Germany, Finland, and the United Kingdom. They arrived in the United States on August 26, 1990. During their short
Did You Remember To Send In Your Adstay in the United States, they visited Jain centers in New dress Correction/Confim Application From Jersey, Toronto, Raleigh, Atlanta, New York, and Alabama. At each center, they gave a brief introduction to Preksha
The July 1990 Issue of the Jain Digest ? dhyana and lectured on principles of Jainism. They also delivered a speech at the University of North Alabama in
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