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FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Bhaktamar Stotra is available on video. It is sung by Anuradha Podwal with commentary by Harish Bhimani. The video will take you on a journey of the ancient Jain temples of India. If you would like to have this video, we request a donation in the amount of $10.00 plus $3.00 for shipping and handling ($.50 for each additional tape) to: Anil R. Shah, Jain Center of Greater Boston, 26 Humbolt Avenue, Burlington, MA 01803. Or you may phone 617/272-3666. At your request, the JCGB will include a free bird feeder with each order to teach our children Jiv Daya.
Hira Ratan Manek from Calicut, India will be in the United States in June, 1997. Hirabhai is a member of the Jain Social Group and the Solar Energy Society of India. He speaks on Jainism and Solar Energy in English, Hindi, Gujarati, and Kutchi. For more information about his visit please contact: C. J. Lalka, 525 Forest Drive, Sanford, NC, 27330-3307 or call 919/7769091 or Fax: 919/776-3071.
Jain Tirth Darshan Diary, 1997 in English is being released on Mahavir Jayanti, April, 1997. A subscription to this unique collection of photographs with descriptions of 150 places is available at the pre-publication price (through April 15, 1997) of only $3.00 US. You may send your checks and requests to: Diary House, 277 Mehandri Ka Chowk, Ramganj Bazar, Jaipur - 3, India.
JAINA and AT & T have signed an agreement called the Association Awards Program. This is how it works. AT & T will pay JAINA 5% of the residential AT & T, direct dial, international, long-distance, per-minute usage charges, billed and collected for each registered JAINA member, who chooses AT & T as their long-distance company.
Please sign up now! Don't forget to give AT & T our account number 4 NAE 1987. If you have any questions, please call Kushal Jain at 908/949-0889
Shwetambar and Digambar idols are available for sale from the Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago. For more information concerning these idols please contact the President of the Society, 435 N. Rt. 59, Bartlett IL, 60103.
Shrimad Rajchandraji's works Chha Padno Patra, Apurva Avasar and Kshamapana are now available in English. For more information concerning these works please contact: Manubhai Doshi, 931 Goldenrod Lane, Lake Forest, IL 60045, or call 847/ 735-0120.
March 1997
Jain Education International
The Jain Youth Association of New York, Gaurav Kopadia, 67 Nassau Drive, Great Neck, NY 10021, phone/fax 516/829-3316. If any young person wishes to find out more about the activities of this group, please contact the address above.
The Vegetarian Resource Group is sponsoring an essay contest for students 18 and under. Entrants should write a 2-3 page essay on any aspect of vegetarianism or veganism. Among the many reasons for being a vegetarian are beliefs about ethics, culture, health, aesthetics, religion world peace, economics, world hunger, and the environment. Categories are: ages 8 and under, 9 -13, and 14 18. Entrants should base their paper on interviews, research, and/or personal opinion. All essays become the property of The Vegetarian Group. Submissions should be postmarked by May 1, 1997 and be sent to: The Vegetarian Resource Group, P.O. Box 1463 Baltimore, MD 21203. To receive more information about the essay contest or lesson plans on vegetarianism send a selfaddressed stamped envelope with two first class stamps to the address above or call 410/366-VEGE or contact them at their Web site address: http://envirolink.org/arrs/VRG/home.html
Concept of God in Jainism
Jainism believes that the Universe and all its substances or entities are eternal. It has no beginning or end with respect to time. The Universe runs on its own by its own cosmic laws. All substances change or modify their forms continuously. Nothing can be destroyed or created in the Universe. There is no need of some one to create or manage the affairs of the Universe. Hence, Jainism does not believe in God as a creator, survivor and destroyer of the Universe.
However, Jainism does believe in God, not as a creator, but as a perfect being. When a person destroys all his karma, he becomes omniscient and omnipotent. He is a liberated soul. He lives in the perfect blissful state of Moksha. This living being is a God of the Jain religion. Every living being has the potential to become a God. Hence Jains do not have one God, but Gods are innumerable and their number is continuously increasing as more living beings attain liberation. Source Unknown
If appropriate, the Jain Digest will be happy to publish items or the date and name of your up-coming event. Please submit all information to the Publishing Editor, see address on page 2.
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