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to have a lock-in (a day full of Jain activities) during August. 3905 Arc Street Houston, TX 77063 contact: 713/879-9457 Prabodh Mehta.
entities play a role in any happening which includes destiny and Purusharth.
We are expecting Shri Bhattarak CharuKirthiji in August and others in later months. We also had Pravinbhai Shah from Raleigh, NC and Dr. Prem Gada from Lubbock visiting here in July who brought us up-to-date on what is happening in the lain education arena including a CD-ROM from Harvard University on various religions including Jainism. A few of the fami- lies attended the JAINA convention in Toronto We are looking forward to the Paryushan and Das Laxan days coming up shortly.JSNT contact is president Pradeep Shah at 972/867-6255.
Southwest Jadavji Kenia, Regional Editor Dallas, TX
Jain Society of North Texas celebrated Mahavir Jayanti and Ahimsa Day with the help of Gurudev Chitrabhanuji during April 19-20, 1997 weekend. This visit was of extra importance as it was also a part of the FREEDOM 50 (celebrating 50 years of India's independence) planned by India Association of North Texas throughout 1997. On April 19, the program started with Snatra Pooja followed by a Jain family feud game between adults and youth con- ducted by the Jain Youth Group and a discourse by Gurudev Chitrabhanuji. On Sunday, April 20, there was Ahimsa Appreciation Walk in the morning at the White Rock Lake in Dallas co-sponsored by the Jain Society and India Association of North Texas, after which the group gathered for few inspiritional words on Ahimsa from Gurudev Chitrabhanuji followed by Q&A with Gurudev.
Then in the afternoon there was a larger gathering at the DFW Hindu Cultural Center where a lot of non-Jains were also present. This program was jointly sponsored by the Jain Society and the DFW Hindu Temple Society. There was a cultural program by Jain and non-Jain youths followed by an Ahimsa discourse by Gurudev. Gurudev was also presented a "Key to Dallas” by the mayor's office and he also signed a peace message for the multi-faith group. Among the dignitaries this year, we had a visit from Dr. Bharill in June who delivered the discourses on Kram-Baddha-Paryay.
Later Shri Niraj Jain visited us who gave lectures on Ahimsa and Aparigrah and also spoke highly about Purusharth throughout his lectures. He also included a lecture on Jain history and Jain art. Pandit Dhirajbhai Mehta visited this area after the JAINA convention. He had a 5-day camp in Waco to teach about Yog-Satak. Dhirajbhai then came to Dallas and gave lectures on Ahimsa and Anekantvad and tried to explain how 5
Houston, TX
Jain Society of Houston had an election for new board of trustees. They are Suresh Ghclani (chief trustee), Parimal Desai, Pallavi Mehta, K. T. Shah, Navin Mehta and Ashok Shingavi. Our new ex- ecutive committee is Jitendra Shah - President, Dinesh Lakhia - Vice President, Suresh Chokshi - Secretary, Priti Shah - Treasurer, and Sanjay Barai, Vinod Bilakhia, Hema Chheda, Rahul Lakdawala, Nitesh Mehta, Sudha Parekh, Pankaj Shah, and Ranjan Vora.
Among the scholars, we had Mr. Niraj Jain gave lectures on Ahimsa from June 1923. The month of July was booming with activities. Pandit Dhirajlal Mehta gave lectures from July 17-23. He explained Dev, Guru, Dharma and Syadvad as these pertain to Jainism in his simple yet informative style. On 20th July, Babubhai Kadiwala performed the Sidhhachakra Pujan at the Jain Center. Mr. Pravin Kamdar gave his seminar on Jainism to our Youth which was enlightening to everyone, specially our young Jains. We are looking forward to visit discourses from Sri Bhattarak Charukirtiji who will be here for the Paryushan. Our Jain Fellowship (youth) group is planning
Phoenix, AZ
As we planned, the Jain Center of Greater Phoenix had third annual Jain Camp at Payson, Arizona from February 15 to 17. A total of 26 young adults and 30 adults participated in the camp. The theme of the camp was "LIVE AND LET LIVE". This camp was basically arranged and managed by the young adults from our Pathshala group. In the camp we had several religious as well as fun filled events, covering the basic principles of Jainism, Pancha Parameshthi, Jain Cosmology, Tapa, Fourteen Gunasthanas, Meditations, and three Spiritual Jewels also had debate/discussion on day to day real life topics such as drugs, peer pressure, etc. A session on TEAM BUILDING and LEADERSHIP was very successful.
In between these sessions, young adults had plenty of time for hiking, playing games of volleyball, football, basketball etc. and Swadhyaya for the adults. On second night, February 16, there was talent show. As usual on the last day we had the tests, celebration of the accomplishments, and filling out the survey form.
We celebrated the Mahavir Jayanti program this year in Dobson Ranch, Tempe, AZ. The Pathshala members performed dances, drama, and sang Stavans in the program. The program was concluded with a delicious dinner.The Jain Center of Greater Phoenix had Dharmalabh from Mumukshu Rajendrabhai Kamdar and Mrs. Kamdar (visiting from Rajkot) from June 10 to 15. Shree Rajendrabhai gave discourses on Vrata and Tapa. Several Jains Metro Phoenix area attended the JAINA convention held in T oronto, Canada. News contact: Harshad Desai at 602/582-8437.
JAIN DIGEST FALL 1997/7
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