Jain Digest 1998 07 Vol 14 No 03

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 14

REGIONAL NEWS (continued)
Southwest
Jadavji Kenia, Regional Editor
North Texas (Dallas area)
Over summer, many speakers visited our center. Dr. Bharill who covered Nirjaradhikar (a chapter from Samaysar Sutra). Dhirajbhai Mehta came in midJune and gave discourses based on the first two chapters of the Tattvarth Sutra covering nature of Atma and understanding of Tatvas. He also conducted a camp in Waco at Kirit/Pramila Daftary's residence. His topic there was "Samyaktva Ni Sazzi." Several people from Waco, Dallas, Houston and Temple, TX took advantage of Dhirajbhai's knowledge and his teaching style of simplifying complex subjects. Sunandaben Vohra joined us in mid-July. Her discourses were based on a book "Atma Utthan No Payo" by Param Pujya Sanyasi Bhandarkar Vijayji Ganivarya." There was also a picnic at an area lake in July organized by young adult members. Rashmi Lalan, our Pathshala teacher for younger children represented this society at the Pathshala Teachers Conference in Boston on May 2324 and brought back some valuable information.
About 40 Jain Youth attended the YJA Convention in Houston on July 4th. Some of the younger members conducted a workshop on Awakening Namokar Mantra within you dealing with colors and sounds based on a book "Song of the Soul" by Acharya Sushil Kumarji. As usual Jain Society sponsored their participation by contributing about half of their expenses.
JSNT contact is president Pradeep Shah at 972/867-6255.
Houston, Texas
During May we had a "Satavadhani" program by Sadhvi Subhamji, which was a great success. In early June we had a series of lectures by Pandit Dhirajlal Mehta. Topic of his lectures was "Tattwarth Sutra" as created by Acharya Umaswatiji Maharaj about two thousand years ago. He explained the fundamentals of Jainism in depth with Jain Education International 2010_02
Team-building exercises at the YJA Convention, held in Houston. See page 15 for more details. his simple style and illustrations which were joyed her Satsang. She presented everything thought provoking in a simple and easy to understand manner.
We will celebrate Paryusan Parva from August 19 to 26 including Swapana ceremony on Saturday, August 22. We will celebrate our current Derasar's 5th Anniversary on Sept 5. Saman shri Shrutprajna and Aswiniprajna will visit Tulsa from November 4-11.
This was followed by a series of lectures by Sunandaben Vohra. Her way of explaining details is well known to our members. She enlightened us with her deep knowledge of religious topics.
Finally the long awaited YJA convention took place at Del Lago convention center in Conroe about 40 miles north of Houston. The entire convention was organized by a handful of young adults from Houston YJA committee with some help and guidance from the national YJA. Refer to YJA section in this issue for detailed report. All in all the convention was a great success. We congratulate the Houston YJA convention committee on a convention well done. JSH contact is president Jitendra Shah at 281/550-3155.
Tulsa, OK
We are moving ahead to build our Derasar and the Jain Center. We have approved a plan from the board of trustees. We will submit an application to the city of Tulsa for a building permit soon. Hopefully we can start some preliminary activity this year like a Bhoomi Pujan before we lay down the foundation.Sunandaben Vohora visited Tulsa from July 21-23. We all en
We collected $2,401 for Cyclone Relief Fund for victims in Gujarat, in response to JAINA's call for help.
Tulsa Jain Sangh contact is Kanti Shah at 918/369-3163.
Phoenix, AZ
Several Phoenix Jain youth attended the YJA convention held in Houston, Texas during the 4th of July weekend.
This year two Pathshala teachers from our area attended JAINA Pathshala Teachers Conference during Memorial Day Weekend in BOSTON. Level 3 Pathshala material was prepared by the Phoenix Pathshala teachers and presented in the conference. The material and our presentation were well received.
During this quarter the greater Phoenix Jain Samaj had Dharma labh from the following scholars and dignitaries:
Continued on page 29 www.jainelibrary.org