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South African peace activist and granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi), and Deepak Chopra.
significant attendance from youth, priests and religious leaders. The morning observance session of 'Jain Prayers, Yoga and Meditation' by Samani Punya Pragyaji included recital of mantras, Preksha meditation and yogic exercises. 'Global Peace and Leadership: A Jain Perspective was a joint presentation by Anop Vora, Swami Devendrakeerty and Naresh Jain.
The presentation on Comparative Religion for Understanding the other' by Pravin K Shah, highlighted the similarities and philosophical differences of the World's major faiths, including: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Shinto, Taoism and Confucianism.
The Last Moments: It was now time to dismantle the exhibit, pack the bags and return home. In retrospective, we achieved a lot and learned a lot. JAINA successfully availed the great opportunity to be an active part of the prestigious 2004 Parliament of the World's Religions in Barcelona, which is customarily held once in five years. This Parliament was very successful. In the same way, however on a different scale, JAINA also reached out to all Jains throughout the world to join for a unified presence and assembled a team of 30 delegates representing 10 organizations from India, UK and USA. . Through the cooperation of all, the identity of Jainism was successfully established at the international level. It is noteworthy that in their Internet news bulletins, almost every organization has included the presence of Jainism in this Parliament.
Sudhir and Nikhil Shahs volunteer to serve food at the Sikh Community Langar.
'Self Discipline, Peace and Spiritual Growth jointly presented by Sudhir Shah and Raksha Shah was the last Jain presentation in this Parliament. Sudhir explained the Jain principle of non-possessiveness as a realistic, practical and rational approach to self-discipline When Raksha explained vegetarianism, many were surprised that it did not include eggs, seafood and chicken. The discussion in this area about the Jain way of looking at it was convincing to many.
The closing session in the Forum auditorium was addressed by the renowned philosopher Rev. Dr. Raimon Panikkar. A unique feature of this program was the young people accepted in the Parliament Academy to share their experiences and commitments. Niray Shah was chosen among the four youths to address the Parliament. He made a commitment of keeping the youth of the Parliament connected over the Internet. Nirav and his group also played spiritual music that they had created while playing together in the hallways during evenings. It was a proud moment.
The Next Step:
The first step is to reach out to Jain centers where membership is in excess of 200 families and designate, with the support and help of the local Jain Center's Executive Council, a qualified Interfaith Representative. This person will be a Jain Representative at the existing local interfaith/multifaith associations. If none exists, the JAINA Interfaith Committee will help to start one. This representative will, at all possible events, invite other faith members to Jain events, and post interesting information/events on the JAINA website (where sizable space will be allocated to Interfaith).
I suggest that 'Promote Ahimsa should be our motto. If community makes a commitment of just $ 1 per Jain per year, $100,000 thus collected during the first year will allow to send a copy of 'The Essence of World Religions', a highly sought after book in Barcelona, to over 50,000 libraries in North America. This is just one way. There are numerous ways to be effective. Please send your tax-deductible contribution to JAINAInterfaith Programs. Your involvement and contribution will be the key to our progress. Godspeed.
Pravin Shah, Chair, JAINA Education Committee making a power point presentation.'
Participation of Well-Known Speakers: Internationally well known speakers at the 2004 Parliament included: Shirin Ebadi, (2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate), Dr. Hans Küng (theologian), Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Vandana Shiva (environmental activist), Prof. Federico Mayor Zaragoza (former Director General of UNESCO), Dr. Raimon Pannikar (philosopher), Dr. Jane Goodall, Evelyn Herfkens (Director of the UN Millennium Development Goals Campaign), and Ela Gandhi
9. JAIN DIGEST FALL 2004
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Jain Education Interational 2010_03
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