Jain Digest 2004 07 Vol 23 No 3

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

Page 6

The Barcelona
JAINA and
Naresh Jain JAINA Interfaith
Committee
posters. The Jain delegation to the parliament was a grand success. The profile of Jainism was raised. We had taken an important step, the impact of which will be felt for years to come.
T he Jain community made a serious and
significant impression among 8,000
religious leaders, activists and lay people in the Barcelona Parliament of World's Religions from July 7 through July 13, 2004, about the existence of Jainism as a separate religion as well as its dominant teachings of nonviolence in these modern times of increasingly religiously motivated violent world. The JAINA delegation comprised of 30 delegates: 13 from USA, 5 from UK, and 12 from India. Sixteen of these delegates were speakers/ presenters/ performers.
Our programs were well attended and generated a lot of interest in our religion. The JAINA exhibition booth was well equipped with books, posters and flyers and was open full time throughout the week with at least two delegates in attendance all the time.
During July 2003 JAINA convention, a few seniors spoke to me about this event. In the October 4th Siddhachalam meeting, the JAINA executive committee (JEC) members emphasized that JAINA must have presence in this historic world wide gathering and asked me to put together a package for Jain presence In an effort to exemplify practice before preaching, JAINA Executive Committee and its President Anop Vora had also decided to reach out to all Jains throughout the world to join this parliament event held every five years and participate actively with one unified Jain voice to raise the profile of Jainism, almost an unknown religion outside of the South Asian communities.
JAINA
OgWU
JAINA Delegation JAINA Booth
at
Our revered monks and nuns Amrender
Muniji, Devendrakeerty Swamiji, Pratibha pragyaji and Punya Pragyaji added a very important dimension to our presence. They became the center of attraction and curiosity, as many people at the conference had probably never seen a Jain monk or a nun before. Their sessions on meditation, yoga, mantra and chanting were filled to capacity. In many cases there was no room to stand in the lecture rooms. Free distribution of books and flyers on World Religions as well as on Jainism helped Jains become visible as an open-minded community. Several visitors took notes from our
With several possible scenarios in my mind, I contacted Hema Pokharna in Chicago who has represented the Jain community in the parliament office wearing several hats including one of a trustee, an executive committee member, and a member of the program task force as well as the plenary task force. Hema is a multitalented scholar at the University of Chicago. When I announced the support from JEC to her, she jumped with joy and started connecting me to the parliament staff. My first assignments were to learn the history of the parliament, recruit delegates, assess the diversity and expectations of the potential Barcelona audience, and prepare program proposals to be followed by travel and accommodation arrangements.
Jain Education Interational 2010_03
4. JAIN DIGEST FALL 2004