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President's Message
of Jainism, we have created the first children's dedicated to the teachings of Mahavira Swami. "Mahavira: The Hero of Nonviolence" is now available through JAINA's website. The children's book will be available to all patshala groups as well as major libraries across the country.
Jai Jinendra,
As we look back over the past year, we have many successful events, projects and initiatives to celebrate. Last October, in partnership with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Claremont Lincoln University (CLU), JAINA hosted the 1st Annual "Ahimsa Day" conference. Leaders from the Jain community met with members of Congress to discuss initiatives to foster nonviolence. During the conference, the "Ahimsa Award" was presented to Shri Chitrabanuji and Pramodaben Chitrabanu by leaders of AJC, CLU, and Shri Lokesh Muni, for their contributions over decades of service in spreading nonviolence across the globe.
"Ahimsa Day" was the first of three days as part our new initiative called "JAINA Days", a nationwide effort to celebrate important dates across Jain Centers. In the spirit of bringing our community together around the key principles of Jainism, we implemented "Ahimsa Day" on Oct 2 to celebrate Jainism's message of nonviolence and explore the application and impact of nonviolence in various sectors of life. Next we organized "Jiv Daya / Compassion Day" to be celebrated on or close to Thanksgiving. This year, we will be organizing a national campaign in conjunction with World Vegan Day on Nov. 1, 2014. Lastly was "Forgiveness Day" during the first Saturday after Paryushan/Das Lakshan, as an opportunity to practice our principle of seeking forgiveness from others and forgiving others with friends even outside of our community.
In our commitment to serve all age ranges of our Jain community, JAINA revived Young Jains Professionals (YJP). I would like to share my congratulations to the new YJP Executive Board for all of their efforts in creating local and regional events across the US for those ages 28 - 42. Their most recent event was a "Jain Scholars Series" retreat, which took place at Siddhachalam, in partnership with the Jain Center of America (JCA - NY).
This past February, JAINA hosted the 3rd Annual Jain Leadership Retreat in Florida, led by JAINA's Long Range Planning (LRP) Committee in conjunction with the Jain Education Research Foundation (JERF) and Florida International University (FIU). Over 80 leaders, including youth and young adults, were in attendance where topics of leadership and the future of the Jain community were discussed.
JAIN DIGEST
I would also like to congratulate the establishment of two new committees. The first of which is the Eco-Vegan Ahimsak Committee led by Dr. Jina Shah who have successfully created events and projects to spread the value of non-violence and conscious consumption. JAINA's Upliftment Committee led by Dr. Sushil Jain is JAINA's very own "Adopt a Child / Adopt a Family Program", which has supported nearly 100 families and young adults with vocational training in India to support them to rise out of poverty.
In an effort to further our commitment to spreading awareness
JAINA's contribution is not only recognized across North America, but also internationally. Earlier this year, several members of JAINA's EC attended the "JAINA India Summit" where we worked with the leaders of the Jain diaspora of Tamilnadu in the spirit of unity. We have partnered with various Jain organizations in India and look forward to continued collaboration to bring Jain solidarity to the practice and expression of Jain values.
I would like to extend a special congratulations to Young Jains of America (YJA) and the local Convention Committee who have spent hundreds of hours to organize the 2014 YJA Convention in Washington, DC. Over 700 youth and young adults were in attendance from across North America with speakers from across the globe. During the past year, YJA orchestrated countless events strengthening connections with local Jain Sanghs to re-invigorated youth participation in Jain activities with a focus on education and activism.
This past year also marked the 150th Anniversary of one of the greatest pioneers of bringing Jainism to the West. Sri Virchand Ragavji Ghandhi's (VRG) representation of Jainism at the Parliament of World Religions Conference in 1893 was a momentous occasion. An American newspaper wrote, "Of all Eastern scholars, it was this youth whose lecture on Jain faith and conduct was listened to with the interest engaging the greatest attention." In honor of VRG, our VRG Committee, led by Nitin Shah has created a number of projects including an official stamp and VRG Scholarship Fund of which 52 scholarships have been provided to students, more than 50% of which have been to non-Jains across 20 Universities and Institutions of higher education.
I am pleased to announce that the planning for the next JAINA Convention in 2015 is in full swings thanks to the JAINA Convention Board and Convention Committee. The theme will be "Jainism: World of Non-Violence". Thank you to all of the countless volunteers who comprise the 15 sub committees organizing what will be the largest JAINA convention in JAINA's history.
Looking ahead, JAINA's main objective is to build on the momentum of this past year and continue to transform JAINA from a volunteer-based organization to a professional institution. With your support, we will take the next steps to achieve our shared vision to Evolve and promote Jain practices, Educate Jains and non-Jains to create a strong North American Jain community. Expand an awareness of Jainism as we create a global impact & Energize our community by evoking social change.
I AUG-NOV 2014 3
