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WELCOME
Dear Readers
The 21st century is going to be the century of the spirit. There are signs everywhere of tiredness with materialism and a desire to discover the meaning of life. The poverty of time which is the desperation of our age is paralyzing our lives and destroying our inner peace. Families have little experience of unity and harmony, and rarely is there time for them to be together and do things together. We are running, but do not know where or for what reason. It is time to stop and reflect on our lives and our actions.
Members of the Jain Spirit Honorary Board of Directors contemplating This is the tenth issue of Jain Spirit.
finance and marketing of the magazine To date we have published over 250 feature articles on a Often, those brought up outside the Jain tradition are more wide variety of topics relating to the ancient non-violent
thirsty and hungry for knowledge and participation, but the Jain tradition and its relevance in modern life. Many of community is often insular. We should take our friends and these articles have never been published anywhere else neighbours to public events and help them to experience our before. Thousands of people all over the world are reading festivals. Shouldn't we invite them to share our annual this magazine on a regular basis, and many have
samvatsari dinner with us? Mahavir did not say that his experienced life improvements as a result of the ideas and
philosophy was restricted to those born in the tradition. It information we have shared. Young people are beginning to was for all souls. Our young have close friends from a see the tradition in its rich mosaic of lifestyle, art, variety of cultures and if we demonstrate this openness in environment, history and philosophy, and developing their
our community, chances are that they would feel proud of curiosity. For many,
their culture and desire to visits to India now take
discover more. There is a on a new meaning We wish all our readers a
need for educational As the reach of the
facilities and teachers magazine spreads to Happy New Year
who can disseminate the libraries, schools and
tradition in a modern many other educational
way using modern institutions, more and more people will become aware of technology. Far more urgent than temples is the need for this ancient tradition. A culture which is based on seminar halls, theatres, meeting rooms and exhibition compassion for all life and has never put down another
spaces. A small shrine for worship or meditation at these religion or its people deserves to be shared. Through the
places is adequate. magazine, we have begun to encourage new writing, art and
The challenges for the new millennium are huge, but so photography and are translating this ancient wisdom into a
are the resources and skills of the Jains. I remain very modern context and language. There is an urgent need for optimistic about the future, and believe that Jain Spirit will good basic books on Jainism for children and young people
increasingly become a focal point of this new revolution. In which encompass the essence of its philosophy and describe this issue, we have a variety of contributions from eminent the core aspects of art, history, worship and lifestyle. To
writers and people endeavouring to preserve Jain values in compile these we need writers who are able to draw upon modern life. Professor Padmanabh Jaini, Kishor Pokharna, the wisdom and articulate it in an interesting modern way. It
Michael Tobias, Mira Kamdar, Ingrid Newkirk, Jugna Shah, seems that many beginners are thrown by the depth of the Sandip Shah are all examples of writers seeking to make a philosophy and cannot find the stepping stone. This often
difference in the modern world and spread the words of discourages and confuses them.
compassion. Dare to care, and enrich your life in the Present institutions of Jain culture and its dissemination process. appear to be disjointed from the needs of today. The temples rarely have any information about the culture and its rich diasporas. A newcomer to a big city like London or New York would have difficulty finding out about the different
Executive Editor Jain organizations and the events that occur within the
editor@jainspirit.org region.
Atul K. Shah
Jain Education International 2010_03
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