Jain Spirit 2004 10 No 20

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 18

16 GLOBAL NEWS
Spirituality and Disability: New Report Sets out Framework for Action
In the recent past, it was assumed that people with learning disabilities were unable to make most decisions, basic or complicated, and were content to have their lives largely lived for them. Increasingly, these assumptions are being turned on their heads by campaigners and, most important of all, by people with learning disabilities themselves, whose rallying cry is no more decisions about us without us'. Now this quiet revolution is extending to religion and spirituality. To reflect this, the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities has launched No Box to Tick: A Booklet for Carers of People with Learning Disabilities
The booklet, written by John Swinton and edited by Hazel Morgan, comes in response to the findings of a research project carried out by the Foundation, which explored the importance of spirituality for people with learning disabilities. Carers usually spend a lot of their time supporting these people in meeting their physical and material needs, and helping them to develop new skills. Because of this there is often little time for thinking about emotional needs, including spirituality. There has been a tendency, usually unwitting, to deny that people with
learning disabilities have spiritual needs, and that they are able and anxious to make spiritual choices.
In response to people with learning disabilities expressing how important these needs are to them, this booklet has been written for support staff and others wishing to learn more. The booklet is the latest in a series of publications by the Foundation that include spirituality in their remit. These include Religious Expression: A Fundamental Human Right released in April 2004 and edited by Chris Hatton, Susannah Turner, Robina Shah, Nabela Rahim and Julie Stansfield. This report sets out an agenda for good practice in this complex but increasingly important area. As people with learning disabilities acquire new rights, and society becomes increasingly multi-faith, Jains will be more involved in such questions. Jainism stresses the interconnectedness of all life and the equality of all human beings in both social and spiritual realms. No Box to Tick: A Booklet for Carers of People with Learning Disabilities, priced £2.00, is available from 22 June 2004 from the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, on 020 7802 0304 or www.learningdisabilities.org.uk
Prakrit Comes to London
The Jain Vishva Bharati (JVB) in Cricklewood, North-West London, is providing opportunities to students wishing to read the Jain religious canon in its original language, Prakrit. A professor of Prakrit from India, Dr. Jagat Ram Bhattacharyya came to London in 2004 to teach a university-level Prakrit course for all levels from beginners upwards.
Bhagwan Mahavir did not preach in Sanskrit, but in a regional dialect: Prakrit, found in the Ganges region. According to Paul Dundas - author of The Jains - it bears the same relationship to Sanskrit as Italian does to Latin. Prakrit was more widely spoken and understood than Sanskrit and so its use reflects the more egalitarian appeal of Mahavir to people of all classes. Studying Prakrit at the JVB will enable Jains and friends of Jainism to increase their knowledge, understanding and 'feel' for the Jain dharma.
Free classes are still available at the London JVB on topics such as Preksha Meditation and Bhaktamar (a famous Jain poem). For more information and timings, please contact the Samanijis of the JVB at: jvblondon@yahoo.co.uk Jain Vishva Bharati (JVB) London 22 Oxgate Gardens Cricklewood London, NW2 6EB, UK Tel. ++ 44 (0) 20 8452 0913
Dr. Jagat Ram Bhattacharyya