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with a blessing at the Swaminarayan Mandir at Neasden, attended by the cyclists and their families, we received blessings from Jayeshbhai Shah from our Jain Temple in Leicester, the swami, the Bishop of London, and other leading members of the Muslim and Sikh communities."
The cyclists carried their own vegetarian meals and several thousands of litres of drinking water. The 87 cyclists were supported by another fifty helpers.
"Our Kenyan hosts made the whole venture work wonderfully," said Shreya Rughani, one of the Kenyan born cyclists. "The cycling was pretty tough, but we visited one of the feeding stations and it was great to see so many children benefiting from the meals we served."
Mr. Manish H. Shah, one of Jain Spirit's Directors, took part and found it to be a tremendous experience. He explained, "I pray to God that I be given another opportunity to enable me to make my small contribution towards the upliftment of the less fortunate people on this earth. It allowed me to put into practice the tenets of Jainism through my own toil."
The ride was well supported by local Kenyan businesses, but there was also excellent support from the Royal Bank of Scotland. In addition to sponsoring one day's expenses, they provided four riders who raised over £10,000.
Veerayatan is also planning to open up ten boreholes and from the water generated over seven thousand families will receive safe drinking water. ⚫
Visit the Veerayatan website at http://www.veerayatan.org/
For more information on the Food For Life project go http://www.ffl.org/, we also detail some relevant events in our Veggie Power news feature.
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of God and touch God with right. Please could you reprint it to avoid confusion as I feel this is important.
Dear Jain Spirit,
When I found myself lost and alone in the deserts of Rajasthan at the beginning of this year, I had entered a state of silence. By observing silence, I tapped into my inner guiding force, which eventually led me back to the place I was staying at. Upon reflection, I decided that when I return to the UK, I'd observe silence every Monday- I only lasted 2 Mondays! I became wrapped up in the western lifestyle, the silence became tedious, and I chose not to continue the experiment.
COOL CAREER
That was until I read Jani Gudka's article on Listen Through Silence in issue 22. Thank you for publishing Jani's article - it inspired me to continue the experiment. Ever since I read it in early April, I have been nurturing my inner peace in this way on Mondays once again. This has led to some phenomenal discoveries about my self and my talents. I want you to be aware of the positive impact the magazine is having on me.
All the best,
Suraj Shah www.surajshah.com
Dear Jain Spirit,
Firstly, a big thanks for presenting our community news in Jain Spirit. I was full of joy and no words can express it when I saw my write up!
One more thing I just wanted to say is that the image of me doing pooja was printed the wrong way round! Respectful practice is when ladies pray, they stand on the left hand side
For Personal & Private Use Only
Regards and thanks, Bhairavi Akshay Kothari
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(Notes from Editors: Sorry Bhavari for the mistake in Issue 22, Community News- thanks for writing in)
Dear Jain Spirit,
My friends and I loved the cover of issue 22. What is it of and where was it taken?
Best wishes,
Jay Shah, Belgium
Dear Jay,
We asked the photographer Thomas Dix and he said: "I am glad to hear that my cover photograph found a good resonance among the readership. This roofed gallery with seated tirthankaras was taken in the tirtha on Mount Shatrunjaya, Palitana, Gujarat."
Best wishes,
Jain Spirit Editors
(Look out for our profile of Thomas and
his love of Jain art and sculpture in the next issue)
WWW.JAINSPIRIT.COM
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