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JAINS MAKE HISTORY IN THE U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Washington D.C. May 2001. Jains of North America made history when a Jain spiritual Leader, Gurudev Chitrabhanuji, became the first Jain Guru to offer the opening prayer in the House of Representative in celebration of 2600th birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir. On behalf of Federation of Jain Associations In North America (JAINA), Gurudev Chitrabhanuji of International Meditation center in New York was invited by Representative Frank Pallone, Jr., a founding Chairman of India Caucus and strong supporter of India. In over two hundred years old history of House of Representative, this was the third time that a nonJudeo Christian delivered the prayer. A Hindu priest from Ohio delivered the prayer last year.
After the prayer, Congressman Pallone paid tributes to the Jain philosophy of non-violence and to the Jain community in North America for organizing this event. He Stated " Jains all around the world celebrated the 2600th Birth Anniversary of Lord Mahavir, the last of the revered 24 Jinas who spread the Jain message. I guess you could say in a way, Lord Mahavir was ahead of his times, once proclaiming all human beings are equal whether male or female, rich or poor. The Jain religion, which places emphasis on personal and societal non-violence in thoughts, speech and actions, has flourished in India for over 3500 years”. He congratulated Dr. Sushil Jain for organizing and thanked House Chaplain Coughlin for allowing Jains the opportunity to celebrate the Jain spirit on the House floor.
The prayer was delivered in English and said, “Let us all join our hands, heads and hearts together and bow to all perfect and liberated souls, and to all spiritual teachers. Let us pray that all elected representatives of the people of this Nation be guided in their thoughts, words and actions to achieve the greatest good for all. Let them have a high sense of responsibility and be free from temptations of selfish interests". The prayer ended with "May the entire universe attain bliss. May all beings be interested in one another's well being. May al faults be eliminated. May people be happy everywhere. Om Shanti! Shantil Shanti!”.
Present in the house Gallery were current President of JAINA, Dr. Mahendra Pandya, accompanied by all the past presidents of JAINA (Drs. Manoj Dharamsi, Tansukh Salgia, Sulekh Jain, Jagat Jain, Manibhai Mehta, and Dhiraj Shah), and over 140 delegates from all over USA, Canada, and representatives from Indian Embassy.
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