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Prakrita, the Lingua Franca or the language of the common people at that time. Thus Bihar is the field of Mahavira's religious preachings and practices.
It is a matter of great satisfaction that Jainism believes in the unity of all faiths. But for it unity does not mean an omnivorous unity in which all its constituents lose their identity. It believes in that type of unity in which all its integral parts can join each other to form an organic whole without losing their independent existence and peculiarities. Thus, Jainism subscribes to the harmonious co-existence of different faiths and cultures in an organic whole. The only way to remove religious as well as other conflicts is to develop a tolerant outlook and to establish harmony among different faiths, ideologies and cultures. Inter-religious dialogue has to be developed in order to overcome the ills of present day society. The world to-day stands at crossroads. But the humanitarian and compassionate ideology of respect for life, relativity of thought and practice enshrined in the Jaina tradition offers a pathway to a truly brave new world. The principle of Anekanta teaches us tolerance and humility. It gives us a basis of establishing peace, friendship, co-operation and reciprocity. It will not be irrelevent to point out that Jainas living abroad have a desire to propagate Mahavira's message of non-violance and love, co-existence and mutual understanding throughout the world. The Federation of Jain Associations in North America (USA and Canada) is a powerful body of Jainas. It has, as its members, 24 Jain centres and Associations of North America. The International Mahavira Jain Mission is particularly active in Canada and organises religious camps and other activities. The Jaina activities are also well-organised in U.K. with London and Leicester as focal points. From the point of view of Jaina activities, Nairobi, the capital of Kenya is also very important. It is important to note that sectarian feelings do not prevail among Jainas in foreign countries. Mostly there are centres where the Jainas of all sects celebrate paryushan, Deepawali and some such festivals jointly. Now many foreign scholars are keen to know and write about Jainism. They should be supplied suitable sets of books for study and research.
We are grateful to the learned scholars who have contributed their articles to this souvenir. The editorial is in tune with the contents of some of the articles. Our thanks are due to Shri Gyan Chandra Khinduka for assisting us in the press work. We are thankful is Shri G.C. Biltiwala for assisting us in proof-reading. We are thankful to the business establishments for contributing their advertisements for Souvenir. We also record our thanks to Shri Ajay Kala, proprietor of Journal Press of Jaipur for paying his personal attention for timely printing of this attractive Souvenir.
Satish Kumar Jain
Chief Editor
Jain Education International
Dr. Kamal Chand Sogani
Executive Editor
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