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YOUNG JAINS STUDENTS
Compiled By Priya Kothari (YJS Cambridge)
Yjs Cambridge Priya Kothari pjk36@cam.ac.uk An air of anticipation filled the room just before the start of the first "Jainism: Back to Basics". The aim of this interactive event was to discuss basic Jain principles and see how they can be applied to real life.
This auspicious event was held at the Jain Samaj Manchester. Some of the invited guests included the Head of BBC Religions and Ethics, the chief guest for the night Mr. Alan Bookbinder, and many other prominent persons.
The agenda for the night included speeches, the launch of the Jainism webpage, Indian classical dances, and a Jain dinner. A photo exhibition was also presented by Jain Spirit.
We hope that through this the world will gain a greater knowledge of Jainism.
Look out for a full review in the next newsletter!
As an ice-breaker as well as a starting point for discussions, the committee acted out a short scene from the play "The past lives of Tirthankar Mahavir". We then split up into groups with committee members as facilitators. We started off by discussing how the play illustrates various Jain principles such as karma and the qualities of life. Everyone participated actively in the discussion and soon the discussions took different directions, with members airing their views and asking some very good questions. It was difficult to call an end to the event because everyone was so engrossed in their discussions. The event was a successful start for CUYJS and we were delighted when we were asked, "When is the next event?!"
YJS Warwick Paras Shah su529@sunion.warwick.ac.uk
An uplifting Aarti & Mangal Deevo of Lord Mahavir preceded a lively discussion on liberation. It was not compulsory for people to partake and they could just observe if they wanted to.
jinal Shah Vice President CUYJS
YJS Leicester Sawah Shah vjleic@yahoo.co.uk The YJS trip to the Leicester Derasar was organised by quite a few nodes around the country. The night started from 19:00 with Jayeshbhai, a volunteer at the derasar, explaining the customs and rituals of praying, the reasons why we pray to Tirthankars, and much more. This was followed by an Aarti and Mangal Deevo and then dinner at one of Leicester's finest Indian cuisine establishments, Mirch Masala. Over 50 people attended and YJS Aston, Cambridge, Leicester, and Warwick were all represented.
Our discussion focused on whether Moksha (Liberation) was possible in today's society. It was mainly discussed from the point of view of Jainism but we invited people of all faiths to join us. The Chair of the discussion started by explaining the five key principles of our way of life and then the discussion centred on each principle in turn to assess how possible it is to adhere to them in today's world and hence how possible it is to attain enlightenment. At times the discussion became quite heated, especially when Ahimsa was discussed. For example was it right for Jains to live in a country and thus support a government waging war on Iraq? Also if our country, religion and way of life were being threatened by invading forces could we as Jains draw the line somewhere and fight back to preserve our culture as the Sikhs did during the Moghul invasion of India? The discussion ended with a lot more questions being created than answered but there is no other way I would prefer it as we must always question and through questioning, learn.
Look out for a full review in the next newsletter!
Yls Manchester Rajul Shah Amil Tolia yismanchester@hotmail.com
Indrajit Shah Vice President YJS Warwick
YJS Manchester held a great event on December 7th. As you may know BBCi has a Religions and Ethics section where many faiths have been represented. On December 7th, Jainism was launched on their webpage
Young Jains actively sponsors YJS and offers sponsored membership to Young Jains UK. For more information on free Young Jains Student membership, go to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/jainism/.
http://www.youngjains.org.uk/students
We organised the launch party for this momentous event having continuously liaised with the BBC and the Jain community in Manchester.
We want to help retain Jain identity and culture by supporting Young Jains - Kishore, Ranjan & Family Jain Education International For Persons & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
