Young Jains UK | Blog

Jai Jinendra,

We are pleased to announce the next session of the Jain Dharma Training Programme.  Please find further details below.

JAIN DHARMA TRAINING SESSION - LEARNING IT, LIVING IT

Date:   Sunday 10th May 2009
Time:   10am - 4pm
Venue: Jain Vishwa Bharati (Sayer) Centre, Oxgate Lane, London, NW2 7JN
Lunch:  Please bring your own Jain packed lunch.  Refreshments will be provided
Cost:  None

Jain Dharma Training seeks to facilitate a deeper understanding of dharma; to cultivate awareness of a tradition whose insights can bring benefit to many; and to provide support to those individuals who wish to represent the dharma at local, national and international levels.

As per the last session (see video by Krishna Bakhai), we will continue to develop the content and explore how to deliver it at the convention in July.  Your involvement in this process will be very valuable, and you will gain first-hand experience of the innovative way in which Young Jains makes dharma accessible to the western world.

To register for what will be a very fruitful and inspiring day, please email training@youngjains.org.uk by Monday 4th May 2009.  

To support our recycling efforts, please bring your own Jain packed lunch.  Refreshments will be provided but we would be grateful if you could bring your own cup / mug.

Look forward to seeing you on Sunday 10th,

Priya Kothari
On behalf of the Jain Dharma Training team

A friendly, social and informative event jointly run by Jain Vegans and Young Jains.

Date: Saturday 9th May 2009
Venue: Jain Vishwa Bharati, Sayer Centre, Oxgate Lane, London NW2 7JN
Time: 3pm to 6pm
Entrance: FREE, but suggested donation of £1 per person would be much appreciated.

Many members of the Jain community are making the link between the Jain lifestyle and the vegan lifestyle. For many Jains, being vegetarian is not enough - the starting point needs to be vegan. This event will inform you about the reasons behind this statement, and also show you how easy it is to make the transition to a healthy vegan diet.

So come and join us for food, friends, fun and facts, as we treat you to some delicious vegan foods, introduce you to some great organizations working hard to reduce the himsa in the modern world, and enlighten you with some information as to why a vegan starting point is logical for Jains today.

Vegan food kindly donated by various organisations including:

•  Mr Man vegan Chinese restaurant (Edgware)
• Redwoods
• Bute Island Foods
• Alpro

For more info contact: Chandan Shah (07946 608531 or chandan@youngjains.org.uk) and Kewal Shah at kewal@youngjains.org.uk

RSVP on facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/event.php?eid=62499076401&ref=ts

A new Executive Committee was elected at the Young Jains AGM on Sunday 19th April 2009.

For the 2009-2010 term, we welcome:

• President: Kavit Haria
• Secretary: Roshni Gudhka
• Treasurer: Rajen Malde
• Committe Member: Binit Tejani
• Committe Member: Paaras Dodhia
• Committe Member: Parita Shah
• Committee Member: Suhani Shah

Young Jains Executive Committee 2009-2010
Left to Right: Binit Tejani, Parita Shah, Kavit Haria (President), Roshni Gudhka (Secretary), Rajen Malde (Treasurer), Suhani Shah, Paaras Dodhia

A full-day of convention planning took place today at Sayer Centre, Cricklewood, London, which brought together many members of the Young Jains Convention Committee plus a few welcome additions.

The focus of today’s planning day was on preparing the content which is to be delivered by Young Jains at the Bridging the Gap convention this summer.

Content and presentation methods were explored for each of the four keynote sessions and workshops.

The keynote sessions are focusing on:

1. Who am I at my core and where is real happiness?
2. What is my main goal in this life?
3. What are the obstacles in the way of attaining the goal?
4. How do I overcome these obstacles?

Krishna Bakhai of Imperial College Jain Society shares her thoughts on the planning which is taking place for the convention…

Krishna continues sharing the overview of the planning day as she delves slightly deeper into each of the sessions which will be run at the convention in July…

Keep in mind that this is all still work-in-progress, although we thought it may be nice for you to get a glimpse into what the convention is about and the preparations being done towards the event.

Our next convention planning day is taking place on Sunday 10th May.  If you would like to work with the convention committee to continue developing the content and presentations for each of the keynote sessions and workshops, whilst becoming more familiar with Jain Dharma concepts, then contact convention@youngjains.org.uk - perhaps you can join us at the next convention planning day.

Young Jains events, meetings and generally any form of communication within Young Jains starts off with “Jai Jinendra”.  Sometimes it’s said softly, and other times it’s said with vibrancy.  Personal preference, really.

At the Young Jains Retreat in March 2009, the group who attended gave out a massive Jai Jinendra to everyone back home.  Check out the video…

So what are the reasons for saying Jai Jinendra?  Let me give you my top 3 reasons…

1. a “Jina” is one who has achieved victory over inner and eternal enemies, including karmas.  Jai Jinendra is about paying respect to those who have achieved this victory.
    
2. a “Jina” is one who has full and complete knowledge, achieved full control over their senses, and maintained equanimity.  Jai Jinendra is about appreciating the virtues of those who have this level of control.
    
3. a “Jina”, through vivek budhi (discriminative intelligence), has recognised the difference between the body and the soul, and walked the path to moksha, as state of abundant, infinite, eternal bliss.  Jai Jinendra is about aspiring towards this state of liberation.

So those were my top 3 reasons for saying “Jai Jinendra” - what are yours?

Anjili Shah (age 15 in October 2004) writes about her experience of the Young Jains 6th International Convention.

—

On Friday 3rd September 2004 I attended ‘Tasting the Mango - The Next Slice’, The Young Jains 6th International Convention at Canons High School. 

Young Jains is an organisation that teaches Jains and people of other faiths about Jain Dharma. 

The Convention was for people who:

• knew very little about the basics of Jain Dharma and would like to increase their understanding
• knew about various topics but did not know how they all fitted together
• had some knowledge and wanted to consolidate and use it in every day life
• were curious to experience a different approach to learning, sharing and developing
• wanted to take the 10-day challenge. 

I went along to the convention not knowing what to expect and quite nervous as I had never been to such an event previously.  The organisers explained the concept of the ‘4 fun keys’ which were: Play full out, Have fun, Capture the information and Use what you learn.  Later on in the evening I was introduced to the bizarre idea of ‘Mango Dancing’. The point of Mango Dancing was to feel good and be energised. 

Throughout the event I learnt many new things. I learnt about how bad karma comes from Raga (likes), Dvesh (dislikes) and the Kayshays (Passions). The 4 Kayshays were Krodh (anger), Maan (ego), Lobh (greed) and Maya (deceit). The opposite of Kayshays are called Upsham.  These are Kshama (forgiveness), Vinaya (humility), Santosh (satisfaction) and Saralta (straight-forwardness).

We were extremely lucky to have special guest speaker; Pujya Minalben Shah (India) and Samaniji Pratibha Pragyaji (UK) who gave speeches and answered some burning questions fellow delegates and I had, along with a panel of speakers.  I was introduced to the ‘Jain Jedis’ who taught more about Jain Dharma through interactive plays and case studies of Bhagwan Mahavir’s life.

On the last night there was a garden party.  During the convention we had Jain Vegan meals (no dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, or anything which grows under the ground e.g. potatoes).  It was delicious! 

I met people from all over the world, including people from India, Belgium, Canada, Kenya and the rest of England.  I made many new friends and learnt a lot about Jain Dharma. 

“Just as a mighty mango tree is hidden within the stone of the mango, even so; O man, divinity itself is hidden within you. Rest not until you uncover it.”  - Bhagwan Mahavir

Chances are high that you have heard about the Young Jains Convention coming up this July. You’re probably planning on attending, and it’s likely that there are some questions that need to be addressed before you decide that you are ready to register for the convention.

Your burning questions may be to do with any of the following areas:

• Key Information
• What Will Be Happening
• Registation
• On The Day
• Food
• Creche
• General

As you’re not alone with asking questions, we’re setting up a Q&A page that will answer your burning questions. Please help us with this by using the comments section below to tell us what your questions are, and we’ll post up the answers on a dedicated convention Q&A page.

Planning for the Young Jains Convention “Bridging the Gap” is certainly underway.

Here are a selection of short videos by some of the convention planning team about progress over the last couple of weeks.

Register your interest in the convention at www.youngjains.org.uk/convention

Jain Business Ethics - An Oxymoron?
Event Hosted by Young Jains UK

Date: Friday 20th March 2009
Time: 8:30 pm to 10:00pm
Venue: Sayer Centre, Oxgate Lane, Cricklewood, London NW2 7JN

 The ethics of business is constantly being questioned today, and businesses are being forced to embrace other factors beyond profit such as social and environmental responsibility. How do Jains fare in this arena?

Does Jainism have any core wisdom on Business Ethics? Is the real Jain Business Ethic profit, profit and more profit? Or is it profit, welfare and natural progress?

Businessmen and professionals concerned about their values and the impact of their activities on people and planet, would learn a great deal from this seminar by one of the leading global thinkers and writers on this subject, Dr. Atul Shah.

His research has been published in international finance and business journals and he has written several books on the subject and spoken at international conferences. He was founder of Young Jains and founding editor of Jain Spirit magazine.

For more information, contact Kavit on kavit@youngjains.org.uk

Date: Saturday 21st February 2009
Time: 3pm onwards. Followed by a social.
Venue: Sayer Centre, Oxgate Lane, Cricklewood, London NW2 7JN

Back by popular demand… Young Jains hosts an afternoon of fun, games, risk, challenge and monopoly! What will you come with? What will you leave with? Test your luck, skill and strategy against faces both old and new. All you have to do is bring along your favourite board games. So dust off that old Scrabble board, bring out the Pictionary and don’t forget the Trivial Pursuit. 

An event for the entire family - all ages are welcome.

For more information contact Bhavi Kothari on bhavi@youngjains.org.uk or 07703396858