14 Mar, 2009
Young Jains Convention 2004 Review: Tasting the Mango - The Next Slice
Posted by: Young Jains Blog Editor In: General
Anjili Shah (age 15 in October 2004) writes about her experience of the Young Jains 6th International Convention.
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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