06.01.2017 ►JAINA ►Newsletter @ HereNow4U

Federation Of Jain Associations in North America

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Jai Jinendra!

Welcome to Jain Samaj of Long Island (JSLI) to JAINA family. As a result, JAINA now has 70 member Jain Centers across North America and represents 200,000 Jains. Congratulations to Hareshbhai Shah, Chairman - Membership Committee, for adding 4 new members to JAINA over last year.

A JAINA Delegation is planning to meet Gujarat Chief Minister Vijaybhai Rupani - first Jain CM - on Jan 16, 2017 in Ahmedabad. Please contact me at if you are interested in joining us.

Registration fees for our upcoming JAINA Convention in New Jersey from June 30 to July 4 will go up after Jan 31, 2017. Please visit to Register now.

Sincerely,

Ashok Domadia
JAINA President
Chairman - JAINA BOD

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

A monk engrossed in meditation renounces all evils.Meditation is therefore the best way of regression from all transgressions.

- Bhagwan Mahavir

MEDITATION

A person has many psyches. (S)he embodies multiple possibilities of consciousness. A person in the morning can not be identified as the same person at noon. A person who was calm in the morning may become agitated at noon - just like an ocean that may be calm at dawn but turbulent during high tide. The ocean gets lost during the changing tide. In the same way, when a person’s thoughts and emotions are turbulent, his/her humanity is lost. Over the time, the action of a person will include both good and bad behavior. These two contradictory states go hand in hand within the same person. Why is this? Why is our mind in a state of constant flux? Why our emotions are not stable? Why does our thinking pattern not remain the same? For centuries man has pursued the answer to this dilemma. Various schools of science and mind have tried to understand this phenomenon. Psychologists have also attempted to resolve this matter but the research is limited or incomplete.

In today’s scientific world every organ of our body, both major and microscopic have been scrutinized by physicians. Doctors understand the inner working of our heart, brain, intestines, kidneys, nerves and microscopic organs but the world of knowledge doesn’t end with the understanding of the physical, by internalizing through our eyes, through the fickleness of our mind or through our wavering intellect. There is another process of knowing where our physical eyes do not work. In this process the eyes are closed, the mind is shut down and the intellect is inactive. There is room to expand our knowledge in a deeper and more substantive way. The state of being we attain or we experience during this process is amazing. It is completely new experience that cannot be achieved by any physical means. This is the experience of meditation.

KNOW YOUR TIRTHANKAR

Dharmanath Bhagwan is the 15th Tirthankar of the Avsarpani kaal. He was born to King Bhanu and Queen Suvrata Devi in the city of Ratanpur. He attained nirvana at Samet Shikhar and had 43 Gandhars. He took 3 bhavs after Samyak Darshan to attain moksh. The topic of his first sermon was Importance of Kshaya.

According to Jain religion, as long as a person has Kshaya, they will not escape the cycle of life and death. The word Kshaya can be broken down into “Kash”, meaning worldly life and “aya” meaning gain. Therefore Kshaya means to gain worldly life again and again. There are 4 types of Kshaya- anger, pride, deceit and greed. As the cold water calms down the fire, likewise forgiveness is necessary to calm down the anger.

Arrogance is like mountain, so politeness is essential to cross it. To destroy the bush like curved network of elusion, rein of simplicity is necessary. To heal the deep ditch of temptation, soil of contentment is necessary. These four sinful worldly activities are more dangerous than a butcher. Butcher kills a creature bodily, but these disorders kill the sentiment of soul so, we have to be aware of these activities.

THE SCIENTIFIC POWER OF MEDITATION

JAIN STORY - BHAGWAN MAHAVIR & COW HERDER

One day as Bhagwan Mahavir was going from one place to another, he stopped near a big tree to meditate. While he was meditating, a cow herder came with his cows. He needed someone to look after his cows so he could go for some errands. He asked Bhagwan Mahavir if he would look after his cows for a few hours. Bhagwan Mahavir was in deep meditation and did not respond to the cow herder. However…

JAIN CENTER UPDATE - JAIN SOCIETY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

As part of Anukampa Dan/Food drive, Jain Society of Central Florida took the food to homeless people on Saturday, December 31st. Where volunteers distributed lunch box containing 100% Jain food. Kids/youths/adults had prepared food and went to deliver in downtown. There were many other volunteers who helped with this event. JSOCF appreciates their help.

JAINA appreciates such a great initiative of JSOCF and gives anumodna to all Jain centers to keep up the good work as always.

BLOG - MEDITATION

Meditation or Dhyan is centuries old practice mentioned in many religions, and there are different ways of meditation but the ultimate aim is to achieve a level of oneness, inner peace and tranquility.

The most important question which comes to our mind is

Which is the correct form of Meditation?

Can meditation ultimately lead us to our final goal of life- Salvation?

share your views & comments on this blog

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE

JAINA invites you all to share your experience on MEDITATION,, the way it has transformed your lifestyle, or the way it has made any impact in your daily life. Please send in your eperience on ‘Meditation’. The best experience will get published in our newsletter and at . Please send your article to by 21st January, 2017.

Rules:
1.Age: No bar
2. Articles should be in English language and maximum 300 words in a word file.
3. Writing style must be clear and easy to understand.
4. Please write your name, address and phone number along with the article and also attach your passport size photograph.
5. Experiences are welcomed from anywhere in the world.