| | | PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE  Jai Jinendra!
JAINA condemns senseless violence recently experienced by Indian and other minority communities in USA. Our prayers and support are with the victims and their families.
Final preparations for upcoming launch of 24x7 global JAINA Mangalam application are in full swing. Content is now ready and beta testing is underway at present. Stay tuned for launch announcement in near future.
YJA - JAINA’s youth wing - has recently added content explaining meaning of Jain Rituals to on-line Pathshala. Details are below.
80 Yatris from North America participated in JAINA’s successful and unique 2-month long 99 Yatra at Palitana. Details are below.
Sincerely,
Ashok Domadia
JAINA President & Chairman
| | QUOTE OF THE WEEK As the fire quickly consumes dry wood, even so an adept whose soul is equipoised and unattached causes the accumulated karma structure to disintegrate. - Bhagwan Mahavira | | KNOW YOUR TIRTHANKAR  Parshwanath Swami is the 23nd Tirthankar of the Avsarpani kaal. He was born to King Ashwasen and Queen Vama Devi in the city of Varanasi. He attained nirvana at Sametsikhar and had 10 Gandhars. He took 10 bhavs after Samyak Darshan to attain moksh. The topic of his first sermon was Importance of Deshvirti dharma. Tirthankar Parmatma has prescribed twelve vows which are of profound psychological significance, for the attainment of excellence in character. The code of conduct and observance prescribed are not to be considered as merely useful for practice but are essential and unavoidable.
Mainly there are 12 vows and for each, 5 atichar has been mentioned. Atichar means the errors of commission and omission. For the performance of austerities fully, atichar should be given up. The 12 vows have been confined in three parts;
1) Five Anuvrats- Anuvrat means an ordinary and gross observance with the original austerity according to the vow.
2) Three Gunvrat- safeguarding the original vrat increasing its efficacy and quality.
3) Four Sikshavrat- the vow that provides the light experience of the life of a Sadhu and which provides discipline and is meant for practice.
| | LESYA  There are two types of lesya- Dravya lesya and Bhav lesya
Essentially leshya refers to the colour of conscious vibrations. Dravya lesya is in fact the atom that constitutes the leshya of a soul and bhav lesya is the state of consciousness that results from dravya leshya. For example, if one has padma lesya it means he has bright yellow atoms in his lesya. These atoms are dravya lesya and because of these yellow atoms he possesses positive and spiritual attributes. This state of consciousness is known as bhav lesya. So, we can say that bhav lesya is the effect of dravya lesya and the state where conscious vibrations are manifested at the physical level.
The field of lesya is where our emotions are shaped. The main function of field of lesya is to convert conscious vibrations into the gross form and send them as hormones to the endocrine glands, brain and other parts of the body. The endocrine glands reflect the lesya. Our emotions define our personality. In the field of lesya every signal becomes colourful in accordance with our past and present deeds and kashay. If the inner signal is influenced by anger, the field of kashay will give it the frequency of the colour red and the lesya will turn red. So whatever goes in or comes out is colourful. The karma we attract always has some sort of colour.
Colour plays an important role in an individual’s life and has great influences on the conscious and subconscious mind and on a person’s emotions. Smell and touch also affect us, but the impact of colour is higher.
Colour influences not just our present life but also our next life. The colour we attract is responsible for our moods, emotions and behavior. For instance, if t present you are thinking about hurting someone, you attract black. The colour you have attracted is encoded in the form of karma and sent inside the body, all the way to the conscious substance where it is stored. Eventually this karma will rise and the same black atoms will pass through each field of our body and our emotions will be shaped accordingly. The quality of the emotions will be the same as the quality of the rising karma. If the rising karma is black, the emotions will be harmful. These emotions will be manifested at a physical level, mental level and a verbal plane until we become a negative person. In this way we are negative in the past, present and in the future as well. It works as feedback mechanism. We get what we feed. It shows that the present is the result of the past and the foundation for the future.
| | JAIN STORY: KING PRASENJIT  One day, King Shrenik was on his way to pay homage to Lord Mahavira, and he saw a sage who was meditating and had a bright glow around him. He bowed down to the sage and continued on his way. After reaching Lord Mahavira, King Shrenik asked the Lord, “Oh Lord, I saw a brilliant sage who was engaged in the meditation. If he died at that moment, what would be his destiny?”...
| | YJA UPDATE 
A new set of content for YJA Pathshala has just been released at yja.org/pathshala! This time, we’re taking a look at Jain rituals and the meaning behind them. In our video, podcast and handout, you’ll find introduction to darshan, puja, and more, as well as a discussion of the reasons that these practices are a part of spiritual advancement for Jains.
Cities around the country are currently bidding for the chance to bring the 2018 YJA Convention to their hometown! YJA will be hosting a webinar on March 12th at 6 PM EST to provide an overview of the Bid Application Process for the 2018 YJA Convention and answer your questions. Visit to download the application. Bid Packets are due March 31, 2017!
The final YJA retreat for this season is the Northeast Retreat in Salisbury, MA from April 14-16! Registration is still open at but act quickly because retreats have sold out quickly!
| | 99 YATRA  JAINA had organized Shree Shatrunjay Mahatirth 99 yatra, Chharipalit sangh and Girnar tirth yatra from November 14th 2016 through January 13th 2017 (60 days) from Shree Mewad Bhavan Dharmashala, Palitana India under the leadership of Mr.Arvind Shah of U.S.A. and Mr.Narendrabhai Nandu of India. This yatra was attended by 80 people from North America and Canada.
The 99 yatra was blessed by P.P.Shri Mahapdmasuriswarji Maharaj Saheb and his sadhu and sadhvi samudaay.
This yatra was one of kind in JAINA HISTORY.This yatra included 99 yatra at Palitana, Four days Chhari Palit sangh from Songadh to Palitana and Girnar Tirth yatra.
 This yatra included Navkar mantra Jap, Parshva Panch Kalynak puja, Giriraj Chatrishi, Three Acharya padvi, Two Diksha, Santra puja at various locations like Ryan Pagla, Adinath derasar, Pundrick swami derasar, Taleti, SantinathDerasar.
99 Prakari Puja @ Dada's Darbar,Giriraj Vadhamana, Guru Vadhamana, Giri Pujan.One and half gau,3,& 6 Gau yatra,Navtuk yatra, Gheti pag yatra. Panch tirth yatra:-Shatrunjay dam temple,Kadamgiri, Bhandaria, Mahuva and Talaja tirth.
Shri Girnar tirth yatra including Tonk city and Vanthli temple. Tirthmala was given to each yatris. Everybody enjoyed the 99 yatra blissfully and took home divine memories.
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