Samani Prasanna Pragya | Samani Rohit Pragya |
From 1st to 4th November 2009, under the auspicious presence of Samani Prasanna Pragya and Samani Rohit Pragya, Jain Vishva Bharati London held a special programme of training in Non-Violence entitled ‘Enrich your life through the practice of Non-Violence’. To attend this four-day course, eleven people came from Italy. To conduct this course, JVB London invited an eminent scholar Dr. S. L. Gandhi from Jaipur (India). There were 16 sessions in the course. Each day four sessions were held including two practical and two theoretical sessions. Talks on various topic related to Ahimsa were given by Dr. S. L. Gandhi, Dr. Vinodbhai Kapashi, Dr. Harshadbhai Sanghrajka, Nitin Mehta, Jeffery Gale etc. Through the different perspectives on Ahimsa and open discussion, participants came to know about importance of restraint, vegetarianism, relative economics, Anekantvada and many more Jain concepts. Some of them promised to minimise non-vegetarian food and some have resolved to give up it completely.
Practical sessions on Relaxation, Perception of Deep Breathing, Perception of the Centre of Enlightenment, contemplation of compassion, fearlessness and tolerance were conducted by Samanijis. Participants enjoyed practical sessions most. They felt themselves relaxed and free from tension. Sharing her experience, one participant said through the practice of Relaxation she was able to get relief from a long-existing pain in her shoulder. As most of the people knew Italian, all the lectures were translated into Italian by one of the participants Marisa. Everyday vegetarian Indian food was provided to the participants, willingly prepared by some of the volunteers of JVB. Participants liked the food and were very surprised to see the variety in vegetarian food. On behalf of JVB London, all speakers were honoured by literature.
On 4th November, in a closing ceremony, participants shared their experience and paid their gratitude towards Samanijis, Dr. S. L. Gandhi and other speakers. Participants requested Samanijis to hold this kind of event in Italy so more people can get benefit of the knowledge of Samanijis and scholars like S. L. Gandhi. On behalf of JVB, certificates of participation were distributed to all participants by Dr. S. L. Gandhi. During the four days, volunteers of JVB worked hard with full devotion and made that event successful. Participants were very happy with arrangements and the positive attitude of all volunteers.