Federation of Jain Associations in North America
JAINA Education Committee
Jain eLibrary
Jaina Education Committee Activity Status May 2016
Pathshala Books
JES 982 - Being Jain in College - An Experiential Guide - (New Book Published)
The author Sonali Vakharia (Detroit MI USA) shares her own experiences in the book and provides valuable information to balance the Jain values with college life. We will distribute this book to every YJA convention attendees.
You can download pdf file of the book at the following link.
http://www.jainlibrary.org/jaina_edu_books.php (Serial # 000293).
To buy the book - http://jainlibrary.org/shopping/select_destination.php
JES 933 Jain Puja book is now out of print. We are in process of updating this book. This book consists Ashta Prakari Puja, 14/16 dream, and Shanti Kalash ritual. We will be adding Chaitya Vandan ritual. It may take about 2 months to reprint the book.
JES 302 the Jain Philosophy and Practice I (Level 3 book for High School Students) completed the major revision. We have updated 15 chapters and added four new chapters. It is in final review. We will complete the review by July 2016 and then will go for layout and print. Hope to complete the task by September 2016.
Jain Workshop at Jain Center of Washington D C
The following is taken from Jain Society JSMW News Letter
Jain Workshop with Jaina Education Chairperson - June 11, 2016
JSMW has the unique and distinct privilege to host one of the foremost Jain scholars in Jainism in North America - Mr Pravinbhai Shah (External Guest from JAINA -Chairperson of the Jaina Education Committee and Jain eLibrary in-charge). Pravinbhai is one of the most sought after speakers and has toured extensively bringing his unique blend of modern thought with the ancient Jain principles.
Workshop Objective - Striking a balance among Indian heritage, Jain religion, Spirituality and Western Lifestyle.
Workshop Overview:
The entire syllabus of Pravinbhai's teachings could easily last an entire semester but he has thoughtfully chosen some of the most important topics to be taught over a weekend. His passion for teaching is unrivaled and we urge our members to take advantage of this opportunity of learning and immersion.
This workshop will provide us a platform to have discussion on powerful and thought provoking questions that have no absolute answers. This workshop will help challenging ourselves/our limiting beliefs and exploring new possibilities. Regardless of your current level of understanding, you are bound to walk away with a new expanded view.
Workshop Date and Time:
Saturday June 11th - 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM - Venue: Jain temple
Temple location: 1021 Briggs Chaney Road, Silver Spring MD 20905
Temple Telephone: (301) 236-4466
Note: Snacks and Lunch would be provided
If you are planning to attend, please sign-up on the link below -
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LlVc5yy6xN9KNz89hEOZCGEyBA8SY8gwCfyR2vnMVCw/viewform
Workshop coordinator - Megha Doshi -
If you would like to organize such workshop in your center, please contact Pravin K Shah ().
Support to YJA convention 2016
Jaina Education Committee is very active in supporting YJA (Young Jains of America) convention since the beginning of YJA from 1994. It has attended every YJA convention distributed several thousands of books and presented several papers at every convention.
In this convention, we provide support to YJA JAB activities, present several papers, and distribute 6 different reference books (as indicated below) free of charge to 700 students.
Jain Academic Bowl at the YJA convention
This year YJA JAB team has assumed the total responsibility for preparing question papers of Semi-final and final competitions at the YJA convention. YJA JAB team leader (Chitav Shah of New Jersey) is responsible for the JAB program at the convention.
The Education committee is responsible for updating JAB manual and its printing and free distribution to JAB participants. It also provides support to YJA JAB team where needed.
Presentations at the YJA Convention
1. English Pratikraman Ritual in the Morning
We will conduct English Pratikraman every morning during YJA convention.
2. Harmony of Religious Diversity
The presentation will highlight the similarities and philosophical differences of World’s major faiths.
3. Jain Diet and Food - Holistic Approach to Spirituality, Health and Ecology
What does Jain food mean? Is it a vegetarian food that contains no root vegetables? Are our Jain scriptures defining such a narrow definition? The presentation will explain the proper role of Jain diet in our spiritual journey towards liberation.
4. Application of Jain Karma Philosophy in Daily Life
Jain karma philosophy is an inherently spiritual in nature; however, it is often misconstrued in a dogmatic fashion. When someone suffers, some Jains think that:
It is due to his karma and let him complete the suffering otherwise he will have to suffer in future again.
We should not involve in compassion and charity related work because if a person commits any sin after our help we will acquire bad karma and ultimately we will have to suffer.
We should help only those who are Jains and following only Jain principles of our sect otherwise we will acquire bad karma.
This type of interpretations result discrediting Jain Religion and unacceptable to Jain youths of North America. This short presentation reviews the practical aspect of Jain Karma philosophy and will try to provide proper role and purpose of Karma philosophy in Jain religion.
Need Sponsor/s
There are 700 Jain youths attending the YJA convention in July 2016 at Los Angeles. The Education Committee will distribute the following books to all participants Free of Charge.
1. JES901 - Introduction to Jainism
2. JES911 - Essence of World Religion
3. JES921 - The Book of Compassion (Limited Quantity available)
4. JES931 - English Pratikraman
5. JES 941 - Jain Sutra Book with English Meaning
6. JES 982 - Being Jain in College - An Experiential Guide - (new book recently published)
You can view the pdf file of the above books at the following link of the Jain eLibrary Website
http://www.jainlibrary.org/jaina_edu_books.php (Sr No 000201, 000211, 000221, 000241, 000249, and 000293)
Total cost of these books will be about $3500 to $4000. Jaina Education committee has taken the responsibility to find the sponsor/s for the above amount.
Please contribute generously. We are contributing towards the education of our children. Any amount of your contribution will be greatly appreciated.
Please mail your contribution check as follows:
Jaina Education
Address - 509 Carriage Woods Circle, Raleigh NC 27607 USA
Please write in a memo space - YJA - Educational books
You can also contribute using credit card or Paypal using the following link
http://www.jainlibrary.org/donation1.php
If you have any question, feel free to contact me.
Pravin K. Shah
Jaina Education Committee
Jain eLibrary in-charge
919-859-4994
Email -