Federation of Jain Associations in North America
JAINA Education Committee
Jain eLibrary
Literature uploaded 2017.06:
Jaina Education Committee Activity Status June 2016
Two New Jain Reference Books Published
1. જૈન દર્શન અને આચારની સરળ સમજ - JES 902G (Gujarati Translation of Jainism Book - JES901)
Jainism Reverence for Life (JES 901) book provides a basic introduction of the Jain religion to English speaking Jain youth of North America and other countries. It briefly covers various aspects of Jain philosophy, ethics, conduct, scriptures, religious holidays, prayers, symbols, and the life of Lord Mahävir. It is also helpful for a beginner of Jainism as it touches important aspects of Jainism in an easy manner. Several Jain temples give this book to all their visitors.
Kumudben Palkhiwala of Ahmedabad translated this book for the Gujarati speaking Jain community. You can download the pdf file of the book from the following link
Free pdf file link - http://www.jainlibrary.org/jaina_edu_books.php (Serial # 000202).
To buy the book - http://jainlibrary.org/shopping/select_destination.php (Cost $1.00 or Rs 50.00)
2. 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.
Free pdf file link - http://www.jainlibrary.org/jaina_edu_books.php (Serial # 000293).
To buy the book - http://jainlibrary.org/shopping/select_destination.php (Cost $1.00 or Rs 50.00)
Listings and short summary of all Jaina Education Books
The JAINA Education Committee of North America is pleased to present a set of JAINA Education books for all ages of students interested in learning Jainism in English. Few books have been translated in Gujarati and Hindi. You can freely download the pdf file or purchase hardcopy of JAINA Education Books.
The following link provides the listings and short summary of all books.
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 four papers, and distribute the following 6 different reference books free of charge to 700 students.
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)
Need Sponsor/s
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.
So far we have received $925.00 contribution to support this activity. Convention starts on July 1, 2016. Please send your commitment e-mail to as soon as possible and send the check later on.
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.
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.
Thank you for your support.
Pravin K. Shah
Jaina Education Committee
Jain eLibrary in-charge
919-859-4994
Email -