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Samani Prasanna Pragya | Samani Rohit Pragya |
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1. Samanijis’ participation in conference held at SOAS University
Samani Prasanna Pragya and Samani Rohit Pragya were invited by Prof. Peter Flugel of SOAS University to participate in the workshop on Jain Yoga held on 18-19th March 2010. The opening session started with the recitation of Namaskar Mahamantra by Samanijis. The key note speech was delivered by an eminent scholar Sagarmal Jain, especially invited from India. There were three sessions, in which various scholars shared their views on Jain Yoga. On behalf of Samani Chaitya Pragya, who could not attend the conference, Samani Rohit Pragya read a paper on ‘Conceptual development of Sandhi in Jainism’. For many participants and audience, it was a new concept. Samanijis took part in an open discussion and introduced the technique of Preksha Meditation, a great contribution in Jain Yoga by H.H. Acharya Mahapragya. Samanijis also got the opportunity to introduce Terapanth Sect and its unique concept of Daan and Daya.
2. Jain Yoga: A workshop conducted by Sagarmal Jain at JVB London
At the request of JVB, renowned scholar Sagarmal Jain (Parshvanath Vidyapeetha, Varanasi) conducted a workshop on Jain Yoga at JVB on 20th March 2010. The workshop was especially organised for the students who are completing their M.A. from the Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. All the students and other participants benefited from his deep knowledge of Jainism. On behalf of JVB, Mr. Rashmi Shah paid gratitude towards Sagarmalji for accepting their request on such a short notice and enlightening them.
3. Teachings of Jainism in Europe: Lecture by Robert Zydenbos at JVB London
On 21st March 2010, Prof. Robert Zydenbos (Munich University, Germany), who came to attend the Conference held at SOAS, was invited to JVB to speak on Teachings of Jainism in Europe. He shed light on the importance of the principles of Jainism and discussed the causes which did not allow Jainism to be spread outside India.
4. JVB Gyanshala Exam
On 21st March 2010, examinations were held for students of the JVB Gyanshala. In total, 18 students sat the exam. All the students of Kinder Gyan group, Gyan group and Darshan group did their best in the written as well as verbal exams and received good scores. The new session of Gyanshala will begin from 11th April 2010.
5 Training in Non –Violence at Manchester by Samanijis
Samani Prasanna Pragya and Samani Rohit Pragya were invited by the Jain Samaj of Manchester to hold a programme of Training in Non-violence from 24-27th March. Including youngsters and adults, there were 26 participants who took the training with full enthusiasm. There were five sessions and each session was of two hours. In each two-hour session, Samaniji spoke on various topics like Concept and Meaning of Non-Violence, Roots of Violence, Relationship between Peace and Non-Violence, Economics of Non-Violence, Essential ingredients of Non-Violent Life –Style etc. for one hour and led the practice of Preksha Meditation, Relaxation, Contemplation of Tolerance, Friendliness etc for another one hour. All the participants paid their gratitude towards Samanijis for explaining the basic Jain principles of non-violence and for giving advice about implementing it in day-to-day activities..
6 Celebration of Mahavir Jayanti at Manchester
On 28th March, under the auspicious presence of Samanijis, Manchester Jain Samaj celebrated Mahavir Jayanti, one of the great Jain festivals. The programme was started with Navkar Mantra followed by Dhoon and Bhakti Songs by respected Samanijis. Sarojben Patel, the Secretary of Manchester Religious Committee introduced both the Samanijis. On that pious occasion, Samani Prasanna Pragya spoke on the importance of Bhakti and Samani Rohit Pragya read about the birth of Bhagwan Mahavir from Kalpasutra. Youngsters of Manchester Jain Samaj presented a beautiful skit ‘The divine court of Lord Mahavir’. Small children demonstrated the fourteen dreams of Queen Trishala. The participants of the Training in Non-Violence course shared their views and requested Samanijis to come soon again with a new training programme. Certificates were awarded to all the participants. The spiritual event was attended by about 350 people.
During their stay in Manchester, Samanijis also provided a benefit to the Manchester ladies Swadhyaya group on 29-30th March. On 29th March, Samanijis were invited by the Swadhyaya group of Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta. Swadhyaya began with a spiritual song. Samani Rohit Pragya spoke on the importance of Meditation and led a short session about the perception of deep breathing. Samani Prasanna Pragya talked on ‘Importance of Pratyakhyan’ and explained about Ashrav and Samvar with interesting illustrations. Samanijis’ trip from 23-31 March in Manchester was very successful.
