CLU is a new University formed by Claremont School of Theology (CST). Established in 1885, CST is an institution of The United Methodist Church, situated in Southern California among the prestigious Claremont Colleges. CST is a respected institution for studies of Christianity,  and Judaism and Islam have been added under the auspices of Claremont Lincoln..  The school received a $50 million donation from the Lincoln family of Arizona to start a program for world religions and in May 2011, CLU was born.  The first religion CLU chose to partner with is the Jain dharma.

CLU is a one-of-a-kind academic institution that welcomes partners from all religious and ethical traditions and they have begun their journey by partnering with the International School of Jain Studies (ISJS) in India. Over the last seven years, six Claremont students have gone to India to study the Jain dharma at ISJS. At the initiative of one of these six students, who is now pursuing her doctoral studies at Claremont, Jain studies has become an integral part of the CLU by establishment of  “ISJS at Claremont Lincoln University”. This alliance is further strengthened by a separate letter of understanding between JAINA and CLU in which JAINA has pledged its full support to the establishment of a Jain studies program.

The understanding between ISJS and CLU is very ambitious and has 20 action items in it but for now the following three will be put on fast track:

1.     Offer the first course on Jain dharma in the Fall of 2012,

2.     Holding an annual international seminar on Jain dharma at Claremont campus where Jain scholars and academics from all over the world will be invited to present research papers, and

3.     Establish distance education programs for Jain studies. This initiative is expected to be “Open Source,” meaning it will be available to anyone, anywhere and at any time.

The festivities of September 6 at Claremont were dignified and were a harbinger of great things to come in the near future. The stage was decorated with two large framed Jain art paintings, scores of Jain books donated by Jains of North America and a tall brass lamp. In attendance were President Dr. Jerry Campbell, Provost Dr. Philip Clayton, Mr. and Mrs. David Lincoln, many faculty members and invited guests of Claremont School of Theology, ISJS Director Dr. Shugan Jain, a large delegation of members of the Jain Center of Southern California headed by Rajen Dhami, three Past Presidents of JAINA Dr. Sulekh Jain, Kirit Daftary and Dilip Shah.  The auspicious event began with Manglacharn by Pramodaben Chitrabhanu. Dr. Christopher Chapple made the opening remarks; Dr. Sulekh Jain spoke of ISJS and JAINA at Claremont Lincoln University before the lamp lighting ceremony with the image of Goddess Sarswati in the background.

Rabbi Mel Gottlieb gave the Jain community a warm welcome and Rajen Dhami (Trustee of JCSC and Vice President of JAINA) noted the importance of the new initiative and presented mementos from JCSC to Mr. David Lincoln who thanked and welcomed the Jains.  ISJS alumna Amanda Pumhery spoke about the Jain symbol of the raised hand and Tim Helton talked about the art of giving.

Dr. Shugan Jain spoke next about the philosophy of ISJS and hopes for the alliance between ISJS and CLU. He presented specially created scarves for the event to President Jerry Campbell, Provost Philip Clayton, Chair of Board Mr. David Lincoln, CFO Lynn O’Leary-Archer and Brianne Donaldson Chair of Jain Exploratory Committee at Claremont Lincoln. The traditional ceremony of yoking symbolizes joining together and pairing of ISJS and Claremont of Lincoln was thus formalized.

Dr. John Cobb spoke of plurality, practice and possibilities as we go forward. Dilip Shah spoke of the future plans and marveled at the commitment of Claremont Lincoln to initiate distance learning studies of Jainism. President Dr Campbell gave a heart-warming speech and appreciation for this new beginning.

The concluding remarks were by Brianne Donaldson, special assistant to the Provost and Chair of Jain Exploratory Committee at Claremont Lincoln. Her perspective on the Goddess Sarswati image that was on the screen during the ceremony was indeed a moving experience for all present.

The Jain ceremony was followed by the convocation ceremony of CST that included Pramodaben Chitrabhanu singing Maitri Bhavnu Pavitra Jharnu.

Afterwards, all the guests and Claremont faculty were served a vegetarian lunch on the lawn where vegan menu was also provided.

For more information:

This article courtesy: Dilip V Shah,  Past President Jaina

Claremont School of Theology: www.cst.edu

Claremont Lincoln University: www.ClaremontLincoln.org.

International School of Jain Studies: www.jainstudies.org

Jain Ceremony at Claremont Lincoln University of September 6, 2011   http://vimeo.com/29288663

The Institute is proud to have  launch   its latest publication, Jain Tales during the Ahimsa Day Celebration on 20^th October at the House of Commons. Jain Tales is the 2^nd book in the Learn Jainism series, which together with the accompanying websire – LearnJainism.org – meet the needs of the National Curriculum for teaching Jainism.

Outside Cover

The book has been written by the well known children’s author, Colin Hynson, who was also the author of the first book, Discover Jainism.
The book is aimed at 8 – 12  year old children growing up in western countries. The Jain principles and teachings are illustrated in simple and elegant way through specially selected stories from Jain scriptures covering a wide range of subjects.

The eight stories in the book are:

1.Monkey and Sugari
2. The Elephant and the Blind People
3. King Hansa
4. Kamalsen
5. Repairing the Mansion
6. Carrying Milk
7. King Megharath
8. The Fourteen Dreams of Mother Trishala

The book is printed in full colour on art paper and each tale is richly illustrated with original artwork commissioned for specially for the book from children’s illustrator Kamini Gupta. The hard cover is attractively finished. As with Discover Jainism, the book’s content have been co-ordinated with a dedicated website which has teachers’ notes, games and activities – all focusing on teaching Jainism in a fun way!

The book is ideally suited as a birthday gift to young children and for  prabhavna at special celebratory occasions.
Technical Details:

By Colin Hynson
Ed. Mehool Sanghrajka
Original Artwork by Kamini Gupta
Published by Institute of Jainology
2010 31 cm x 21.5 cm 64 pages on full colour art plates
Deluxe Hardcover Edition Rs. 400
ISBN No: 978-0-9554839-1-2

Available from the Institute of Jainology, London

One such article, discussing in depth the need to develop the studies for the ancient manuscripts held in various collections in India appeared in a well reputed and recognised Gujarati magazine , ‘Navchetan’ which started publication 89 years ago. This article, in Gujarati is attached in pdf format: Navchetan-1 .

The article strongly advocates establishment of Manuscriptology courses in universities to be followed by establishing specialised faculties. Our Institute will be encouraging the establishment of such course through its various contacts.

A summary of his tour report is given here. Photos from this exhaustive tour will b e uploaded in coming days.

Please feel free to make comments or observation on the tour.

Summary Report on Educational Trip to Singapore, Perth and Malaysia

February to April 2010

Harshad N Sanghrajka left for Mumbai on 27^th January and having spent a fortnight in India, took off for Singapore on 12^th February, 2010 to attend the Pratishtha Mahotsava there:

Details of the Mahotsava elsewhere on this site please click here to see it

In one sentence, the event was planned and executed perfectly.

On 17^th February, Harshad left for Perth and delivered a 10 session discussion on Atmasiddhi Shastra to members of the Jain Community of Western Australia.  The course in English was attended mostly by youngsters who could not understand Gujarati well.  The senior members of the community who could converse in Gujarati chose to hold morning sessions at members’ homes.  At the end of the trip, they resolved to form a Jain Seniors Group which would meet on the last Tuesday of each month to discuss selected topics on Jainism.

Malacca was next on the list and discussions were held on a variety of religious topics, in Gujarati in the mornings and English in the evenings from 1^st March to 4^th March.  Malacca was in the throes of a new election of the Gujarati Vanik Sangh of Melaka.

Departure from Melaka brought Harshad and Urmila to Penang.  Two days of discussions in the hall of Gujarati Seva Samaj in the evenings brought over 40 people from a small community.  The reappearance of the majority on the second day proved the popularity of the discussions.

Shri Ashvin Nagbadharia, President of the Samaj was kind enough to drive us from Penang to Ipoh where we had the good fortune to see the Jain temple of Parshvanath Bhagvan.  Shri Bharat Jasani and Tarulataben were perfect hosts and invited the public to a discourse on 10^th March.  Again, a good response of over 40 in a very small Gujarati community in Ipoh which lasted over 2 hours.

At this point it was time to trace our steps back to Singapore, the Lion city.  Atmasiddhi course had been well organised and raring to go.  Gujarati sessions were planned for afternoons with 60+ and English in the after dinner sessions with 50+.  Over 100 certificates were issued to participants.

The last stop on the educational side was Kuala Lumpur.  The 10 days were planned over the Ayambil period and afforded additional time for discussions with the ladies who were present from early morning till late afternoon.  Formally the course was run in Gujarati in the early morning session and English in the after dinner sessions.  A special evening was reserved for youngsters only to address their personal concerns related to Jainism on 1^st April.  Many interesting aspects of everyday life were discussed and explained logically to the satisfaction of all present.  A summary explanation of Paryushan, Pratikraman and rituals generally was delivered using power point slides.

Departure from KL on 2^nd April, with a night stop in Singapore as guests of Shri Bharat and Kirtida Mekani brought back the pleasant memories of the pratishtha and course activities in Singapore.  We said a final farewell to all the EC Members at the Sangh Sthanak on 3^rd, spent a couple of nights in Mumbai and arrived in Dubai on 5^th.  Four days of pleasant sightseeing in Dubai and back to London on 9^th April to the comforts of home-sweet-home.

Grateful thanks to all organisations and individuals who made our trip pleasant and comfortable.

http://www.writeaway.org.uk/component/option,com_weblinks/Itemid,23/   

Discover Jainism^{New! Featured}

There will also be news about publications of new books aimed at classroom and school events such as training opportunities for teachers.

Visitors can sign up to receive regular updates from the ‘Learn Jainism’ blog.  They will also opportunity to leave their own comments or questions about ‘Learn Jainism’.

The blog can be found at:

http://learnjainism.wordpress.com/

Learnjainism site at:

http://www.learnjainism.org/default.asp

Colin Hynson, the author of the book ‘ Learn Jainism’ and the webmaster for its web site – it will provide a perfect opportunity to discuss or raise issues through the blog.

Learn Jainism site at:

Two years ago, the first ever book on Jainism for the R E education in English Primary Schools, Learn Jainism was published by the Institute. Harrow Council was the first council in England to incorporate Jainism in their RE Curriculum. More councils are in process of incorporating Jainism in their curricula.

A second book in the same series in due to b e published soon to reinforce the inroads being made by the first book.

The efforts made by our Secretary and the publication of these books are begining to bear fruit as evidenced by the following article that appeared in Daily Telegraph written by their Education Editor on 29th January.

Primary schools should teach about Jainism and Zoroastrianism in RE

Children as young as five should be given lessons in minority religions such as Baha’i, Jainism and Zoroastrianism, according to Government guidance.

By Graeme Paton, Education Editor  DAILY TELEGRAPH
 Published: 6:12PM GMT 29 Jan 2010 ”Pupils in primary schools should be taught about “world faiths”, even though many only have a few thousand followers in Britain.

Religious education classes should also cover atheism alongside Christianity and five other major religions – Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and Hinduism.

It is the first time the Government has produced guidance specifically tailored towards primary schools, although teachers do not have to follow it.

Diana Johnson, the Schools Minister, said it was vital that children developed a good understanding of other people’s beliefs.

“This means learning about Christianity and other religions like Islam, Hinduism and Judaism, but also considering other secular beliefs such as humanism and atheism,” she said. “Our society has never been so diverse, and good religious education plays an important role in helping to keep this country a tolerant and inclusive place to live.

“RE goes much further than just helping children understand why different people believe different things: it also gives them the chance to ask questions about their own beliefs and spirituality, and provokes challenging ethical questions.”

Religious education is compulsory in all state schools. But it is not on the national curriculum.

Instead, syllabuses are drawn up locally by committees of officials, teachers and religious groups.

But critics claim it has led to patchy lessons across the country – leaving children ignorant of many minority faiths.

The latest guidance is intended to help improve the standard of lessons in primary schools.

The document says: “To ensure that all children’s backgrounds and experiences are taken into account, it is recommended that there are also opportunities to study other religious traditions such as the Baha’i faith, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism, and secular world views, such as humanism, where appropriate.”

The Baha’i faith, which believes all religions have true and valid origins, has around 6,000 observers in Britain.

Jains believe in living lives of harmlessness and renunciation and are often vegetarians or celibate. There are thought to be 30,000 in Britain.

Zoroastrianism is based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster, who founded the religion in ancient Iran 3,500 years ago. Followers believe there is a cosmic war being waged between good and evil and number some 140,000 worldwide.

The Government’s guidance says that schools which have a significant religious community living nearby could learn about that faith.

“This could include, for example, traditional religions such as those from African countries or China,” it says.

”

Whilst there is acceptance that the religion has to  be taught to the children, we also have a task on our hands to ensure that news editors, journalists are provided with authoritative information on Jain religion and its practices.

Up to 3 fellowships are being offered at The Faculty of Humanities and Faculty of Education through the Kultrans program. Up to two doctoral fellowships will be at the Faculty of Humanities. We’d be glad to welcome proposals in the field of Indology/South Asian Studies.

The last date for submitting applications is 1 February, 2010.

http://www.admin.uio.no/opa/ledige-stillinger/2009/vitenskapelige/upto3doctoralfellowKultransHF-2009-1747.html

–
Ute Huesken
Professor of Sanskrit
Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages
University of Oslo
Faculty of Humanities
P.O. Box 1010 Blindern
N-0315 Oslo
NORWAY

An Inaugural Function is organized on 20th December 2009 under the aegis of Prof. Vachaspati Upadahyaya, Vice-Chancellor, Lal Bahadur Shastri Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi . On this occasion Prof. Radha Vallabh Tripathi, Vice-Chancellor, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi , will deliver key note address from the Chair of Chief Guest. Mrs. Aditi Mehta, Joint Secretary, IGNCA will also be present. More than 35 participants are coming from all over India to participate in it.

The salient features of this workshop is participants will be benefited from the deliberations and lectures of the Faculties viz. Prof. G. C. Tripathi, Prof. Satkari Mukhopadhyaya, Dr. K. K. Chakrtaborty, Prof. S. P. Narang, Dr. J. B. Shah, Prof. Shri Prakash Pandey, Dr. V. S. Shukla, Dr. Balaji Ganorkar, Dr. A. K. Singh, Dr. Preetiben Pancholi, Dr. Uttam Singh etc. The Prakrit Manuscripts will be focused in this workshop. The method of conservation and preservation, transliteration, collation, preparation of critical edition and editing as well as cataloguing of the manuscripts etc will be taught here for the 21 days. The participants of this workshop are mostly highly educated young persons holding good academic background on this subject. This is the first attempt in which the Manuscripts of Prakrit Language will be taken for the theme.

The Valedictory Function is organized on 10th January 2010 when Noted Indologist Prof. Gayacharan Tripathi, Ex-Head, Kala Kosha, IGNCA will deliver his valedictory address to the participants.

For further information contact:
Dr Balaji Ganorkar
Director B. L. Institute of Indology
Tele Fax : 91-11-27202065/27206630 EPBX
http://www.blinstitute.org Email: balaji@blinstitute.org

Information Courtesy:  Mahavir Sanglikar