The Delegates Prepare to Leave for the Meeting

The delegation comprised of :

Accompanying the delegation were Mrs Meenaben Chandaria, Mrs Sarojben Bakulbhai Mehta, Mrs Krusha Piyush Mehta and her mother.

The delegation had started from London after having recited the Namokar Mantra. Oman delegate, Bakulbhai recited the Manglik in the hotel before departing for the meeting at the Pontifical Council offices.

The delegation had gone to the Vatican at the invitation of the President of the Pontifical Council, His Eminence, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran. He along with the Deputy Chairman of the Institute of Jainology, Mr Nemu Chandaria  presided  over the meeting held in the offices of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue (PCID).

Institute's Delegates with His Eminence the Cardinal Tuaran

Father Santiago Michael with some of the Jain Delegates

In addition to the President of the Pontifical Council, PCID was represented by His Excellency the Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, Rev Monsignor Andrew Thanya Anan Vissanu, Under-Secretary  PCID and Rev Father Santiago Michael. The latter being responsible for relationship with Jains and Buddhists.

The meeting was held in an atmosphere of mutual respect and friendship, members of the delegations expressed satisfaction over the cordial relations and cooperation that exist between both the Christian and Jain communities in countries where they live their day-to-day lives in proximity.

The delegations agreed that collaboration  must be strengthened at the local levels to better contribute towards the common good of the entire society. In particular, they stressed the importance of educating the younger generations to be aware of their own traditions and convictions, and to learn about and respect those of others.

There was a lively discussion to find concrete areas of convergence as the basis for mutual collaboration and in particular they focussed on  the Jain principle of  Ahimsa (non-violence)  and that of Christian ‘charity’.

Rev Monsignor Andrew Thanya Anan Vissanu  said that whilst the Jains extend the  principle of non-violence to absolute respect for all living beings, including plants and animals, Christians maintain that the man is at the centre of creation and  thus is called to respect , protect but also use God’s gifts.

Thus, whilst they  found some common elements that can motivate and sustain Jain-Catholic collaboration, recognising the differences between the two principles was equally important.

“They also recognised that these common elements, on a practical level, call upon the followers of both the traditions to promote mutual respect, truthfulness, honesty, freedom, peace, social harmony and to commit themselves to eliminate every form of violence against human beings, in particular injustice, poverty and exploitation of natural resources”.

Msgr Vissanu mentioned that the Rome meeting was a good starting point to promote understanding within the Jain community where in some cases the distinction  between Catholics and other Christian denominations is still unclear.

At end of the discussions, a joint communiqué was agreed upon  and issued. Please click here to see the full text of the communique issued jointly.

Meeting Participants in Front of a Mural showing Mahatma Gandhi Meeting H H The Pope

The Institute hosted a Jain lunch to celebrate the meeting and created an opportunity for all to get to know each other and continue the discussions informally.

Next day PCID had arranged for the delegation to attend the Sermon given by the H H The Pope.  The delegation members were provided with privileged seating in the front row  of the hall with a capacity of about 8,000. Special mention was made of the visit by the delegation to Rome and that a communiqué had been issued. Nemu Chandaria was then introduced to the Holy Father.  Mr Chandaria  then proceeded to  present H H The Pope with a set of Jain Manuscripts catalog and a special gift brought by the Oman delegate. The gifts were examined by the Holy Father and accepted gracefully.

Seems As If The Holy Father is Blessing the Manuscript Catalogs

Holy Father Examining the Gift from Oman

PCID office had kindly arranged for the delegates to visit  St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican Library (where only invited guests are allowed), Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.

Father Santiago Michael who is the Institute’s contact with PCID had been instrumental in arranging the meeting which had taken over nine  months to be fitted in to the busy schedule of the President of the Pontifical Council.

Father Santiago with Some of the Delegates in Front of St Peter's Basilica

His Eminence, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran had been on a two week visit to India during which he participated in a seminar on Christian– Jain dialogue in collaboration with the Catholic Church in India  and the World Fellowship of Religions at the Acharya Sushil Muni Ashram in Delhi.

The first high level Jain Catholic meeting took place in February 1995 in Rome. Contact between the Vatican and the Jain community dates back to the first inter-faith prayer meeting in Assisi, Italy in 1986. Jain delegation has since participated in other inter-faith gatherings in Assisi.

Contact details for the local Roman Catholic personnel in London were provided and delegates look forward to developing further contacts with them.

All the delegates appreciated the considerable efforts made by Nemu Chandaria in making this meeting possible and assured him of the continued support by their respective organisations for all of the Institute’s activities.

Rev. Sally Thomas and Mr Peter Clegg, both of whom visit the Jain Community Centre regularly and have become good friends of the Centre were also part of the ‘Yatra’.

Visitors at the Jain Centre

The visitors took part in a short meditation session and a prayer whilst at the temple.  A short talk was given on one of Jains’ most sacred pilgrimage site, Palitana. Both Rev. Sally Thomas and Mr Peter Clegg were so impressed with talk that they have decided to take part in a yatra to Palitana in 2012 with Jain Centre members.

After taking some refreshments, the group continued on its yatra visiting a further 14 places of worship. The yatra was completed by mid-afternoon.

A short talk was given on the holy centre of Palitana during the visit and were so impressed that they are now intending to go on a pilgrimage with a group of friends to Palitana around early 2012.

Rev. Spence was highly impressed with the white Marble Temple and the beautiful idols.  He said that he felt a special aura in the Temple and found the atmosphere very peaceful. His young son described the Temple as “magnificent”.  Both of them, together with many others promised to visit the Jain Centre again.

A large number of our community members have either already obtained their certificates of being ‘Overseas Citizen of India’  or are considering the possibility of doing so seriously.

The concern faced by all is what is the status of their British Nationality especially when visiting India. Would the British Government provide any consular assistance should that become necessary or deny that assistance stating that the person concerned is considered a Indian National and not entitled to any Consular assistance. There were all kinds of interpretations going round and causing severe concerns to those who had already obtained their OCI status and stopped many from applying for it.

Mr Gopal Bhudia of Freeman Solicitors have now obtained a very clear statement from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and kindly allowed us to publicise the response for the general benefit of the community at large.   A copy of the letter is also be downloaded from the link at the bottom of this page. Mr Bhudia has kindly agreed to being circulated freely.

Click here to download the the above letter in PDF Format

For further information or clarification should it be required please contact the Foreign & Commonwealth Office directly at the address shown.

Programmes were planned for two weeks commencing 20^th August, 2011.

Four sessions were delivered every day at the following times:

06.30  08.00              IOJ/102:  Atmasiddhi Shastra ~ formal course

10.30  12.00              Various subjects before Paryushan.
Kalpa Sutra and Mahavir Katha in Paryushan days

15.00  16.15              Various subjects: Amitgati Samayika verses.

18.00  20.00              Pratikramana

20.00  21.30              Stavans by the local professional group
Before Paryushan: Anandghanji Pada discussions

During Paryushan: Shravak Dharma and 12 vows.

Whilst in Nairobi, Harshadbhai was invited by Shree Visa Oshawal Community, Nairobi to attend the honouring ceremony of two tapasvis: Shantaben with 90 day fast and Kantaben with 65 day fast.  During the ceremony, an English explanation was given on the topic of Tapa: Austerity. Opportunity was taken to encourage closer relationship and unity among the various Sanghs in Kenya.

A presentation using power point slides was also delivered on Sunday, 21^st August at the Oshwal Centre Auditorium, Nairobi, on the subject of Pratikramana: its purpose and meaning and a full explanation of the Moortipoojak Pratikraman ritual was delivered.

On Tuesday, 23^rd August, in response to a request from Visa Oshwal Community, Thika, Harshadbhai spent the afternoon to deliver an open session to the youngsters where a detailed discussion came into play regarding the reality of ‘vegetarian eggs!’

After dinner at Shree Kalpeshbhai Shah’s, a couple of social visits were undertaken before the evening session at the Mahajanwadi in which the preaching of Bhagavan Mahaveer in context to contemporary living was discussed.

Mahaveer Janma Kalyanak was observed with full buzz and circumstances brought both the Sanghs together with the Parnu in the Navnat Hall on Monday, 29th.

All planned sessions were delivered on Friday, 2^nd September and the Sangh returned Harshadbhai to the Airport early on the morning of 3^rd September.

The Paryushan Parva was enjoyed by all involved in organising, attending and hosting the events.  Feedback from the Sangh is expected in few days.

It is very obvious from the program schedule above that it was very tightly filled and quite exerting. Harshadbhai was conducting session for over six hours daily. However, it is pleasing to note that his efforts bore fruit in that all the sessions were well attended and Q&A sessions were very lively. He also found time to participate on local radio discussion on Jain religion.

The chart below illustrates graphically the intensity of the programs:

Following letter was received from the Chairman of Shree Sthanakvasi Jain Sangh, Nairobi on completion of the tour by Harshadbhai.

Yesterday, the Victoria & Albert Museum, in conjunction with Jainpedia and with support from the Jain Art Fund, held a fun day of activities, storytelling and a very creative art and craft drop in design workshop.

This event held with  dual objective of widening the awareness of Jainism through the media of JAINpedia and to promote the awareness of the rich cultural heritage held in the UK to the Jain community at large.

Several enjoyed the story-telling by Seema Anand, who has an entertaining and interactive style that keeps the audience glued to their seats. The audience moved on to the Sackler Centre and completed worksheets  which gave a brief description of  Jainism and asked people to hunt for plants and animals from not only within the JAINpedia display, but also the rest of the museum. The participants were spoilt for choice, and created some beautiful manuscripts from dung paper, lentils and various craft items.

The JAINpedia volunteers invited museum visitors to the various events, sought feedback from the attendees and carried out tours of the display. They helped children identify animals from within the Jain manuscript collection,  and at the same time told them some of the stories within the manuscripts. Children were fascinated, and adults were intrigues by the history, concepts and culture of Jainism from the tours.

A successful event, with not only more events to look forward to, but also a highly detailed multi-media website, with Jain manuscripts digitized, described, translated and explained with the aid of various contextual articles by Jain scholars like Nalini Balbir.

The JAINpedia display is on at the Victoria & Albert Museum until December 2012, and if you would like to book a tour of the display, please contact us on the below details.

The JAINpedia project has a newsletter with up-to date news and events, if you would like to sign up for it, or even sign up to be a volunteer or support us in any other manner please also contact us at the below details.

JAINpedia Contact:

Bansri Mehta

Email: info@jainpedia.org

Tel: 020 8236 1011

www.jainpedia.org

Sunday 24^th July, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, UK.

The Oshwal Association of the UK organised a large ‘mela’ on Sunday, with a funfair, trade stalls, vegan food and games galore, it was an eventful day out for all who attended.

The Institute of Jainology (IoJ) arranged to have their own stall at the event, in order to showcase its recent work, including the extensive JAINpedia project. IOJ publications, the ‘Tattvartha Sutra – That Which Is’, and the 2 books in the Learn Jainism series, Discover Jainism and Jain Tales, were a hit. Children loving the new ‘Jain Tales’ and parents wanting to learn more about Jainism through the ‘Tattvartha Sutra’.

Gates opened at 11.30am and closed at 8.00pm; open to the public, the event was attended mainly by Oshwal community members from across the country, but also by several other communities and religions. The weather held up and the day turned out to be very fruitful for the charity and much fun for the team.

An estimated 5000 people attended the event, with many coming in to see us at the colourful JAINpedia stall. Raising awareness of the commendable project was one of our objectives, and achieved substantially, with hundreds signing up for the future JAINpedia e-newsletter.

The JAINpedia team, as always stood out in their orange t-shirts, and talked to people about the project objectives, achieved milestones and showed people screenshots of the upcoming, comprehensive and well – designed JAINpedia website. All were impressed at how much would be viewable on the site from digitized manuscripts zoom able to the minutest details, to ample information about Jainism through related articles, written by scholars and experts from around the world.

Further to this, young university students were encouraged to spend some time during their holidays, volunteering for JAINpedia events and website work; several signing up just to know more about their own culture.

From the achieved milestones, the most asked about was the visit by HRH, The Prince of Wales, to the JAINpedia display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in November 2010. The Royal Family’s attention to the Institute of Jainology and its work began in 1990, when the IoJ had the Jain Declaration on Nature published and presented to HRH Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace in presence of Jain leadership from many countries.

The seed of JAINpedia was sown with the launch of the British Library Manuscripts catalogue at Buckingham Palace in London, which was attended by 300 people on 15^th May, 2007, in the graceful presence of HRH Duke of Edinburgh.

The challenge of access to Jain manuscripts to a wide and diverse audience was now raised. Also, realizing physical contact could be virtually impossible for these rare and fragile manuscripts, and that they were in languages not read in, for centuries, the JAINpedia project was rightly conceived, and aptly brings Jainism into the 21^st Century.

The Institute of Jainology looks forward to bring this multimedia site into public view in the near future.

Speakers with wide ranging interests

Date: 21 March 2012Time: 10:00 AM

Finishes: 22 March 2012Time: 5:00 PM

Venue: Brunei GalleryRoom: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre

Type of Event: Symposium

This symposium addresses the lack of public reflection on the value and the limitations of received religious paradigms and intellectual habits across cultures concerning the welfare of animals and plants by opening up a new dialogue between thinkers and activists from different religious and philosophical backgrounds on the global problem of biodiversity conservation and animal welfare.

Full details of the symposium at

http://www.soas.ac.uk/biodiversity/

Following speakers have already been enlisted to speak at the symposium on the subjects shown:

1. Professor Emeritus Dr Marc Bekoff        marc.bekoff@gmail.com
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder

Who Lives, Who Dies, & Why: Ignoring and Redecorating Nature and Specious Speciesism

2. Emeritus Dr Stephen R.L.Clark    srlclark@liverpool.ac.uk
Department of Philosophy, University of Liverpool
Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Theology, University of Bristol

Imaging the Divine: How is Humanity the Reason for Creation, and what is Humanity?

3. Dr Peter Flügel        pf8@soas.ac.uk
Chair, Centre of Jaina Studies, Department of the Study of Religions, SOAS

Rethinking Animism: the Jaina doctrine of non-violence from the perspective of comparative ethics

4.Professor Dr Andrew Linzey  director@oxfordanimalethics.com
Director, Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics

Can Christianity become good news for animals?

5. Professor Emeritus Dr Tom Regan         Tom_Regan@ncsu.edu
Department of Philosophy & Religion, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

Animal Rights & Environmental Ethics

6. Dr Emma Tomalin     e.tomalin@leeds.ac.uk
Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds

Religious discourses about the environment: resources for sustainable development or a modern-day myth?

7. Professor Dr Paul Waldau  pwaldau@gmail.com
Chair, Anthrozoology, Canisius College & Barker Lecturer in Animal Law, Harvard Law School

Animal Studies iS the Key of Animal Rights

8. Dr Sarra Tlili   satlili@ufl.edu
Assistant Professor of Arabic, Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Gainesville, University of Florida

If it got worse, it can get better: Muslims’ attitudes toward animals between the past and the present

9. Dr Michael Tobias   mctobias@aol.com
Dancing Star Foundation

Mahavira, Don Quixote and the History of Ecological Ethics and Idealism

10. Professor Dr Michael Zimmermann   Michael.Zimmermann@uni-hamburg.de
Professor for Indian Buddhism, Head Asien-Afrika Institut, Hamburg University

Anthropocentrism in the guise of an all-inclusive ethics? Buddhist attitudes to the natural world

Following article is based on a blog by George M Ballentyne    Equality & Diversity Officer     Leicester Council of Faiths

A day long conference sponsored by Religious Education Council for England and the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom was recently held at Jain Centre Leicester.

It’s an event for RE teachers and specialists to get together with representatives and workers from faith organisations to see how school visits to sacred spaces might be enhanced for the benefit of all involved, that the worth of learning outside the classroom might be more widely celebrated, embraced and supported.

To date two such events at local level were held in Leicester, it was thought appropriate to hold an event at national level in as well in Leicester. Attendees had come from as far afield as London, Manchester, Norwich and North Yorkshire.

The Council of Faiths exhibition was on show  giving those present the opportunity to see something of the diversity of faith communities in Leicester.  Rosemarie Fitton and Lalit Chhajed had set up the exhibition.

Sarah Lane Cawte (Chair of the Sacred Spaces Sector Partnership Group) introduced the day’s programme and Smita Shah, President of Jain Samaj Europe and Treasurer of Leicester Council of Faiths, welcomed the conference participants to the event, to Leicester and to the Jain Centre.

Janet Ingram, Education Officer for Leicester Diocese, started off by talking about the “Faith Stories” format for visiting sacred spaces in Leicester, usually involving three different faith community places of worship and activity.
This theory was put into practice. Following the  guided tour of the worship hall in the Jain centre, the group set off for visits to the Nagarjuna Kampada Budddhist Centre in Guildhall Lane, followed by a stop at Leicester Cathedral before returning to the Jain Centre for a Jain  lunch (Pure vegetarian without any root vegetables or mushrooms).

Break following the lunch gave everyone an opportunity to view the exhibition and also collect some publicity material including a brochures titled An Indian Summer, which features a strong contribution from Leicester Council of Faiths.

After lunch, there were short presentations by three attendees from different backgrounds about their experiences in relation to learning outside the classroom, through school visits: Alex Carlton, Education Officer at Southwark Cathedral; Jill Carr, Consultant for Leicester City Council on Religious Education, Community Cohesion, and Closing the Gap; Marilyn Bowles, Associate Tutor on the Primary PGCE course at Leicester University.

Next in the afternoon programme there were four workshops on offer:

Sharing spaces – developing collaborative learning days (Pam Elliott)

This workshop explores ways of working with other providers to maximise the learning potential of a school visit. Pam Elliott is a former Head of Religious Studies and has led the Education Department at Manchester Cathedral for the past five years. During this time she has worked with a range of Manchester institutions to create some unique learning experiences including “The Place of Peace”, “A Shared Story”, “Wealth and poverty Learning Days” and “Ho,man Hunt and Religious Art”.

How to make meaningful contact with faith communities (Hannah Ashleigh)

This workshop considers the real value of visits and visitors and how to ensure that experiences gained from learning outside the classroom bring this personal dimension of faith to life. It looks are how to make the most of speakers who are invited to schools and how the use of stories, artifacts and photographs can make a real impact on learning about and from faith communities. Hannah Ashleigh is Education Policy and Projects Manager for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, where she is responsible for the planning, development and delivery and delivery of educational initiatives designed to promote the understanding of Jewish faith and heritage in schools and wider British society. She also works extensively in education policy, working with government and with colleagues from other faith groups on all issues that could affect faith schools and our diverse communities more broadly. she has a masters degree in Professional and Community Education and Development.

Developing an RE trail in your locality (Sharon Artley)

This workshop explores different themes for RE trails, how to set one up in your locality and look at available resources. Sharon Artley has been working in Religious Education for over 30 years – as a teacher, head of department and senior manager and (since 2003) as a consultant, lecturer, inspector and trainer. she has published articles, developed digital resources, lectured, run courses and delivered training, both locally and nationally and has a specific interest in the impact ICT can have on the delivery and outcomes of high quality RE. She is editor of the Sacred Space section of the REOnline website and jointly set up the RE trails website. she supports primary and secondary RE in the north of England and is currently working on three national RE projects. Sharon holds degrees in Theology and has a Fellowship in Holocaust Education with the Imperial War Museum.

Using a sacred space for learning and spiritual development (Diana Ives & Emma Anderton)

This workshop explores ways in which the Southwell Minster education team use the Cathedral with school groups to develop understanding of RE and give students the opportunity to gain a sense of spirituality for themselves. Diana Ives has lived in Nottingham for 20 years, teaching across the primary age range in schools in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. She lives with her husband and two daughters. Emma Anderton grew up in Nottingham and has many year’s teaching experience within the primary age group. she has two grown up sons and lives in Newark with her husband and daughter. For the last seven and eight years respectively, Diana and Emma have worked as Education Officers at Southwell Minster, the Cathedral church of the Southwell and Nottingham Diocese, which hosts 9,000 schoolchildren (and 900 teachers and accompanying adults) every year, aged 18 months to Sixth Form. The role is diverse and involves family, cross-curricular and some adult learning, as well as providing RE experiences.

I’m grateful to Sarah for giving me a few minutes in the final plenary session to say something about our exhibition and our use of social media.

He was requested to speak at theconcluding ceremony to give information on JAINpedia and also provide some concluding remarks for the Shibir.

Both the topics were well received by the audience of about hundred from all over the UK.  Information regarding JAINpedia and JAINISM was distributed in the JAINpedia wallet to the heads of each city represented.  Both the Institute’s main web site and the JAINpedia sites were introduced and the participants were requested to channel their enquiries via the websites.

The conclusion resolved many questions and doubts regarding Hinduism and Jainism.

On 15th April, JAINpedia held a series of events at the British Library to celebrate Mahavir Jayanti, the festival marking the birth of Mahavira, the founder of present-day Jainism.  The day’s events included storytelling sessions by highly acclaimed story-teller Seema Anand, a dance recital in the Bharat Natyam dance form, performed by founders of the Prakruti Dance School, and art workshops run by artist Sophie Dave.

The day was a considerable success, with over 500 people, Jains and non-Jains, turning out to participate.  The classical dance recital filled the foyer of the British Library, with many passers by stopping to watch the whole performance, which involved four dances.  The storytelling and art workshops attracted a large audience of parents and children, enabling younger and older generations to learn more about Jainism.

These events tied in with the ongoing exhibition of Jain manuscripts in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery in the British Library, which also had an influx of visitors throughout the day.  JAINpedia volunteers were on hand giving people free guided tours of the exhibits.  Many who took the tours had several probing questions about Jain culture and teachings, and left wanting to find out more about Jainism in their own time.

I was one of the many volunteers helping out with the running of the events, for example counting the visitor numbers or directing people to the displays.  I also had a go at giving some of the tours, which was a fairly daunting experience.  I had been briefed on the manuscripts when I visited the display the weekend before, so knew the content, but this didn’t make having to explain it to others in plain English much easier.  This was especially difficult since many Jain stories are filled with metaphors, and it is often the morals and ethics behind the stories that are important, rather than the somewhat fantastical stories themselves.  Getting other people’s insights into the meaning behind these Jain texts is one of the reasons I am looking forward to the eventual launch of the JAINpedia website.

There was also a need to tailor the explanations to the audience.  For some visitors, seeing the Jain manuscripts was the first encounter they had with Jainism, so the tour had to start with the basic principles of Jainism, such as Ahimsa (non-violence).  By contrast, one of the families I gave a tour to were already very knowledgeable about Jainism, so for them I tried to concentrate on the historical and cultural significance of the manuscripts (e.g. the fact they are written on handmade paper) rather than the religious significance.

Volunteering for JAINpedia has nonetheless been very fulfilling.  Once I gave my first tour, I realised just how much I had learnt about Jainism through my brief involvement with the project.  Also, given the epic scale of the undertaking – a five-year project to digitize 5,000 images – I feel quite lucky to have been around at the right time and place to take part.  I know that JAINpedia are still looking for new volunteers, so would thoroughly recommend volunteering, especially to people like me that started out with a superficial understanding of Jain heritage and culture.

Those of you who have been following the JAINpedia project will know that there are simultaneous exhibitions of Jain manuscripts currently going on in the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Library.  The collection in the British Library is, in my view, the far richer of the two because it covers a greater time period (c.13th to c.15th) and has a wider range of exhibits in terms of art style and content – it is the largest collection of Jain artefacts outside of the Indian sub-continent.

The British Library display was originally due to end on 30th April 2011, but fortunately this has been extended to run until 30th June 2011, so there is still a chance to see it.  Why not even take a trip to the British Library over the upcoming Bank Holiday weekends?

By Jayesh Navin Shah

JAINpedia volunteer

Note:Anyone wishing to volunteer for the JAINpedia Project should contact the Project Manager, Bansri Mehta via email at bansri.mehta@jainpedia.org