Jain Digest Editor’s Note

Editor’s Note

Om Shri Veetragay Namah Jai Jinendra,

At the beginning of this year, just as we thought that the pandemic was getting under control in most parts of the world, many of us are heart-broken to see the devastation created by the second wave of the virus in India and other countries in southeast Asia. We hope that this crisis ends soon. Many governments, organizations and individuals are providing whatever assistance they can, so that the horrendous suffering ends and life returns to normal. We, at JAINA, have provided help in various ways and continue to pray for our fellow human beings.

In this June issue of Jain Digest, we are honored to bring you articles by two prominent members of Jain community in UK – Professor Atul K. Shah and Satish Kumar. Professor Shah is a founding editor of the renowned Jain Spirit magazine. In the article titled “Culture Never Forgets – It adapts”, he shares a new project on “Protecting Jain Migration Memories”, which was launched during the Pandemic. Satish Kumar is an Indian British activist and a distinguished speaker. In his article on Faith and Science, he brings a new Jain perspective and emphasizes that religious faiths need to embrace science, especially climate science.

In this issue, you will find that for the first time, we have included two poems in Hindi! In “Mahavir Teri Ek Jhalak”, Savita Jain expresses her devotion and gratitude towards Bhagwan Mahavir and in “Bas Ek Parda”, Himanshu Gandhi urges us to remove the vail and focus on the reality of our existence. We thank them for their contribution of these wonderful compositions.

During March and April, we had asked our community members to share their experiences in “Practicing Jain Principles”. From the several entries we had received from North America and India, our editorial team has selected a few that you will find interesting and educational. We believe that knowing how other people are applying the principles helps us to get a better understanding of the teachings of Bhagwan Mahavir and helps us make our faith stronger. We thank all those who filled out the form.

With the same goal of making our faith stronger, in the article about Mahasati Chandanbala, Rajkumar Jain and Anop Vora from our editorial team, bring you eight unique lessons you can learn from her life. I am sure after reading this article, you will have even a greater reverence for the Mahasatiji.

After doing an in-depth research, Dr. Parveen Jain has written an article describing Bhagwan Mahavir’s journey to Kevalgyan. Due to space limitation, we bring you portion of that article with focus on the description of the auspicious event of achievement of Kevalgyan at the pious Kevalgyan Kalyanak Bhumi in India.

In the Transformation section, Ramesh Khandhar tells us about signs and systems to look for in assessing our spiritual progress. The second article in this section, taken from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, shows the transformative power of Yoga on our body and brain.

In the article “From Earthlings to Ahimsa”, writer Kenneth Furr tells us about his journey in search of Ahimsa and how grateful he is to find it in Jainism.

In continuing with the goal of recognizing our young generation, we bring you two articles previously published by YJA. Shruti Jain explores the parallel between Jain teachings and Jay Shetty’s book titled “Think Like a Monk”. Nishi Shah/Suryaraj Jain write about a pathshala teacher Monica Shah – a role model for young kids. The third article written by Riya Jain, contains a well-researched, thoughtful explanation of Equanimity.

In addition, we have updates on the activities of Academic Liaison and Ahimsa Meals and Fasting Committees; update on 2021 JAINA Convention and a few other articles such as Tribute to Dr. Surendra Singhvi, recognition of a philanthropic couple Harshad and Raksha Shah, information about the Compassion in Action Art contest, etc.

My sincere thanks to our editorial team for their efforts in approaching new authors, searching for new content and working on putting together your responses to “Practicing Jain Principles”. Thanks to Jayanaben Shah for designing the beautiful cover page and overall design of the magazine.

Hope you enjoy reading all articles in this issue. Thanks to many of you that continue to provide us with valuable feedback. Please write to us at jaindigestpublication@gmail.com if you would like to join our editorial team or write an article for our next issue which will be published in October 2021.

Stay safe. Stay healthy.

In Seva,

Dilip Parekh