This year, Institute’s Education Team was invited by three Jain organisations in the UK for various activities for Paryushan Parva.
Pre-Paryushan Activities
IOJ Education Team was invited by two organisations to conduct pre-Paryushan workshops to prepare the congregations for Paryushan Parva. Both were held during the weekend preceding Paryushan. The first one was held on Saturday 12th August for Oshwal Association of the UK, South Area (OAUK South) where the focus was on understanding the essentials of the Parva through the rituals of Pratikramana, Tapa and Samayika. On Sunday 13th August for Navnat Vanik Association UK (NVA), the focus was on the meaning of Paryushan and why we do what we do during this Parva.
Lectures and Bhakti during Paryushan
As Paryushan started, Dr Harshadbhai Sanghrajka was engrossed in delivering morning and
evening lectures on selected topics for NVA. The morning
lectures focussed on the origin of Jain Scriptures followed by
57 Means to Happiness (Sukh na Saadhan) and finally on Kshamapana. The evening lectures covered the 12 Reflections (Bar Bhavana). An open forum was held every afternoon for an hour where the audience asked any questions they had on Jainism. Each morning, before the
lecture, a short Bhakti was conducted by IOJ Education Team members.
Pratikramana in English
Essence of Pratikramana was conducted for OAUK South on two occasions during Paryushan. Key sutras were recited in the original language followed by English translation.
Interactive Sessions in Northampton
At Oshwal Association of the UK (Northampton) on Sunday 20th August, two interactive
sessions were conducted by Shrutiben Malde; the first on Jainism and Science, and the second on Understanding Spiritual Progress: Gunasthanas.
There was plenty of interaction with lots of interesting questions from the audience. The first session was very thought provoking as science is very much part of our lives in the 21st Century in the home, work, leisure and medicine. There was a healthy discussion on the Jain perspective on organ donation, transplants and cloning. The message was that Jainism is very much a science and has answers to a lot of our existential questions. However, we need to understand the Jain philosophy better to apply it effectively. We were fortunate to have the presence of and input from Yuvacharya Shubhamji Maharaj of Veerarayatan.
Childrens’ Workshop for Paryushan
An afternoon workshop for children was held for Navnat Vanik Association UK on the first
Saturday of Paryushan. Children aged 5-14
attended and learnt about the virtues of Mahavir Bhagvan through the story of Dreams of Mother Trishala from the IOJ publication Jain Tales by Colin Hynson. The children were encouraged to select at least one of the virtues for themselves to develop during the auspicious time of Paryushan. They also enjoyed some art-craft work of colouring and decorating the fourteen dreams. At the start of the workshop, a
4-step process of ‘remind, reflect, confess, seek forgiveness’ was explained as the basis of Pratikramana.
IOJ Education Team is grateful to all the organisations for their invitation, support and hospitality for these activities.
Feedback Received from the Community Members at the end of the Paryushan 2017 Series:
People who attended the various activities by IOJ Education Team at Navnat Centre, Hayes had many appreciative comments.
Many commented that they had learnt a lot more about Jainism this year than ever before from the Swadhyaya lectures. The slides projected and the language used – both Gujarati and English – together with the opportunity to ask questions at any time was conducive to their learning. It was apparent from the questions asked that their interest was aroused. Many requested soft copies of the slides and were told that they are able to watch the lectures loaded on NVA Website.
Some acknowledged the hard work that went into preparing the stavans in both Gujarati and English Transliteration which were projected onto the screens so that all could join in the Bhakti sessions each morning.
Some of the parents commented that the Childrens’ Workshop was unique, providing good learning together with fun activities. They inquired about future workshops, for both, children and adults and wanted to be informed of any regular classes held by Dr Harshadbhai Sanghrajka.
The team thanks all the attendees for their positive feedback.
This is what Shri Bhupendrabhai Shah, Paryushan Co-ordinator of Navnat has to say:
“This year’s Paryushan was interesting and exciting. We were honoured to have Dr Harshadbhai Nandlal Sanghrajka for religious discourses. His simple lectures gave the true essence of the religion. Dr Harshadbhai leads the Jain Education Team of OneJAIN/Institute of Jainology. Daily bhakti by the Jain Education Team was well appreciated. A big thank you to the Team Members.”
Navnat Darpan, October 2017.
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