Digamber Jains London

Gurudev’s 129th Janma Jayanti – Vaisaak Sud 2 – 17th April 2018129 years ago, in the village of Umrala, a great teacher was born who would go on to become one of the most influential and instrumental causes in re-directing us to the true path of liberation. Pujya Gurudev’s Janma Jayanti this year falls on Tuesday 17th April, 2018. We will be having a 5 day vidhaan to celebrate the occasion. 
The vidhaan will run from Tuesday 17th – Saturday 21st :

Weekdays (Tuesday to Friday)

08.00 to 08.30 AM Jinendra Abhishek

08.30 to 09.30 AM Jinendra Puja

09.30 to 10.30 AM Pujya Gurudevshree’s video CD Pravachan

10.30 to 11.30 AM Shastra Swadhyay
Janma Vadhamna will take place at 10.30am on Tuesday 17th.

 

Weekends (Saturday)

08.15 – 08.30 Jinendra Abhishek

08.30 – 09.30 Pujya Gurudevshree’s video CD Pravachan

09.30 – 10.30 Jinendra Puja

10.30 – 11.30 Shastra Swadhyay

 
Sunday 22nd April 
08.15 – 08.30: Jinendra Abhishek

08.30 – 09.30: Pujya Gurudev’s Video CD Pravachan

09.30 – 10.30: Jinendra Puja & Janma Vadhamna  

10.30 – 12.00: Adhyatmik Quiz

To celebrate Pujya Gurudev Kanjiswami’s Janma Jayanti, our Cultural Team will be holding an intriguing and fun filled Quiz event on Sunday 22nd April 10:30 am onwards. The quiz is open to all to attend.
The quiz will be a multi round quiz, involving 3 Teams and requires 9 adults (or older children) to participate. As such, we request 9 participants to come forward and take part in the quiz. You will be selected on a first come basis.
It would greatly benefit participating members to refresh or read up on:
Balbodh books

Jain stories
This is a great opportunity to test your existing knowledge and also learn some more too.
Hope to see your participation, and if not, your attendance at the event.

Hope as many of you that can will attend with the whole family!

Mahavir Janma Kalyanak Thursday 29th March 2018
2617 years ago, the last Tirthankar of our current cycle, Mahavir Bhagwan, was born. His teachings have been instrumental in propagating the knowledge of Jainism in our time and forthcoming times to come. This day also holds special relevance for us as it was also on this day in 1934 that Pujya Gurudev’s parivartan took place. The cultural team have been busy organising two events prior and just after the actual day. 
With Mahavir Janma Kalyanak around the corner, our Pathshala children have been busy preparing a fun and interactive story telling of some important events in Mahavir Bhagwan’s life. All are welcome to come and watch the story unfold, and be inspired by our younger generation to learn more about Mahavir Bhagwan for ourselves. Please come along and show your support for our bright Pathshala kids. The programme will be as follows:
Sunday 25th March 2018
08.30 – 09:30: Pujya Gurudev’s CD Pravachan

09.30 – 10.30: Jinendra Pujan 

10.30 – 11.30: Pathshala children’s story telling
As there is a four day holiday the day after MJK, we will be holding our main programme for the celebrations as follows:
Friday 30th March 2018
08.15 – 09:15: Pujya Gurudev’s CD Pravachan

09.15 – 10.30: Jinendra Maha-Abhishek (boys over 8 years most welcome) & Mahavir Janma Kalyanak Pujan 

10.30 – 11.30: Gyaan Goshti – Religious discussion

In Balbodh Part 2, under Lesson 7 on the life of Bhagwan Mahavir, the following are listed as some of Mahavir Bhagwan’s important teachings:  
1. All souls are equal, nobody is lesser or greater

2. God is not the creator nor the destroyer of things in this universe – he only knows them.

3. Telling lies and intention of telling lies are sins.

4. Theft and intention of theft are sins.

5. A greedy person is always unhappy.
During this event, we will be exploring together these teachings, giving all the opportunity to explore their meaning and applicability in our lives. You are invited to prepare a short passage (no more than 4 or 5 minutes), related to any one of these teachings, which you will share with your Sadharmis during the event. You can prepare this in any language you are comfortable with. In the passage you prepare, you should aim to share your thoughts in relation to the following questions:    
1. How can you apply this principle in your everyday life, and what would be the benefits of doing so?

2. What obstacles prevent you from applying this principle in your life, and how could you overcome those obstacles?

3. What are examples of behaviours/conduct (think of obvious and more obscure examples also) that people engage in that go against this principle?

4. What evidence do you see in the world around you that supports this principle?
Everyone is welcome to attend the event, but if you would specifically like to be a participant in the discussions as per above, please put your name forward by emailing events@mahavirjaintemple.com. Please advise which topic you would prefer to talk on in your email. All ages are welcome to take part.

On Sunday 18th February we will be holding our first Children’s Pooja. The Pooja will be conducted between 9.30 and 10.30am, in place of the regular Pooja. 
In this Pooja we will be giving children the opportunity to perform Ashtdravya Pooja. The Pooja thalis will be provided, along with Pooja songs transliterated to English, so the children can follow along.
This is a brilliant opportunity for children and adults alike to learn why and how we should perform Pooja. The event is open to all, so please come along to enjoy this new intiative being delivered by your cultural team.
For any children that will be attending, please provide their names, either by messaging 07817 319838, or by emailing events@mahavirjaintemple.com. This will enable us to ensure we have sufficient Pooja thalis available.

The first Saturday evening event will be held on Saturday 20th January, between 7pm and 8.30pm. The evening will be a mix of Bhakti (with live musicians), and some light games (time permitting). All are welcome to attend, and we especially encourage those with children to come along, as we will be singing some child friendly English bhaktis, along with easy to follow traditional bhaktis, that will be written up in traditional font for anyone who cannot easily read in traditional languages.
Although the event is designed for children to get involved, everyone should come along to make the evening as lively as possible, and to encourage our younger generation to increase their participation in Mandir activities. We should also use this as an opportunity to spend more quality time, interacting with our fellow Sadharmis, young and old, and regardless of learning level.

SHREE DIGAMBER JAIN ASSOCIATION www.mahavirjaintemple.com
Jai Jinendra!
This year Diwali falls on Thursday 19th October. Our grand celebrations will start with Mahavir Bhagwan’s Abhishek at the usual time of 8.15am. The mandir will be open from 8-9pm in the evening for darshan and bhakti, with the arti taking place at 8.45pm.
For those who are working, we have a weekend celebration on Sunday 22nd October, where again the grand celebrations will start with Maha-abhishek, poojan, offering of Nirvana ladoo and bhakti. 
We will be holding a raffle draw for the ‘Nirvana ladoo’ at £10 a ticket. The raffle will be drawn on the Sunday , the lucky winner will have the opportunity to place the offering in front of Bhagwan Mahavir with their entire family. Please obtain your raffle tickets from Nileshbhai, our pujari.

 
The programme on Sunday 22nd October is as follows:
8.00 – 9.00: Pujya Gurudevhree’s CD Pravachan

9.00 – 10.45: Jinendra maha Abhishek, poojan, Nirvana ladoo & bhakti (with music)

10.45 – 11.15: Swadhyay by Saurabhji Jain on Dev Darshan

11.15 – 11.45: Children’s programme

Hope to see you and the entire family on Diwali!

Jai Jinendra!
Das Laxan Maha Parva 2017

English Das Lakshan Talk

Sunday 27th August, 2 – 3.30 pm
Last year we held two English language sessions to explore the meaning of the Paryushan parva. These were very well attended and received. This year we will be holding a single English language session which will focus on the Nischay (absolute) and Vyavhar (conventional) angles of the das lakshan dharma on which we contemplate during this great festival. The event is being held in collaboration with Young Jains. All are welcome to attend.