Dear family and friends,

The month of May has so far been one of celebration, bereavement, remembrance, family closeness, career progress and preparing for this summer’s events.

In the early May bank holiday weekend, Heena and I spent 3 days in Brighton to celebrate her birthday, where we feasted at several of Brighton’s many vegetarian / vegan restaurants. If you’re going to Brighton, I highly recommended the vegetarian restaurant Terre à Terre.

We held bhakti (devotional prayers) on Saturday 16th May in memory of Heena’s father who passed away 9 years ago and in memory of Heena’s kaka (father’s brother) who passed away 6 years ago, and a sadadi /prathna sabha (prayer meeting) on Saturday 23rd May for our dear nanima (my mum’s mum) who passed away in Nairobi earlier this month.

On Monday 25th May, a few of the family got together to write kankotris / invitations for my brother Sawan’s wedding which is taking place in August. It was a productive day, and with the recent bereavements in the family, it was wonderful to have the warmth of the family come together.

Preparation is coming along well for the session titled “Revealing the Gremlins” which I’ll be presenting at the Young Jains International Convention this July. It’s about recognising the barriers we face when working towards our goals, and explores what karma is really about. If you want to know more about this, you can read an introduction to the session ‘Revealing the Gremlins’ .

The convention is taking place on the weekend of 17th to 19th July in London, and is open to all ages (aimed mostly at age 16 to 35 and beyond, although there’s a special kids convention taking place alongside it). Do register to attend if it sounds interesting - the cost is heavily subsidised, and registration includes delicious Jain vegan meals! Let me know if you’d like to know more, or see www.youngjains.org.uk/convention for details.

Public speaking is also becoming an important element in my career, where last week I was invited to a conference to speak about digital marketing strategies to a room full of university marketing and communications professionals. This is really important for me because my role at Chameleon Net focuses on building relationships with existing clients and attracting more clients from the higher education sector. I received some very constructive feedback from the session I presented, which will help to make me a better public speaker over time.

Next month, Heena and I will be celebrating six months being married (and incidentally a year since I proposed to her). It’ll consist of more preparation towards the Young Jains Convention in July and Sawan’s wedding in August. Of course, June is also the month in which I’ll be growing a year older / wiser!

As you can see, the next few months will be quite action-packed, so thanks to all who have been patient with me about arranging to spend some quality one-on-one time together - this will happen September 2009 onwards…

With love,
Suraj

This morning I received a beautiful message from a friend about the relation betwen the celebration of India’s independence and our own inner journey to freedom…

Jai Jinendra
Jai Satgurudev Vandan

Today India, the Mother country, celebrates independence, the end of an era of foreign rule which arguably began more than a eight hundred years ago for North India.

As the country modernises and westernises, there is a great challenge to the innate spirituality, the soul, if you will, in her culture.

But then the king within is also dominated by foreign matter - both gross external objects and subtle karmic matter.

At the heart of the Satyagraha of Gandhiji lies the idea that we are letting ourselves be suppressed and we can rise against this, resist it, not co-operate with it, for without our help, the oppressor can do oppress us, as we are providing the means.

Just as this insight freed 470mm from foreign domination, by a handful of rulers, so this great majestic soul can throw of the shakles of its own bondage by becoming awake and arising.

With the blessings, guidance, example and living presence of a True Guru all this is easy.

Happy Independence Day
Happy journey to Independence!

Right now, the sun is shining. Nothing special - it’s a gorgeous afternoon, and the light of the sun is penetrating through the large window and illuminating my whole bedroom. This morning the sun wasn’t shining. Nothing special - the clouds were hiding it, and it looked quite gloomy outside. Tonight the sun will stop shining. Nothing special - the Earth will have rotated so that we won’t be able to see the sun, and so we’ll be in darkness.

Interesting how the sun was still there, doing it’s job, radiating as it was meant to. The sun will continue doing it’s job, radiating as it’s meant to. The sun will continue shining. At times there will be clouds or the Earth covering it up, hiding it from our view, and although it will look like the sun has stopped shining, it’ll just be that our view of the sun has been obscured.

Our experience of the rest of the world is kind of like that. Everything that we could ever want, that we could ever hope to get, is permanently there. Everything that we hope never to get, to never be a victim of, is also permanently there. What happens is that our past actions cause certain things to be hidden from our present view.

Karmically speaking, our previously bound paap karma hides all the things that make us feel good, and reveals those very things that make us feel bad. In the same context, previously bound punya karma hides all the things that we could never want, and reveals the very things that make us feel better.

Of course all those bad things and those better things are just momentary. We want to remove all karma so that we can see our world as it is, completely unadulterated, being aware of all the good and all the not so good, without really reacting to it.

So the next time you’re looking for that perfect parking space, remember that it’s just there where you want it, even if it appears to be momentarily hidden. The next time you want to go on that playful date, remember that the right person is right in front of you, even if they appear to hidden from your life. The next time you want the sun to shine, remember that it will, although it may just be hiding behind the clouds.

Date: Friday 18th to Sunday 20th May 2007
Times: Depart at 12 noon from NW London, Return by 9pm to NW London
Location: The Abbey, Oxfordshire
Register: By contacting Malini at retreat@youngjains.org.uk or call 020 8907 7972 / 07816 627817

Early this summer, spend a dynamic weekend in the Oxfordshire countryside, as you encounter the warm, open-minded atmosphere of the Young Jains Residential Retreat.

Spanning across two and a half days of mind, body, and spiritual nourishment, this is your opportunity to immerse yourself in sessions that explore the foundations and lifestyle application of Jain Dharma, amongst a group of twenty curious and creative individuals just like you.

Take some time out to make new friends, build on existing friendships, and have fun within a playful setting where we will cook together, play games, and walk in nature.

Subsidised by Young Jains, your contribution is just £45 for Young Jains Student Members, £60 for Young Jains Members, and £75 for Non-members. With 12 people already signed up, be sure to contact Malini now to register for one of the 8 remaining places.

Get in touch with Malini at retreat@youngjains.org.uk or call 020 8907 7972 / 07816 627817 to request a registration form, or to have any questions about the retreat answered.

For more information, visit http://www.youngjains.org.uk/events/retreat/

Pujyashree Chitrabhanuji is coming to town! That’s right, in March 2007, for just a few days, Pujyashree Chitrabhanu is in London, giving us the opportunity to spend time with an individual that has had and who continues to have a tremendous impact, in spreading the messages of Jain Dharma to the wider world outside India.

There are a series of events taking place from Tuesday 6th to Sunday 11th March in and around London, and I highly recommend you get to as many of them as you can. For those understanding English only, I suggest you check out the event that Young Jains is hosting on Saturday 10th March - details at TwelveFacets.com

What a wonderful chance to learn in person from someone who has so eloquently written about the twelve bhavnas, which are the ancient reflections on everyday reality. His book Twelve Facets of Reality has been instrumental in my current exploration and approach to overcoming inner desires, working towards freedom from the cycles of birth and rebirth, with the ultimate aim of abundant, infinite, eternal bliss - a.k.a. Moksha!

Inspired by the layout of Monopoly, this Jain twist to the game gives all teams the chance to shine out with their knowledge and understanding of Jain Dharma, in a typically warm, supportive, and light-hearted Young Jains setting.

Facilitated by the creator of Jainopoly, Deepa M Shah used quizzes and party games to elicit the qualities required to playfully embrace the often challenging life we come across in our every waking moment.

My personal favourite game involved coming into a circle, catching a tennis ball from someone, and then whilst throwing it to someone else, shouting out a Jain word or phrase. Then, remembering who you threw the ball to, the next time a ball would come your way, throwing it to that same person, shouting out the same phrase as last time.

For me this really helped me build focus, awareness, attentiveness, vigilance, and persistence to keep going, even in moments when the ball dropped. Repeating that one phrase helped keep the main thing the main thing.

The lesson was: if the ball drops, and you go to pick it up, don’t forget to stay alert for the next ball coming your way, otherwise it’ll hit you on the head! It may be better to let the ball roll away rather than get knocked out by trying to do it all. Alternatively, let all the tennis balls come to you, pick up the one you dropped, and with all the tennis balls in your hand, continue the game by releasing each ball out to the group one at a time.

Recently I have found myself following my usual habit pattern of taking on loads of projects, and can sense myself collapsing soon by trying to meet all these expectations I’ve been overloading myself with. I have one of two options to relieve this pressure:

1. Release some of the projects into the world so that other people receive the opportunity to take them on, whilst I can focus on the projects that I need to be working on the most.
2. Continue to oversee all the projects, focusing only on what I’m uniquely qualified to do, and then delegate all the other tasks and sections of each project to other talented individuals who generate much greater value than what I could do on my own.

I do like the sound of the second option, and it gives me the opportunity to be involved in projects that really mean a lot to me, whilst offering the chance for others to get involved. As it is, I love collaborating with other creative individuals, so what a great way to stop hoarding and continue GIVING!

If you’re reading this and fancy working with me on one of the projects I’m currently immersed in, get in touch, and I’ll fill you in on what you can get involved with. It’ll be interesting to explore the special talents you can bring to the mix.