15 April 2023

24th Jaina Studies Workshop: Kānajī Svāmī and the Digambara Tradition

Key information

Date: 15 April 2023
Time: 9:30 am to 6:30 pm
Venue: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre (BGLT)

About this event

In its twentieth anniversary year, the Centre of Jain Studies at SOAS is delighted to host the 24th Annual Jaina Studies Workshop and the 22nd Annual Jaina Lecture, both taking place on 15 April 2023.

Involving international speakers from a host of institutions, the combined events will be a opportunity to explore and discuss the diverse philosophical perspectives and interpretations on the status of the concept of 'pure soul' within the Jaina tradition. The Workshop is linked to the exhibition Pure Soul: The Jaina Spiritual Traditions, and the supplemenary cultural progremme Jainism Inside Out.

Programme

22nd Annual Jaina Lecture

9:00am Tea and Coffee
9:30am Welcome Peter Flugel and J. Clifford Wright (SOAS)
9:50am Olle Qvarnström Introduction of Speaker
10:00am Jayandra Soni (University of Innsbruck)The Conundrum of Kundakunda’s Status in the Digambara Tradition
11:00am Tea and Coffee

Workshop programme

First session: Kundakunda, Amṛtacandra, Banārasīdās

11:30am Małgorzata Glinicka ('Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw) The Nature of Action and the Sense of Doership in Kundakunda's Thought
12:00am Ana Bajželj (University of California, Riverside) Amṛtacandrasūri on Agency
12:30pm Jérôme Petit (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris) The Progress of the Soul, from Kundakunda to Banārasīdās
1:00pm Group photo
1:10pm Lunch

Second session: Kānajī Svāmī

2:00pm Jinesh R. Sheth (University of Mumbai) The Intended Audience of the Samayasāra: Mendicants or Laity?
2:30pm Kamini Gogri (Mumbai) Kramabaddhaparyāya: A Critical Analysis
3:00pm Corinne Smith (SOAS) Jātismaraṇajñāna, Dreams, and Legitimacy in the Kānjī Svāmī Tradition
3:30pm Achyut Kant Jain (Ladnun) Revisiting the Criticisms against the Discourses of Kānajī Svāmī on Nimitta-upādāna
4:00pm Tea and Coffee
4:30pm Hukam Chand Bharill (Todarmal Smarak, Jaipur) Bhagavān Mahāvīra and his Follower Kānjī Svāmī
5:00pm Hemant Gandhi (Songadh) My Personal Interactions with Gurudev Shri Kanjiswami
5:20pm Kirit Gosalia (Phoenix) Gurudev Kanjiswami and His Chief Followers
5:40pm Short break
5:45pm Anna Sowa, Remi Sowa & Corinne Smith (SOAS) Film Launch: Pure Soul: Gurudev Kānjī Svāmī – A Modern Jain Saint
6:15pm Podium discussion on the film
6:30pm Final remarks