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Interfaith Sacred Texts & Communities Series
Hindus - Dialogues - Beliefs
Report of second session
On 20th September, barely two days before the official beginning of fall, at the Christ Church Newman Center, 55 people gathered for the second session of UNIITE's 2005 Hindu Dialogues series. The chairs and tables had been set in place by Janitor Leroy many hours before. The location was spacious in Newman's terrace and Pastor Kevin Anderson was there to warmly welcome presenters and participants as they trickled in to set things up and deepen connections across religious and cultural divides. Honorary board member Mariani Nazareth was outside the building ushering people in.
As one entered the dialogue space, one could pick up a copy of a UNIITE brochure on one side. That was where lighted lamps were placed by Jai Maier. On another side, at the registration table, sat Nora Erpelding of UNIITE's board of directors who has been serving voluntarily as treasurer, artist and webmaster from the very founding of this non-profit. On tables nearby were a few interfaith calendars 2006 for those who might donate a minimum of $15 to UNIITE. Jai Maier had also brought a dozen books on Hinduism pertaining to women and Hindu culture and spirituality. She had placed them there along with a some Hindu religious icons and artifacts for participants to browse through and enjoy.
Fr. Kevin had arranged for a beautifully draped credence table bearing symbols of at least 5 world religions including Native American, Islamic, Hindu, and Jewish traditions. He had placed signs clearly indicating which symbol came from which tradition. Others felt free to embellish it with a few more symbols of their own respective traditions. This table was in the center of the dialogue space. Hindu devotional music, provided once again by Ravi Kalia, helped create atmosphere as more people streamed in around 6 pm and took their seats.
There was a significantly larger number of students on this day than on the opening day of the dialogue series or during the third session either. Newman Center is right on campus, of course. However, Newman has recently made a strong commitment to serve university students as their top priority, and that seems to have already begun to bear fruit.
Series chair Ralph Calabria warmly welcomed everybody to the evening's program and introduced Fr. Kevin. He in turn welcomed those gathered for the dialogue session to enjoy Newman's hospitality. Next, after being introduced by Calabria, Malcolm Nazareth spoke about the challenge posed by religious conversion. He illustrated this with an anecdote about a Zen Master and a Christian and suggested that one of the biggest obstacles to dialogue and interfaith harmony was something that might be described as a Christian ego vs a Hindu or Muslim or Jewish or other form of communal ego.
Calabria then invited Shashi Prakash to lead us in a brief Hindu prayer, much of it in Sanskrit. Once again Shashi's inspiring prayers set the tone for the session that followed. Immediately after that the chair introduced guest presenter Sneh Kalia who offered a wonderful powerpoint presentation on Hinduism and Women. This presentation was delivered with total mastery of the subject in all its richness and playful diversity. There was a bewildering assortment of slides of Indian women in utterly diverse settings and the audience seemed bewitched. A number of questions followed on the heels of the presentation.
Finally Calabria introduced the featured speaker who this time explored the early chapters of the Bhagavad Gita. He cited quite a few shloks (Sanskrit couplets) from the original text to clarify the existential problem faced by Arjuna and the wise approach taken by Krishna to resolve it. Prakash wove into his entertaining and inspirational presentation vital aspects of the Yoga of Action (Karma Yoga). He offered many illustrations and metaphors to elucidate Lord Krishna's teaching of how one's deeds might be selfless. Prakash also introduced the doctrine of the self (atman) which is central to the Yoga of Knowledge (Jnana Yoga).
Towards the end of his discourse, Prakash gave us his view of how to deal with tragedies such as Katrina. He suggested that it was more spiritually beneficial for one to ask "What next?" rather than "Why?" He emphasized the need for the rest of the world to get on with the business of compassionate, effective response to the needs of the victims and for the victims themselves to pick themselves up and set about courageously returning to a normalized life. There were questions, once again, which might have continued to be raised by many intrigued and very interested participants, had there been more time.
One striking question by a student from St. Cloud State drew a connection between Martin Luther King's and Gandhiji's teaching of non-violence (ahimsa), on the one hand, and the apparently strange injunction of Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra to take up arms and fight. Fascinating responses to questions such as these came animatedly and spontaneously not only from Prakash and Kalia but also other Hindu leaders from the floor.
Finally Calabria introduced Jiping Zuo to lead the closing inspirational reflection, this time from the Confucian tradition. Zuo read three sets of passages from Master Confucius pertaining to filial piety. The emphasis on reciprocal duties between spouses, or between parents and children, or between the ruler and the ruled seemed to have an uncanny resemblance to the concept of dharma (duty) in Hindu religiosity. It is duty which undergirds society and community, as the old adage goes in Sanskrit: Dharayate iti dharmah.
When these were done, Calabria invited us to enjoy refreshments and continue conversations.
Do visit www.uniite.org for reports of prior dialogue series or sessions and for further information about upcoming Hindu Dialogue sessions (please see http://www.uniite.org/dialogue_Fall2005.html). Watch out especially for the fourth and final one at New Horizons United Methodist Church (not even half a mile from Centra Care Plaza (near junction of Hwy 15 and County Rd 134). The exciting highlight there is the closing dinner from 5-6 pm hosted by the St. Cloud Hindu community as a donation to, or a fundraiser for UNIITE.
Malcolm Nazareth, Executive Director
UNIITE
Part time faculty, Community Studies Dept, SCSU
Ph: 320/230-6669
http://www.uniite.org
http://web.stcloudstate.edu/mjnazareth
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