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54 YOUTH
A JOURNEY OF SELF DISCOVERY
Saarika Shah interviews Suraj D. Shah about his experience of participating in an interfaith youth retreat
S
uraj D. Shah, along with a group of young Jains, attended an interfaith youth retreat entitled Contemplation, Communication and Co-operation, a weekend voyage of discovery which took place in the UK last autumn. Participants from various faith communities contributed to the retreat: Baha'i, Brahma Kumari, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh. I talked with Suraj about what the retreat meant to him.
For the past six months, I have been experimenting with the idea of releasing expectations. As I travelled up to Oxford for the Suraj in the sun retreat, I had no idea what I was letting myself in for,
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What aspect of the retreat particularly fascinated you? Did you have any preconceptions before you went?
Creative activity
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and just had the belief that I would allow myself to explore within. The most fascinating aspect of the weekend was delving into the notion of self-respect, learning that it is much easier to respect others if you first choose to respect yourself.
In what way did the weekend reflect the theme of Contemplation, Communication and Co-operation?
The weekend acted as a journey of self-discovery. Contemplation took the form of exploring our own personal sense of identity and the methods we employ to develop self-respect. Once we know and believe in who we are, we can then effectively communicate that belief. Communication took the form of creative expression of these beliefs, and learning about how we can communicate our faith with those in our own communities, in our society, with the government and with the media. The co-operation aspect made up the whole weekend - we meditated together, ate together, played together and laughed together. The next step is to co
operate by communicating our own faiths, helping others to communicate theirs and contemplate on the greater
purpose that these
actions will serve.
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Following the retreat, the participants have also formed different working groups, looking to initiate practical ventures between our communities.
Do you think events such as these, whereby you share your experiences and spiritual understanding, nurture personal friendships and if so how?
Through nurturing these personal friendships with other delegates, they open up vast networks to allow you to discover views and beliefs of a whole host of faiths that exist in this world. Best of all, this event has enhanced a personal friendship with myself, which has led on to self-respect, and therefore respect for all.
How do you think this weekend retreat has influenced your perspective on interfaith dialogue, and what did you personally get out of it?
Although I have rarely considered interfaith dialogue to be a personal issue in the past, I can see how important it is to remove barriers created by perceptions of faith. The personal value I got out of the weekend is an upgrade to my criteria for a life partner. Realising that there is so much beauty and love that resonates from anyone of any faith, I choose to share my life with a cultured woman, regardless of race or religion, rather than just "a nice Indian/Jain girl"!
Suraj D Shah is Volunteers Officer for Young Jains UK. You can find out more about him by visiting: www.surajshah.com where you will also find contact information.
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