Parliament of Worlds Religion 1993 Chicago IL

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

Page 52

THURSDAY, SEPT. 2
10:00 AM-10:45 AM Parlor A
"Human Unity and the Spiritual Religion of Humanity"
Dr. R.L. Kashyap
The focus of the lecture will be the perceptions of the poetphilosopher-social thinker Sri Aurobindo delineated in his several books. His message includes the idea that the unity of the human race can only be secured by a spiritual religion of humanity. By this is not meant what is ordinarily called a universal religion, a system, a thing of creed and intellectual belief and dogma and outward rite. A religion of humanity means the growing realization that there is a secret Spirit, a divine Reality, in which we are all one, and that the human race and the human being are the only means by which it will progressively reveal itself here, and that only on the free and full life of an individual can the perfection and perfect happiness of the race be founded.
Dr. R.L. Kashyap-Professor of Electrical Engineering at Purdue
University; recipient of numerous international awards in the fields of electrical engineering and artificial intelligence; has written and lectured on various spiritual topics including development issues in India and other countries.
10:00 AM-10:45 AM Adams Ballroom
"Loving God:
The Real Foundation for Social Change" Baba Virsa Singh
An inspirational discourse based on Baba Virsa Singh's personal experience of God's love and its power for social change. The presentation will include time for questions and answers. Baba Virsa Singh uses land reclamation and agriculturally-based economic development as practical demonstrations of God's power in solving both personal and social problems. He calls forth the treasures hidden in the land and the people by awakening the love of God which lies dormant within us all, and inspiring us to live by the teachings of our respective Prophets. Baba Virsa Singh--Gobind Sadan, India; spiritual leader from the Sikh tradition; blessed since childhood with an intense love of God, Babaji teaches while working in the fields, empowering all who meet him-from international scientists and religious scholars, to the very poor-to overcome otherwise intractable social problems.
10:00 AM-10:45 AM Crystal Room
"The Cry of the Earth:
The Vision and Work of Sri Aurobindo" C.V. Devan Nair
Spiritual experience is the unifying core of all religions. Religious division and dissension are political, socio-economic, or cultural-not spiritual. Sri Aurobindo described the civilizational crisis of modern humankind as an evolutionary crisis. Homo sapiens is the first species which can actively collaborate in the transformation of its own consciousness, and the spiritual pioneers of the human race are the forerunners of a divine multitude.
C.V. Devan Nair-Past President of Singapore; introduced to Sri Aurobindo's spiritual path while a political prisoner of the British colonial government of Singapore in the 1950s; Visiting Fellow, Cornell University South-East Asia Program.
10:00 AM-10:45 AM Grand Ballroom
"Renewal of the Covenant" Rabbi Irving Greenberg
The expansion of human power, freedom and affluence has galvanized the hopes and dreams of humanity. However, it has
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Major Presentations
brought with it many side effects which test the capacity of religions to become either agents of peace, reconciliation and pluralism, or vehicles of war, degradation and fanaticism. Faith, chastened and purified, can strengthen the human capacity for a life of pluralism, mutual dialogue and caring responsibility. This presentation will propose that we are living in an age of the renewal of the covenant between God and humanity, between humans and the environment, and between humans and humans. Each faith must self-critique and grow in love to embrace the best insights and valid needs of the other in order to be worthy of this moment.
Rabbi Irving Greenberg-President and Co-founder of CLAL, The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership; has been a seminal thinker in addressing the religious and ethical implications of the Holocaust for Judaism, Christianity and modernity; recent work has focused on the world wide search for power and freedom which is generating a new encounter between religions and between cultures as well as between humanity and the natural and cultural environment.
10:00 AM-10:45 AM Parlor G
"A Layman's View of the Future Dialogue" Sir Sigmund Sternberg
Sir Sigmund Sternberg Chairman of the Executive Committee of the International Council of Christians and Jews; Vice President of the British Council of Christians and Jews; a Knight of the Realm (since 1976); a Papal Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (1985); received high awards from the Austrian, German, Hungarian, Spanish and Polish governments; largest Jewish cultural centre in Europe the Sternberg Centre for Judaism is named after him.
10:00 AM-10:45 AM Parlor H
"Human Rights and Islam"
Shaikh Kamel Al-Sharif
Should international relations be driven by human rights? The rights of individual vs. rights of society. The sources of "right" Universal human rights. The status of women, slaves, prisoners of war and minorities in Islam and in the modern world. A comparative analysis of the Prophet's last sermon and the United Nations charter for human rights. Should nations have causes or merely interests? Shaikh Kamel Al-Sharif--Chairman, Islamic Council of Dawa; former Information and Education Minister, Government of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
10:00 AM-10:45 AM Salon I
"The Divine Union of Spirit and Nature: Wiccan Wisdom and the Environmental Crisis" Phyllis Curott
An address on the environmental crisis and human life, and the impact of "progress" and "development" on ecology and the experience of the Divine. Ms. Curott will share the ancient wisdom, world-view, and practices of the Wiccan faith as an alternative vision of harmony and healing between humans and the Earth which sustains us. The address will explore some of the essential tenets of Wiccan theology: that all life is sacred and interconnected, and that Nature is the embodiment of a Divinity both masculine and feminine, that physical and spiritual wellbeing are united and grounded in the honoring of a deep and abiding connection to the Earth and Her natural cycles. Phyllis Curott-J.D., New York University School of Law; Wiccan High Priestess; 1st Officer and President, Covenant of the Goddess; founder and high priestess, Circle of Ara; priestess of Minoan Sisterhood; practicing attorney.
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS, CHICAGO, 1993 51 www.jainelibrary.org