Parliament of Worlds Religion 1999 Capetown SA

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

Page 143

1 9 9 9 PARLIAMENT OF THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS DIALOGUE
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3
2:00 PM–3:00 PM IN COMMERCE 4.15 The Basket of Tolerance: A Profound New Tool of Interreligious Appreciation, Understanding, and Dialogue Mr. Jay Fienberg This lecture will present The Basket of Tolerance, an extensively annotated bibliography, listing approximately 5,000 books, articles, sound recordings, and video recordings. It is the world's first comprehensive and summary overview of not only the common secular and religious traditions, but also all of the principal esoteric techniques, paths, and philosophies, including the traditions of Spiritual Transmission and Gurudevotion. Jay Fienberg is curator of Adidam's American Trickster Library and senior consultant to The Basket of Tolerance, Avatar Adi Da's extensively annotated quide to the world's wisdom traditions.
2:00 PM–2:45 PM IN COMMERCE 2.60 Towards a Modern Pilgrimage Rabbi Sjalom Awraham Soetendorp In this lecture, Rabbi Soetendorp will describe his experience in the former Soviet Union with other religious and spiritual traditions. He will also urge participants to begin "interreligious pilgrimages" to encounter and dialogue with persons of other religious and spiritual traditions. Rabbi Soetendorp is currently the Rabbi of the Reform Jewish Community of the Hague, and Rabbi of the Union of Dutch Reform Jewish Communities. A survivor of the Holocaust, he has been a long standing Human Rights activist. He frequently lectures al many Universities and Centers around the world.
2:00 PM–2:45 PM IN COMMERCE 1.33 Using The Internet for Gathering & Connecting People Mr. William C. Laufer There is little doubt that the Internet can be a powerful communication and connecting tool. Mr. Laufer will give examples of how it is working to link people today, and how it can empower you. There will be ample time for questions and answers during the workshop. William C. Laufer, MBA CPA is the cofounder of catholicnet. (www.catholicnet.com). He is a graduate of Georgetown University, and is an active in various groups affiliated with the Cleveland Catholic Diocese
2:00 PM–2:45 PM IN COMMERCE 2.57 Connections & Confluences Among The Meditation Paths Swami Veda Bharati Direct personal experience of the transcendent, whether or not given the name God, is the source, Essence and Goal common to all religions. The processes and paths leading the realization of this source, essence and goal, are termed meditation. The presentation will give a summary of these parallels and confluences among the spiritual practices of various religions, those that are now prevalent as well as those that are now extinct. Maha-mandaleshvara Swami Veda Bharati, formerly known as Usharbudh Arya D. Litt., has been teaching and lecturing for the last 52 years. From 1952 to 1967, he served various communities in Africa, South America and elsewhere as a pandit and spiritual guide. From 1967 to 1972, he was professor of Sanskrit at the University of Minnesota, USA where he received the Distinguished Teacher Award. In 1996 he was appointed Spiritual Guide of the Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences in Dehradun, President and Spiritual Guide of the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in India, and President and Spiritual Director of Swami Rama's Ashram (Sadhana Mandir) in Rishikesh where he resides, On March 15, 1999, he was honored by the Swamis of India who conferred on him the title of Maha-mandaleshvara, placing him among the top 30 or so leading Swamis of India.
3:00 PM–3:45 PM IN COMMERCE 2.57 African Origins and Unity of Religious Thought Prof. Dr. Mathole Motshekga This lecture traces the evolution of religious thought from predynastic Egypt through dynastic Egypt, the Hyksos, Libyan, Persian, Greco-Roman and Islamic periods. In essence, it shows how modern religions - both Western and Eastern religionswere derived from or at least influenced by ancient African Religions. This lecture strives to show the common origins of all religions, and to illustrate the potential harmony of religions which is a prerequisite for peace, security and development, No biographical statement available at time of printing.
Dialogue
2:00 PM–2:45 PM IN THEATER 2 From Dialogue to Relationship: An Interfaith Women's Journey Mrs. Diane D'Souza; Mr. Bruce Gregersen The Interfaith Women's Journey was a joint project of the Henry Martyn Institute and the United Church of Canada
olving nine women from Canada and India of Muslim, Christian, Indigenous, and Hindu traditions. The group traveled together first in India and then in Canada, with a dual objective of exploring interfaith perspectives on women's issues and a women's analysis of interfaith dialogue. This workshop will share the learnings of the journey including the importance of a women's agenda for interfaith enagagement and the significance of the journey model. Diane D'Souza is the assistant director at the Henry Martyn Institute in Charge of practical outreach and engagements. She is involved in the academic study of religion, as well as being an artist, and a student of the Bharatnatayam Dance Form Rev. Dr. Bruce Gregersen, Interfaith and South Asia/Pacific Secretary for the United Church of Canada, the Rev. Kerry Craig Chairperson of the InterChurch Interfaith Committee of the United Church of Canada and the Rev. Rob Hankinson, a United Church minister and leader in Interfaith organizations including the Edmonton Centre for Interfaith Action and Education. All three have contributed towards the development of the document and continue to work extensively in Canada for interfaith action and awareness.
3:00 PM–3:45 PM IN COMMERCE 4.20 The Arts as Messengers: Imaginative Collaboration Toward Religious Tolerance Prof. Anne Calcagno During Eritrea's thirty year civil war, 700 cultural troupes were active behind battlefields and in nearby towns. Eritrea's Minister of Culture states: "We fought... with culture" Nine different ethnic groups and Muslims, Coptic Christians, and Catholics collaborated on stage and on a common national identity Why did this country embody the arts so fully, even during war? Can it provide a transferable model for increasing religious and ethnic tolerance elsewhere? Prof. Anne Calcagno teaches in the English Department at DePaul University in Chicago. She is the author of the short story collection Pray For Yourself (Tri Quarterly Books/Northwestern Univ. Press, 1993), which won NEA and IAC Fellowships, and the editor of Travelers Tales: Italy (O'Reily Publishers, 1998). She has written an ethnographic novel tracing Italian emigrations to Eritrea and Saudi Arabia, titled Struck By Dina and she has written for The New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times and numerous other fiction publications.
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