Parliament of Worlds Religion 1999 Capetown SA

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

Page 92

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3:00 PM-3:35 PM IN THEATRE 3
Gathic Mysticism and Interfaith Harmony
Dr. Homi Dhalla
There have been many causes that have divided religions, which has gradually led to conflicts. Today, when we are on the threshold of a new millennium, it is necessary that religions work together. Comprehending and appreciating the mystical element in the various religious traditions could foster tolerance and greater understanding amongst them. This paper attempts to shed some light on the mystical dimension of Prophet Zarathushtra's message and how this could enhance inter-faith harmony.
A researcher in the Zarathushti religion and Parsi History, Dr. Dhalla has represented the Parsi community at various international conferences for many years and presented papers on religion, ecology, peace, and interfaith dialogue.
3:00 PM-4:00 PM IN SCIENCE 3.46
Getting in Touch with Your Higher Self: A New Educational Perspective
Dr. Mae MacDonald Hunter
Dr. Hunter will speak on how to empower yourself by exploring techniques and methodologies that will allow you to gain a higher level of personal spiritual fulfillment. During this engaging presentation, you will also learn how to meditate on your inner light.
Dr. Hunter was an educator with Chicago Public Schools for thirty-eight years. She holds a doctorate in Education from the University of Sarasota, Florida. Her honors include being selected as "Mother of the Year" by the Indigo Newspaper. Dr. Hunter is also a vivid student of Mysticism, studying various spiritual perspectives and integrating them into her evolving view of the world and God.
3:00 PM-3:45 PM IN THEATER 7
How to Make Life Significant
Shri Gurudev Shree Chitrabhanuji
This universe in which we find ourselves is a vast home. There are more planets in our Galaxy than there are people on the earth. Of what significance can this small span of 90 or even 100 years be in the midst of the vastness? The significance can be made by living a life with an open outlook in the world to what we see and experience. This presentation intends to demonstrate how life can be significant and purposeful by being charitable to all living beings, practicing Ahimsa (reverence for life), and not burdening the earth.
Gurudev Shree Chitrabhanuji is one of the leaders of 20 million Jains. In sequence, he is the founder and the president of The Divine Knowledge Society in India, founder and president of The Jain Meditation International Center in Manhattan, New York, USA; founder and President of The Vegetarian Society in India; and founder of JAINA Jain Association in North America) which has a membership of 57 Jain Centers and 80,000 members in North America.
3:00 PM-4:00 PM IN SCIENCE 3.89
Kriyayoga: The Sacred Practice for Evolving and Uniting Humanity
Dr. Patricia M Doyle
This lecture outlines the sacred practice of the Kriyayoga Teachings and Techniques, which embrace a particular system that imparts harmony and equilibrium to all the forces and faculties that operate for the perfection of body, mind, and soul. The art of meditation taught through the practice of Kriyayoga teaches one how to actually contact God or Cosmic consciousness by the application of the science of spiritual law. The Kriyayoga methods of body and mind perfection are universally applicable, uniting, and utilizing the highest
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contributions of both East and West in material and spiritual realms, through a spirit of good fellowship for all-sided development.
Dr. Patricia M. Doyle has been teaching and conducting meditation and healing classes for over 20 years in the spiritual traditions. She has been associated with Amrita Foundation, Inc. since 1995, and has specifically worked as an associate with Amrita Foundation's Tour Programs.
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3:00 PM-4:00 PM IN SCIENCE 3.49 The Mystic Heart
Br. Wayne Teasdale; Professor Huston Smith; Mr. Robert Jesse
The lecture will be an exploration of the possibility of a Universal Spirituality, by identifying the common ground of the mystical traditions within the World's Religions. Each person has a mystic heart, or is a mystic. It is from this deeply human truth that spirituality and religion are born. We will explore the nature of the mystic heart in all its major expressions, and consider the universal elements scattered among all the traditions.
Brother Wayne Teasdale is a Christian sannyasi, or renunciate (lay monk) in the lineage of Father Bede Griffiths, O.S.B. Cam. He is an adjunct professor at DePaul University, Columbia College and Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He serves on the board of directors of the Parliament of the World's Religions, writes, and lectures widely. His new book is The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World's Religions.
Huston Smith is Professor Emeritus at Syracuse University, and a visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of many books including. The World's Religions, and is a subject of a recent Bill Moyers television series, The Wisdom Of Faith.
Robert Jesse serves as President of the Council on Spiritual Practices in the U.S. (www.csp.org), a collaboration among spiritual guides, scientists, and scholars studying primary religious experience, with special interest in the entheogens.
3:00 PM-4:00 PM IN SCIENCE 2.73
The Original Exercises Taught By Daruma, Founder of Zen Buddhism
Dr. Gaspar Garcia
It is generally accepted that around the year 527 AD, an Indian Monk named Bodhidharma (Ta Mo in Chinese) came to the Shaolin Monastery in Henan Province, China to spread the teaching of Buddha and became the founder of Zen Buddhism. It is also accepted that he taught a set of exercises based partly on Buddhist Yoga, fitness art, and his own observation of animal behavior in nature to strengthen the body of his disciples, stretch their muscles and tendons, and drain the energy channels to withstand the long meditation periods. The presenter will demonstrate these exercises that have long been kept secret, and offer it to the Zen community and to anyone who practices Zazen (Sitting Meditation).
Dr. Gasper Garcia, MD, is the Vice-President World Academic Society of Medical Qigong-Highest representative of the Luohan System in the West. Has been practicing Chinese disciplines for more than 25 years. Expert in Bodhidharma's exercises The Hands of the 18 Luohans."
3:00 PM-4:00 PM IN SCIENCE 3.45
The Power of Our Own Thoughts
Dr. Sadhvishri Shilapiji
Our entire world has been created by our own thoughts. By thinking we create the world around us, negative or positive. Dr. Shilapiji asserts in her presentation that it makes sense for us to think the very highest of thoughts, the purest of thoughts, so that the world we create is of a corresponding quality. Sadhvishri Shilapiji is a Jain nun from Veerayatan, a Jain socio-religious institution located at Rajgir in the State of Bihar in north eastern India. She attained diksha (renunciation) in 1991. She joined King's College in London in 1995 and completed her master's degree in comparative Indian Religions. She is presently undertaking a Ph.D. at King's College.
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