Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

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

Page 187

PROGRAM
Saturday, December 5, 2009
some women and men, the Divine Feminine is a source of strength and balance. For some, the feminine aspects of the divine are foundational to their religious practice. For some, redressing the current imbalances of the world-of excessive greed, polarisation, isolation and environmental destruction-requires a new or renewed connection to the feminine energies of the divine. Divinity may be seen as essentially transcending gender, but is often interpreted through gendered social constructions. What reflections and resources does the Divine Feminine offer those who seek relationship with divinity envisioned as female?
Mary-Faeth Chenery holds a Master's degree in Management and a PhD in Psychology. Following a university teaching career of around three decades, where she taught in the fields of outdoor education and qualitative research methods, she moved to the area of spiritual education, where she now does editing, teaching and community development for the cause of global peace. She is the Australian coordinator for the work of the Global Peace Initiative of Women.
Joan Chittister, OSB, is a noted national and international lecturer who focuses on women in church and society, human rights, peace and justice, and contemporary religious life and spirituality. In addition to being the executive director of Benetvision, a centre for contemporary spirituality located in Erie, Pennsylvania, she is author of 22 books, including Illuminated Life: Monastic Wisdom for Seekers of Light' and 'The Story of Ruth: Twelve Moments in Every Woman's Life".
Mother Maya is the spiritual head of the Wise Earth School of Ayurveda. As one of only a small circle of women to become Vedic monks (Swamil she brings her healing and wisdom to such projects as the Mother Om Mission (MOM), a charitable organisation in Guyana that teaches Wise Earth's unique inner-medicine healing to at-risk communities. Under the name Maya Tiwari she has written several books, including her latest, Women's Power to Heal through Inner Medicine".
Karma Lekshe Tsomo is Associate Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego, where she teaches Buddhism, World Religions, and Comparative Religious Ethics. She studied Buddhism in Dharamsala, India for fifteen years and received a doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is president of Sakyadhita: The International Association of Buddhist Women and director of Jamyang Foundation, an initiative providing educational opportunities for women in developing countries.
Phyllis Curott is a Wiccan Priestess and pioneering spiritual teacher of Women's Mysteries and the Divine Feminine. An attorney and author, New York Magazine described Curott as among the culture's most intellectual, cutting-edge thinkers, and Jane Magazine honored her as 'One of the Ten Gutsiest Women of the Year. Curott is the founder of the Temple of Ara, president emerita of the Covenant of the Goddess, and a Trustee of the Council for the Parliament of the World's Religions.
Religious Unity and Nonviolence.
HH Amrender Muniji
Room 106
Forum
This lecture will offer strategies for the adoption of nonviolence in daily living. The speaker, a Jain monk with extensive study in Hatha Yoga and Kundalini Yoga, will highlight practices that foster the nonviolent way of life. Topics will include: mantra recitation for the purification of daily conduct and spiritual elevation; the importance of yoga for healthy mind and body, the application of Lord Mahavir's teachings for enlightenment, and the need for awareness of our daily acts of karma. The concepts of Apararigraha (non-possessiveness) and Anckaantvaad (multiple reality of truth) will receive attention, as will the idea of living in harmony with the environment and respecting nature.
His Holiness Amrender Muniji is one of the few Jain monks who travel outside of India to preach nonviolence. He was initiated at the age of fourteen. He holds a Master's degree in Philosophy and Sanskrit, and is a scholar of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist Scriptures. He has undertaken intensive study, practice and teaching of Hatha Yoga and Kundalini Yoga. His dedicated service to mankind has been recognised by several organisations.
9:30-11:00am INTRARELIGIOUS SESSION
History of the Inupiat: Nipaa Ilitqusipta/ The Voice of Our Spirit (Premier Film Series Selection)
Room 107 Film
The Voice of Our Spirit follows individuals, young and old, who struggle with the loss of language in their own personal way. For a long time now I have been wondering why I don't speak my language, says Dora 'Aluniq Brower of Barrow, Alaska, in the film's opening minutes. 'I would always hear it around me because my parents and my grandparents were speaking, but when it came to us children they would speak to us in English. It wasn't expected of me to speak back in Inupiaq'. The film chronicles Inupiat history that spans 150 years, starting with the epidemics, followed by the missionaries and what happened to the Inupiat children with the establishment of a boarding school. The film was directed by Rachel Naninaaq Edwardson. Q & A to follow.
Reviving Indigenous Spirituality: Reclaiming Strength and Identity (Session 2)
Francois Paulette, Canada: Dene, Moderator Tsugio Kuzuno, Japan: Ainu elder
Nana Osei Boakyewa Yiadom II, Ghana: Akuapem Room 108
Panel Discussion
For most Indigenous communities, spirituality cannot be separated from culture. However, Indigenous spiritual beliefs and practices have been a special subject of persecution over the centuries. These pressures have caused some sacred rites and ceremonial activities to move from the public into the private sphere. Policies of assimilation and cultural pressures have separated Indigenous peoples from their spiritual practices. In this session, panel members will explore the ways in which their respective Indigenous communities are maintaining or reviving their unique spiritual beliefs and practices.
Francois Paulette is a Dene Suline and member of the Smith's Landing Treaty 8 First Nation. He became the youngest chief in the Northwest Territories Indian Brotherhood. In 1972, along with other chiefs, he challenged the crown to recognise treaty and Aboriginal rights. He served on the National Indian Brotherhood Treaty Implementation Committee, the Assembly of First Nations Renewal Commission, and the Parks Canada Aboriginal Consultative Committee and has spoken internationally on Dene history and Aboriginal rights.
Tsugio Kuzuno is an Ainu elder and spiritual speaker from Shizunai, Hokkaido, Japan. Mr Kuzuno is noted for winning first prize in the 2nd Ainu Oratorical Contest in November of 1998. This is an event that brings
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