Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

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

Page 225

PROGRAME
Sunday, December 6, 2009
By the Fig and the Olive Tree: A Qur'anic Perspective on Healing the Earth with Care and Concern
Speaker to be Announced
Room 208
Religious or Spiritual Observance
In this session, a speaker will share a Qur'anic foundation for healing the earth with care and concern. This session is one of six in a series of Muslim observances on the Qur'an scheduled across the six days of the Parliament. Each session will include inspirational recitations of the Qur'an, clear translation and illuminating exegesis around a different Parliament subtheme each day. This series will show how the subthemes of the Melbourne Parliament are all issues of shared concern to Muslims, as they are at the heart of Islam's social conscience.
Baha'i Devotional Gathering: 'The Earth is but One Country'
Victorian Office of the Australian Baha'i Community Room 209
Religious or Spiritual Observance
The Baha'i devotional gathering will address the Parliament theme 'Healing the Earth by recognising that this goal requires us to acknowledge our global interconnectedness. We are a single human family with one planetary home, regardless of our backgrounds and circumstances. Through this recognition, we can transcend the identities and loyalties that divide us. The gathering will offer a tranquil environment for participants to reflect on these themes through inspiring selections from the Holy Writings of the Baha'i Faith and other Sacred Texts. Audio-visual presentations and music will complement the readings. In accordance with usual practice at Baha'i devotional gatherings, people of any faith or no faith are welcome to attend. Presenters will be a team of readers and artists brought together under the auspices of the Victorian Office of the Australian Baha'i Community.
Presenters will be a team of readers and artists brought together under the auspices of the Victorian Office of the Australian Baha'i Community.
8:00-9:00am MORNING OBSERVANCES
Meditation and Sacred Music Yogini Sri Chandra Kali Prasada Mataji Room 212
Religious or Spiritual Observance
The ultimate goal of meditation is to realise one's own self. Self-realisation is experiencing that Supreme Power within one's own self. Meditation done with faith in God helps in this process. A self-realised person is compassionate and is committed to working towards peace and justice for all. He realises that he shares divinity with his fellow human beings. He will thus create a communal feeling and universal brotherhood, and will then be able to do selfless service to the community. To reach this ultimate goal, one must have a thought-free mind. Sacred music is an important means to attain a stable and focused mind. It has a calming effect on the wandering mind. Any divine music is a direct interview with God. One can express one's feelings or confess one's mind to God freely through divine music. Similarly, chanting the holy name of God [Mantra) has a very profound effect on the mind. A pure heart is absolutely essential to reap the kind of benefit you would like to have from divine music. One can lose body consciousness when singing or listening to divine music with absolute concentration. Such is the power of sacred music and meditation.
Yogini Sri Chandra Kali Prasada Mataji is the spiritual leader of the Sri Kali Gardens Ashram and successor to Sri Babuji Maharaj of blessed memory who founded the Ashram. She is also head of numerous humanitarian and development programs, and an exponent of interreligious harmony.
The Master Key -
Unlocking the Inner Treasures
Paramahamsa Prajnanananda
Room 213
Interactive Workshop
In this enlightening observance, Paramahamsa Prajnanananda, a world-revered master of Kriya Yoga. will reveal inspiring teachings for unlocking our greatest treasures within. Ancient, scientific methods will help enable participants of all faiths and backgrounds to realise such knowledge intrinsically through their own spiritual practices.
Paramahamsa Prajnanananda is the current spiritual leader of the Kriya Yoga international organisations. These organisations were founded by his master, Paramahamsa Hariharananda, who spread the teachings of Kriya Yoga all over the world. Paramahamsa Hariharanandaji was Swami Shriyukteshwar and Paramahamsa Yogananda's most outstanding direct disciple, one of the greatest realised Kriya Yoga masters in the lineage of Mahavatar Babaji Maharaj and Lahiri Mahasaya.
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