Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

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

Page 230

PROGRAM BE
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Socially Engaged Buddhism: a Pathway to Peace
Sulak Sivaraksa
Tony Le-Nguyen
Jill Jameson
Karma Lekshe Tsomo
Room 110
Panel Discussion
This panel discussion will focus on the incredible success that socially engaged Buddhist leaders have had in combating modern problems such as war, poverty and AIDS, as well as the diversity of the responses. These stories attest to the limitless well of compassion within the Buddhist tradition, as applied via the skilful means of social activism. In sharing these storics of success, presenters will also discuss the obstacles to peace and the social, political and cultural causes of suffering that still remain and must be addressed.
Sulak Sivaraksa, of the Santi Pracha Dhamma Institute, is a Nobel Prize nominee and prominent Buddhist social and environmental activist in Thailand. He has founded numerous organisations and has been involved in Buddhist-Christian dialogue for decades. His books include 'Seeds of Peace: A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society' and 'Loyalty Demands Dissent'.
Tony Le-Nguyen is currently the Executive Producer for Australian Vietnamese Youth Media. Last year he assisted the Vietnamese Community in Victoria to co-ordinate 'Children of the Dragon, a community arts project to celebrate 30 years of Vietnamese settlement in Australia. Mr. Le-Nguyen was the first Vietnamese-Australian to be appointed as an Official Prison Visitor to Port Phillip and Fulham Prison by the Minister for Corrections, the Honourable Andre Haermeyer in 2003 to act as an independent voice for the Prison system in Victoria. In 2000, He was awarded the Community Cultural Development Fellowship by the Australia Council for the Arts, a two year professional development program to research different Community Cultural Development practices in the United States, Canada, France and Vietnam.
Jill Jameson, is a human rights activist and trainer from Melbourne's Buddhist Peace Fellowship chapter in Australia. Jill has been engaged in the work of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, offering training in conflict transformation and peace-building in Burma, as well as being part of a small delegation of Buddhists to Burma following the Saffron Revolution.
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.
226 PWR Parliament of the World's Religions. Jain Education International
Zoroastrians: Their Imperative
to be Bridge Builders
9:30-11:00am INTRARELIGIOUS SESSION
Arnavaz Chubb, Moderator
Dr Dolly Dastoor
Dr Sam Kerr
Perviz Dubash Kayzad Namdarian Room 111 Panel Discussion
Zarathushtis are unique in the interfaith world. Small in number, they have great respect for all other faiths, and, in turn, they command the respect of others. This presentation will explore the Zarathushti imperative to be Bridge Builders, Nithashnametheshim and Hamazor, the kinds of schism causes, what it means to be a Bridge Builder and how Zarathushtis may offer their services to be Bridge Builders between and among the faiths.
Arnavaz Chubb holds a Master's degree in Avesta and Pahlavi (the ancient scriptural languages of the Zoroastrians) and a Bachelor's degree in English Literature and Ancient Indian Culture, both from the University of Bombay, India. She has served in various capacities on the managing committee of the Zoroastrian Association of Victoria. She conducts the religious education classes organised by the Association for children and adults.
Dolly Dastoor is the past president of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America and the Zoroastrian Association of Quebec as well as editor-in-chief at Fezana Journal. She is currently Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at McGill University, Canada.
Sam Kerr was born in Bombay, India. He is an emeritus surgeon to the University of New South Wales and its College Hospitals, Sydney. Australia. Dr Kerr was initiated into the Australian Zoroastrian Association of New South Wales in 1969 as a founding member. In addition to his professional writings, he has published and lectured on the social, cultural, historical and scriptural aspects of the religion of Zarathushtra.
Perviz Dubash is the former president of the Zoroastrian Association of Victoria. He is currently the honorable trustee for the Zoroastrian Association of Victoria and the Current Coordinator of the Zoroastrian Group for the Parliament of the World's Religions.
Kayzad Namdarian was brought up and studied in Melbourne, Australia. He is completing a Master of Diplomacy and Trade. He works in the Kingdom of Tonga on assignment. He has been involved in various Zoroastrian community activities in Australia and abroad, such as preparing for a religious presentation on the importance of gender equality at the UN Women's Rights Conference in 2005.
Tari Sesaji Tri Yoni Saraswati
Yayasan Dharma Samuan Tiga
Ni Ketut Arini
Gusti Koes Murtiyah
Nurlia Ruddin
Suprapto Suryodarmo
Diane Butler
Eddy Supriono Wirabhumi
Ida Pedanda GK Sebali Tianyar Arimbawa
Eko Kadarsih
Room 201
Artistic Performance
Tari Sesaji Tri Yoni Saraswati is a new ritual dance offering to Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge, the arts and wisdom. In South Sulawesi, she is known as 'Colliq