Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

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

Page 275

PROGRAM
Monday, December 7, 2009
ent faiths and to support an affirmative understanding of the plurality of religions in contemporary Australia.
Khaled Khalafalla is a journalist intern for The Age after completing studies at Monash University. He has an Egyptian Muslim background and is currently a JCMA presenter to primary and secondary school groups. Khaled is the host of a breakfast radio show on SYN FM and does occasional stand-up comedy gigs.
Janette Witt is the Jewish Christian Muslim Association Schools Program Coordinator. She has successfully managed primary and secondary programs since their inception in 2006, having reached 13,500 students across Victoria.
The Tree of Humanity and the One God of All Religions: The Brahma Kumaris Gopi Elton
Dr Nirmala Kajaria
Room 216
Seminar
This program is organised by Australian members of the Brahma Kumaris. Through lecture and open discussion. this presentation will explore the interconnectedness of all humanity and the oneness of God. Our variety brings beauty to the whole; all human beings are similar in their eternal link with God. The most common experience of God is as Light. Knowledge of our potential to connect with God, the Most Beautiful One, brings hope and healing. This presentation encourages individuals to seek to deepen and develop their own understanding of connectedness with other human beings and with God, in the form of Light emanating from within. In this active experience of practical spirituality, life can become more liveable, bearable, tolerable and even more enjoyable with oneself and with others.
Gopi Elton has practiced and taught Raja Yoga meditation for the past 25 years in several states of Australia. She is an educator and facilitator delivering health professional education in the government sector in Victoria and has spent thirty years working as a registered nurse in mental health treatment areas. She is involved in co-ordinating the Values in Healthcare: A Spiritual Approach' program in Australia, as well as running a Brahma Kumaris meditation centre.
Dr Kajaria has taught Raja Yoga meditation for 45 years and is the Director of sixty meditation centres throughout Australasia and Southeast Asia. She lives in and co-ordinates a large international retreat centre in Northern India at the head office of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. She is also a world-wide practitioner and lecturer on stress relief, self management techniques and enhancement of mind processes.
Australian Pagans Speak:
A Community Forum
Fabienne Morgana
Glenys Livingstone
She' D'Montford
Gede Parma
Linda Ward
Anthorr Nomchong Room 217 Panel Discussion
Paganism is alive and well in Australia! Join Pagan representatives from around the country in a conversation
Jain Education Intemational
9:30-11:00am INTRARELIGIOUS SESSION
about the variety of traditions and groups present here and the community they create together. The discussion will touch on topics of specific relevance to Australian Paganism such as religious tolerance, legal rights, intrafaith and interfaith connections, and will include a look at the ways that Pagans in Australia are engaging in public outreach through education, service and electronic and print communications.
Fabienne S Morgana is a Solitary Eclectic Pagan with an ongoing commitment to her spiritual path and journey as well as those of others. Previously an entertainment professional with a Bachelor of Creative Arts, she is an authorised civil celebrant who facilitates across all life events. Fabienne is in the process of completing a Graduate Diploma in Psychology and a Justice of the Peace. She originates from Western Queensland and now lives in Melbourne.
Glenys Livingstone, PhD (Social Ecologyl. has Australian country roots, teacher training and an MA in Theology and Philosophy from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, CA, USA. She has been academically and culturally involved in the resurgence of female imagery for the Sacred for over thirty years. She is a celebrant of the annual seasonal rituals and author of PaGaian Cosmology. Glenys lives in the Blue Mountains with her partner Taffy Seaborne.
She' D'Montford is a teacher, healer, author, promoter and activist. She is the founding editor of Spellcraft magazine, Australia's premier periodical for the occult and esoteric. Dr D'Montford is the head of the Australian Shambhallah Awareness Centre Pagan Church and holds an honorary degree in philosophy, specialising in Tibetan and Hindu Shamanism. Her paranormal abilities have been featured on the ground-breaking psychic reality TV show The One".
Gede Parma has been an active member of his local Australian Pagan community for years. He is the co-founder of Coven of the WildWood and has contributed Pagan articles to books and e-zines geared toward Pagan young adults. Among his books are 'Llewellyn's 2010 Witches' Companion: An Almanac for Everyday Living' and 'Spirited: Taking Paganism Beyond the Circle".
Linda Ward has been a practising Pagan for over forty years, working mainly as a solitary. She has been actively involved in the Pagan community for over ten years, helping to organise a series of weekend events promoting the celebration of Pagan diversity. She has a Master's degree in Religious Studies from Queensland University (2003) and is a graduate of Griffith University's MultiFaith Centre In-Service Development Training Program in Interfaith Dialogue and Understanding.
Islam 101 Series: Women's Rights
as Human Rights in Islam
Dr Saleha Abedin
Dr Siti Musdah Mulia
American Speaker to be Determined Room 219
Panel Discussion
This panel, made up of leading Muslim women, will focus on women's rights in the general context of the Islamic concept of human rights, which is constructed on the principles of justice and equity. Panellists will highlight the Islamic concept of the human rights of women that renders full justice to their social, cultural and biological roles in total recognition of their humanity and spirituality. They will also address how Muslim women and their rights have long been subjected to a vast array of
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