I have known the learning process is life long and this seminar was just one stop on the road for me. I never for a moment thought there was so much to unlearn, such a lot to absorb, assimilate. I admit it’s been quite a while since I oiled the wheels of my mind and got them turning. They were in the process of falling apart and this seminar was exactly what they needed, and what I needed too.
I have known for a long time that God lives in India (make that plural); however would you expect it run otherwise. India runs on faith, multi-faith. And it was the venue for the 2nd International Seminar for Inter-religious Dialogue, the Praxis of Inter-religious Education. Ishvani Kendra hosted delegates from Taiwan, Japan, Spain, Israel, Philippines and other countries as well as India from October 28 (Diwali – the festival of lights was truly to bring enlightenment to all of us gathered there) to November 1.
The seminar had talks by distinguished speakers of 4 major world religions, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism and the role each religion played in the field of education. These talks were followed by intensive group discussions. The evenings were reserved for cultural programmes and visits to the Muslim Girls’ Orphanage, the Ramakrishna Math and Chokhidani.
Being there with people of different faith and different cultures, sharing and exchanging views, was an enriching experience. It opened my mind to so many new ideas, perspectives to see the world on a broader lateral plain. To learn from their personal experiences, some of which were deeply spiritual, emotional, of ordinary people with extraordinary abilities was humbling and uplifting.
I learnt of the connections and interdependence between everything in this world and beyond, the universe, man and God. Every little thing I do affects everyone. No religion teaches hate or propagates violence. Politics and religion is an explosive combination, a deadly cocktail. Doubts about the difference between Hinduism and Hindutva, the role of women in Islamic society and misinterpretation of the Koran, the role of educators in the broadening and developing of an open, liberal, tolerant society…were cleared.
Ultimately what is imprinted in my mind is the experience of holding grains of wheat in the palm of one hand and a slice of bread in the other.
Wheat - from many to one whole (grains to flour), a single grain gives rise to many others, it has to die (to be made into flour or to grow into a new plant), it loses its individuality for the greater good. Bread, a universal symbol - created from many many processes that are interconnected, interrelated. It is life and gives life, it is cosmotheantric (it requires the collaboration and co-operation of the earth, man and the divine), it is self-emptying, other-centred (at every stage in the making of bread, something dies to become something new), it cannot be made only by a single grain.
So must I be. And so must you.
So, where do I go from here? I will try to go into the world with a new vision, a new attitude, openness to receive and to give, to share and to learn, to absorb, assimilate and to live life in friendship and understanding, for I have but one life to live on this one earth which is our home.
I have known for a long time that God lives in India (make that plural); however would you expect it run otherwise. India runs on faith, multi-faith. And it was the venue for the 2nd International Seminar for Inter-religious Dialogue, the Praxis of Inter-religious Education. Ishvani Kendra hosted delegates from Taiwan, Japan, Spain, Israel, Philippines and other countries as well as India from October 28 (Diwali – the festival of lights was truly to bring enlightenment to all of us gathered there) to November 1.
The seminar had talks by distinguished speakers of 4 major world religions, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism and the role each religion played in the field of education. These talks were followed by intensive group discussions. The evenings were reserved for cultural programmes and visits to the Muslim Girls’ Orphanage, the Ramakrishna Math and Chokhidani.
Being there with people of different faith and different cultures, sharing and exchanging views, was an enriching experience. It opened my mind to so many new ideas, perspectives to see the world on a broader lateral plain. To learn from their personal experiences, some of which were deeply spiritual, emotional, of ordinary people with extraordinary abilities was humbling and uplifting.
I learnt of the connections and interdependence between everything in this world and beyond, the universe, man and God. Every little thing I do affects everyone. No religion teaches hate or propagates violence. Politics and religion is an explosive combination, a deadly cocktail. Doubts about the difference between Hinduism and Hindutva, the role of women in Islamic society and misinterpretation of the Koran, the role of educators in the broadening and developing of an open, liberal, tolerant society…were cleared.
Ultimately what is imprinted in my mind is the experience of holding grains of wheat in the palm of one hand and a slice of bread in the other.
Wheat - from many to one whole (grains to flour), a single grain gives rise to many others, it has to die (to be made into flour or to grow into a new plant), it loses its individuality for the greater good. Bread, a universal symbol - created from many many processes that are interconnected, interrelated. It is life and gives life, it is cosmotheantric (it requires the collaboration and co-operation of the earth, man and the divine), it is self-emptying, other-centred (at every stage in the making of bread, something dies to become something new), it cannot be made only by a single grain.
So must I be. And so must you.
So, where do I go from here? I will try to go into the world with a new vision, a new attitude, openness to receive and to give, to share and to learn, to absorb, assimilate and to live life in friendship and understanding, for I have but one life to live on this one earth which is our home.
Savitha Pais
