Wondrous Riches

Whew! What a day! I started off with an introduction to Jain morning worship. Our leaders explained the basics of Jainism, which is an ancient religion of India, (similar to Hinduism but different in significant ways). A very important aspect of Jainism is reverence for all forms of life. Their commitment to “ahimsa” or non-violence means that they will not intentionally kill an insect. They demonstrated how they prepare for prayer by clearing a space to pray on the floor using a very soft brush that can sweep away insects without harming them. When you think that they come from a hot climate that has a lot of insect life, it amazes me that they can be so tolerant!! We had a chance to chant along with the leaders as they projected transliterations of their morning chants on the screen so that we could join in. At the conclusion of the session, their guruji gave us a final blessing. In the hallway the Jain community is exhibiting Jain religious paintings which are absolutely stunning. I took pictures of some of them which I’m posting for your viewing pleasure. I can assure you that these photos do not do justice to the real paintings, which are quite mesmerizing.

Then it was off to another plenary on the issue of how faith communities can be effective in pushing our governments to work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals particularly with respect to eliminating poverty. The panel started off stating that the notion that we will always have the poor with us must be banished forever and a commitment to eradicating poverty must be the priority of the religious communities around the world. The panel was interesting in that it included three representatives from the United States, a “donor” country and three representatives from “recipient” countries, including Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It was a very rich discussion, the more so because Sr. Joan Chittester, Jim Wallis and Rabbi David Saperstein were among the panelists, so it was one of those religious Who’s Who panels. Chittester was remarkably challenging in her call for churches in the United States to get serious about MDGs and to acknowledge the sexism that lies underneath the lackadaisical efforts to eradicate poverty (noting that 2/3 of the people in the world who are living in poverty are women). I was struck with how the panel felt frustrated at the low level of commitment to the MDGs that they perceive, not only by the US government and other governments of the wealthy nations that signed on in 2000, but also by what they feel is lukewarm attention by religious communities. My experience in my own diocese and in the Episcopal Church USA is that we have made the MGDs a big priority and that lots of churches and dioceses are working very hard on MDG related missions. I felt lucky to be part of the religious community that is taking them seriously.

Then I went to a panel on how spiritual progressives can work to move religious communities from a focus on individual salvation to concern for societal transformation. One of the panelists was Rabbi Michael Lerner and I enjoyed seeing him in person, having worked as a member of the Network for Spiritual Progressives clergy advisory group with him for a couple of years. The other two panelists were equally compelling, particularly a Hindu swami who told his story of growing up an “orthodox” Hindu and coming of age questioning some of the basic tenets of Hinduism, particularly the caste system and its acceptance of and perpetuation of discrimination against those it calls untouchables. This man has moved from that traditional form of Hinduism to a more radical form in which the caste system is not acceptable. Swami Agnivesh has worked all over the world in impoverished communities. His testimony about his own journey was truly fascinating. The third panelist was another American rabbi who also was a powerful story teller and engaged in significant anti-poverty work in various places around the world. The Q&A session was also lively, as one Hindu man took issue with the Swami’s criticisms of “traditional” or “orthodox” Hinduism.

During the lunch break I came back to the hotel and when I returned to the Convention center, the Buddhist monks were doing a spiritual dance featuring monks in lion costumes who were dancing to the beating of drums. It was quite a performance. I’ve included a picture with this post to give you a flavor!!

My afternoon sessions included a panel discussing how Jesus is viewed in non Christian religions, looking at some parallels between the life of Jesus and the Buddha and how Shia Muslims regard Jesus and what the Qur’an and Shia hadiths have to say about Jesus. That session made for some interesting conversation, to say the least!

The final session I attended was part of a symposium at this Parliament focusing on religious leadership, particularly the role of interfaith dialogue and education in training and preparing religious leaders. We were a small group and were able to engage in lively dialogue which I found very stimulating. That particular session will be continued on Sunday and Monday and I’m looking forward to the next sessions as we get to pursue the topic in more depth. I particularly enjoyed the discussion format as it gave us the opportunity to dialogue with each other rather than merely listen to presenters speak.

The day ended with “Communities Night” where we all went off to be entertained by our own faith tradition here in Melbourne. The Anglicans walked over to a little church right on the river that has been the locus of ministry to seafarers since the late 19th century. The church is tiny, but the pulpit is huge as it is shaped like the hull of a ship!! We had evensong and then a reception with tea, sandwiches, wine and cheese and a chance to talk with local Australian Anglicans about life here. I met Dain and Constance Perry with whom I’ll be presenting the film “Traces of the Trade” on Tuesday and we enjoyed a chance to get to know each other a bit and to figure out how we’re going to lead our session together.

So another full day and I’m going to call it a night, do a little light reading and get to sleep early. I’ve got Buddhist chanting and meditation to start off my day tomorrow!