Community updates at Tracy:
Interfaith Community Breakfast, Oct 24th (9:30-11:30am):
Interfaith conference is coming to our Tracy Bhawan on Oct 24th. Please see below for invitation.
Interfaith Community Breakfast Event Report
By Prafull Lande
On Saturday, Oct 24th 2009, the Sant Nirankari Mission (SNM), Northern California Chapter hosted interfaith community breakfast event in Tracy, California. The event was organized to by ‘Interfaith America’ for the purpose of ‘Celebrating Unity of All Faiths’ and attended by around 60 delegates from different faiths and religions. Interfaith America was founded in Dec. 2008, and since January has held quarterly breakfast programs designed to make real the “Beloved Community” of which Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed and spoke. Interfaith America seeks to build heart-to-heart connections between people beyond all the barriers, which have divided us in the past.
The event started at 9.30 in the morning with greetings by Rev. David Rosenblum, who is the co-founder of Interfaith America. It followed by a group prayer and everybody sat together for breakfast while Mark Denni, co-founder of Interfaith America played some beautiful music on guitar. The breakfast was arranged by Rev. Gurvinder Singh and his family as their service to this noble cause and was greatly appreciated by everyone. After breakfast everyone gather together in the main hall. Rev. Dev Raj Vijh, Parmukh (Chief), SNM Northern California thanked and welcomed all participants. Mrs. Manjeet Rai representing SNM as the host speaker inaugurated the event with lighting four candles. Explaining the meaning behind that symbolic gesture, she said that although these four candles have different color and fragrances, the light that they are spreading is the same. So are the religions of the world. Apparently they might look different but they all have same divine light. In her opening speech she spoke about Sant Nirankari Mission’s message of love, peace and universal brotherhood. She also mentioned about Swami Vivekanada’s vision of Universal religion and how SNM is making that vision a reality under the guidance of Spiritual master His Holiness Hardev Singh Maharaj.
After Mrs. Rai’s opening address Rev. Anderson Pamilton, Pastor, Corinthian Baptist Church of Stockton was invited as the first designated speaker. His was a very powerful speech, which highlighted one important message pertaining Interfaith. He said, we all have to come together as one unit. Not as Black or Whites but as Humans. There is only one race in the world and that is human race. As humans we need to be considerate to all. He reiterated holy Bible’s message “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”
Rev. Ben Venkatesh representing Shiva-Vishnu temple of Livermore was the second designated speaker of the morning. He started his speech with Vedic prayer. During the speech he said that being a Hindu who studied in Christian school he was always fascinated by both philosophies and devoted his time to understand both religions better and found so many parallels in philosophies of these two religions. He concluded with a quote from Hindu’s holy scripture Bhagvad Geeta “Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti” which means there is only one truth we call it by different names.
After the speeches Dr. Koya, Mark Denni and Rev. David read a few passages from different Holy Scriptures as part of world scripture reading. Participants were divided in different groups and every group was asked to discuss and share ideas with each other and one speaker from each group summarized key points discussed with the audience. In one group a young participant Nitpreet was given the responsibility to represent his team and he confidently and beautifully expressed the idea that religion teaches to unite and love. Priest Rev. Narinder Pal Singh (Pali Noor) shared with his team His Holiness Spiritual Master Hardev Singh Maharaj’s quotes and Mark Denni highlighted those words in his summary speech. Those words were “It is nice to be important but it is more important to be nice.” And “Beauty of life doesn’t depend on how happy we are but how we make others happy.” Another participant quoted “If we cease to love we cease to live.” Rev. Devraj Vijh quoted "'Talking is good, listening is better but action is the best". Rajesh Fandan representing his group mentioned that his young team member Bhavana liked one thought that was said during the event and that was “Saving one person’s life is like saving humanity.” In his concluding remarks he said one lit candle can lit all other candles which means the enlightened one has the power to give others the light of God knowledge.
After the group discussion everybody joined in closing prayers that were said by Dr Hanif Koya. After the prayers SNM presented a short documentary on the theme of “Harmony of Faiths” and it gave everyone a glimpse of mission’s activity in the area of Interfaith and universal brotherhood.
The event was a great success especially with youth participating in big numbers. Next Interfaith community breakfast will be held in Jan 2010.
Report from Bay Area Family Church.......
On October 24th, 2009, about 65 people from different religious backgrounds gathered for an Interfaith Community Breakfast at the Sant Nirankari Mission hosted by Interfaith America under the theme “Celebrating the Unity of All Faiths”.
October 24th, 2009
by Kaori Zinke
On October 24th, 2009, about 30 people from different religious backgrounds gathered for an Interfaith Community Breakfast at the Sant Nirankari Mission hosted by Interfaith America under the theme “Celebrating the Unity of All Faiths.”
Following a healthy and delicious breakfast of traditional Indian and American food, everyone took off their shoes, and gathered in the sanctuary. For me it felt very special to be there because I had heard about the San Nirankari Mission movement, but now I was experiencing it.
Their main goal as a spiritual movement is to spread the message of universal brotherhood – that we are all family regardless of what ethnic, religious or any other background we have. Before the speakers went up to give their presentations, Dr. I.S. Rai, President of the Sant Nirankari Mission, welcomed us with the lighting of four different candles. Each candle was a different color and gave off a different scent when lit. There was one tall and luminous white candle that was used to light all of the other colorful candles. Each candle represented a different religion, while the white candle and its flame represented God’s light, or love. So as the candles were lit, we could see that although each candle was different, they all burned with the same light, the same flame. In this way I could really feel that although all of us have different thoughts and beliefs, we can all unite and become as one through the power of God’s love.
Each of the speakers shared with the audience with the message of mankind as one universal family, and how we need to help each other instead of making enemies with each other. Reverend Anderson Pamilton, Pastor of Corinthian Baptist Church of Stockton, invoked in the audience a feeling that we are all part of the same team. It doesn’t matter whether that person is black, and the other one is white; the main point is that we all need to work together and unite in order to improve this world. He quoted the Bible, “How good it is when brothers and sisters dwell in unity,” and also said, “We have to get prepared down here in order to go to the place up there.” His simple, but profound message made me realize that we are a team, that we can celebrate our differences instead of rejecting them, and use our unique skills and resources we have to make the world a better place.
Dr. Ben Venktash, who practices Hinduism, said he felt blessed to be in the presence of so many enlightened souls. He spoke about miracles, quoting from Albert Einstein, who said “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” He connected the idea of creation beginning as light in the Hebrew Bible, with the primal sound of Om which marks the creation in Hindu scriptures. Dr. Venktash’s speech helped me understand and open my heart towards the Hindu faith.
After hearing selected quotations form the World’s Scriptures, we were given the opportunity to get into groups and do a short interfaith dialogue: to discuss about our own faiths and beliefs, and about the idea of interfaith work amongst all religions. As each group’s representative got up to speak, different messages were given, but all came under a message of uniting as family, as brothers and sisters, under our Father God.
One group realized that as we lose our ego, we come closer to God. Also, they noted that unless we realize that we are all of one Father, God, we cannot exist as brothers and sisters. Another group, headed by Richard Zinke, expressed how the family is the school of love, and especially that the grandparents are the head of the family, and the seed of love. There was one especially important saying in my dialogue group that really stood out: “Talking is good; listening is better; action is best.” When one of the members from my group said this, I realized that this interfaith meeting was just the starting point of a greater effort to work together, as different religions and faiths, to improve the world, little by little. I began to see how, as religious and faith groups, we could start working together and contributing our time and resources to do service projects, and to help those in the community who are in need. Finally, the last group shared the importance of spreading God’s message of love and brotherhood, and that the ultimate cause of fighting in the world is because of ignorance. Many people still do not know the important message underlying interfaith work, which is being able to live and work together as one family under God. However, understanding this point is essential to solving many of the conflicts in the world and creating greater peace among all people.
I really felt a spirit of love and brotherhood at this interfaith breakfast. On a more personal level, I was able to meet Sandra Mirabal, a lady who has gone through many hardships in life, but who still has such a strong faith in God. We both shared about our lives and our faith with each other, and the different things we were going through, and we comforted each other. In addition to feeling a sense of unity between the people of different faiths present at the event, I was able to gain a wonderful friendship. The benefits of this program lie not just in the message itself, but in the friends of faith that I made along the way.
We all look forward to the next event in January, 2010. For more information please visit the Interfaith America website, the Sant Nirankari Mission website and blog and the Interfaith America facebook group.
Report from Bay Area Family Church.......
Interfaith Community Breakfast-CELEBRATING THE UNITY OF ALL FAITHS
November 1, 2009
On October 24th, 2009, about 65 people from different religious backgrounds gathered for an Interfaith Community Breakfast at the Sant Nirankari Mission hosted by Interfaith America under the theme “Celebrating the Unity of All Faiths”.
October 24th, 2009
by Kaori Zinke
On October 24th, 2009, about 30 people from different religious backgrounds gathered for an Interfaith Community Breakfast at the Sant Nirankari Mission hosted by Interfaith America under the theme “Celebrating the Unity of All Faiths.”
Following a healthy and delicious breakfast of traditional Indian and American food, everyone took off their shoes, and gathered in the sanctuary. For me it felt very special to be there because I had heard about the San Nirankari Mission movement, but now I was experiencing it.
Their main goal as a spiritual movement is to spread the message of universal brotherhood – that we are all family regardless of what ethnic, religious or any other background we have. Before the speakers went up to give their presentations, Dr. I.S. Rai, President of the Sant Nirankari Mission, welcomed us with the lighting of four different candles. Each candle was a different color and gave off a different scent when lit. There was one tall and luminous white candle that was used to light all of the other colorful candles. Each candle represented a different religion, while the white candle and its flame represented God’s light, or love. So as the candles were lit, we could see that although each candle was different, they all burned with the same light, the same flame. In this way I could really feel that although all of us have different thoughts and beliefs, we can all unite and become as one through the power of God’s love.
Each of the speakers shared with the audience with the message of mankind as one universal family, and how we need to help each other instead of making enemies with each other. Reverend Anderson Pamilton, Pastor of Corinthian Baptist Church of Stockton, invoked in the audience a feeling that we are all part of the same team. It doesn’t matter whether that person is black, and the other one is white; the main point is that we all need to work together and unite in order to improve this world. He quoted the Bible, “How good it is when brothers and sisters dwell in unity,” and also said, “We have to get prepared down here in order to go to the place up there.” His simple, but profound message made me realize that we are a team, that we can celebrate our differences instead of rejecting them, and use our unique skills and resources we have to make the world a better place.
Dr. Ben Venktash, who practices Hinduism, said he felt blessed to be in the presence of so many enlightened souls. He spoke about miracles, quoting from Albert Einstein, who said “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” He connected the idea of creation beginning as light in the Hebrew Bible, with the primal sound of Om which marks the creation in Hindu scriptures. Dr. Venktash’s speech helped me understand and open my heart towards the Hindu faith.
After hearing selected quotations form the World’s Scriptures, we were given the opportunity to get into groups and do a short interfaith dialogue: to discuss about our own faiths and beliefs, and about the idea of interfaith work amongst all religions. As each group’s representative got up to speak, different messages were given, but all came under a message of uniting as family, as brothers and sisters, under our Father God.
One group realized that as we lose our ego, we come closer to God. Also, they noted that unless we realize that we are all of one Father, God, we cannot exist as brothers and sisters. Another group, headed by Richard Zinke, expressed how the family is the school of love, and especially that the grandparents are the head of the family, and the seed of love. There was one especially important saying in my dialogue group that really stood out: “Talking is good; listening is better; action is best.” When one of the members from my group said this, I realized that this interfaith meeting was just the starting point of a greater effort to work together, as different religions and faiths, to improve the world, little by little. I began to see how, as religious and faith groups, we could start working together and contributing our time and resources to do service projects, and to help those in the community who are in need. Finally, the last group shared the importance of spreading God’s message of love and brotherhood, and that the ultimate cause of fighting in the world is because of ignorance. Many people still do not know the important message underlying interfaith work, which is being able to live and work together as one family under God. However, understanding this point is essential to solving many of the conflicts in the world and creating greater peace among all people.
I really felt a spirit of love and brotherhood at this interfaith breakfast. On a more personal level, I was able to meet Sandra Mirabal, a lady who has gone through many hardships in life, but who still has such a strong faith in God. We both shared about our lives and our faith with each other, and the different things we were going through, and we comforted each other. In addition to feeling a sense of unity between the people of different faiths present at the event, I was able to gain a wonderful friendship. The benefits of this program lie not just in the message itself, but in the friends of faith that I made along the way.
We all look forward to the next event in January, 2010. For more information please visit the Interfaith America website, the Sant Nirankari Mission website and blog and the Interfaith America facebook group.
Picture Coverage: Interfaith Community Breakfast
AFP Annual Holiday Gathering
December 8, 2009
On Saturday, December 5, 2009, thirty Ambassadors for Peace of Northern California, representing fifteen nationalities, met for a Holiday Gathering at the home of Alain & SiewLian LeRoy. Following an opening prayer by Dr. Rai from the Sant Nirankari Mission in Tracy, we shared a delicious potluck dinner.
Ambassadors for Peace Association of Northern California
Annual Holiday Gathering
Annual Holiday Gathering
Rev. Kevin Thompson, pastor of the Bay Area Family Church, was our keynote speaker for the evening. Pastor Thompson presented a summary of Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s recently published autobiography “A Peace Loving Global Citizen.” The most amazing thing about Rev. Moon, said Pastor Thompson, is that he never quit, he never gave up, in spite of the persistent opposition he encountered at every turn.
Dr. Mehri Pirooz told us how she left her home country of Iran, pregnant, with her other children in tow, and a very small amount of money, survived and prospered with faith in God. Ms. Marilyn Harris of the Khadafy Foundation for Non-violence, told of her challenges helping families cope with losing children to urban violence. Dr. Rai thanked all for the invitation, and said the Ambassadors for Peace and the Sant Nirankari Mission embrace very similar values.
Bishop Andre Jackson shared a personal testimony on the value of moral purity in the family, and home. He reminded everyone what a true Ambassador for Peace is, and how one’s spirit should manage our bodily desires. Mr. Bill Richie, with Service for Peace, reflected on the value of modeling Rev. Moon’s life-long, Christ-like standard and example, in our own, daily lives.
Grazyna Hagen prepared beautiful jade plants, as holiday gifts for everyone. Before closing the evening, by popular demand, we sang a rousing verse of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” We all headed home in joyous holiday spirit, with renewed hope in the support and encouragement of our fellow “Ambassadors.”
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