Vol.III, No. 2 (Jul-Dec 2008)

Contents:

PILGRIMS OF PEACE gathered for the URI GLOBAL ASSEMBLY in MAYAPUR, INDIA

The United Religions Initiative (URI) held its second Global Assembly (GA08) on November 27^th to December 5^th, 2008 in Mayapur, West Bengal, India. The much-anticipated event brought together in one unprecedented grassroots global gathering some 200 global interfaith leaders and around 100 interfaith youth delegates representing diverse religions, spiritual expressions and indigenous traditions from 44 countries... read more

Editorial: SOWING PEACE

by Marites Guingona-Africa , URI Global Trustee & URI-SEAP Regional Council Chairperson

Last September, in the Southeast Asia Pacific region, the desire for lasting peace in the conflict-prone Mindanao region of the Philippines motivated the Peacemakers’ Circle to take the lead in bringing together peace advocates in Manila in support of those adversely affected by the conflict that had flared up in the wake of the aborted signing of the of the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)... read more

LOVE IN LUJIANG: Finding the meaning of true love and healing through filial piety

Reflections by Dr. Amir Farid Bin Dato Isahak, URI - SEAP Global Trustee

My second trip to China this year was again at the invitation of the Most Venerable Master Chin Kung, founder and spiritual sifu of the worldwide Buddhist Amitabha society. In May, I went with him, his disciples and Malaysian religious leaders on an educational tour of Beijing and Xinjiang.

This time we went to Tangchi, a small rural agricultural town with about 50,000 residents. It is located in Lujiang county, Anhui province. The area is calm and serene, with padi and tea cultivation being the main economic activities. It has many hot springs that provide pure alkaline water, something we were able to enjoy since it was piped into our rooms. It was autumn and the cool weather was just pleasant. Now the town is also filled with love... read more

Updates from Manila: PEACE DAY 2008

FAITHS IN HARMONY SOWING PEACE THROUGH PRAYERS, LIGHTS AND SOUNDS
The Peacemakers’ Circle Foundation, Inc. (PCFI) and the United Religions Initiative Southeast Asia & the Pacific (URI-SEAP) Regional Office joined forces with the Sowing Peace for Mindanao network* in organizing a back-to-back peace event in Quezon City, Metro Manila on Saturday September 20, 2008, eve of the UN International Day of Peace.

Just before sunset a motley crowd of more than a hundred people lined the sidewalk along Katipunan Avenue-- in front of Miriam College-- to make a stand for peace and call for the cessation of violence in Mindanao. They were students, teachers, artists, lay and religious, members of the interfaith community, NGOs, and employees who took time from their busy schedule to gather together in order to make their voices heard. In solidarity, they wore white, and brought flowers, musical instruments and food to share... read more

Updates from Manila: SOWING PEACE CARAVAN & INTERFAITH EIDL FITR CELEBRATION

MANILA, PHILIPPINES -- An historic event took place in Metro Manila on Thursday October 2, 2008. About 30 motorcyclists and 12 vehicles carrying colored flaglets and banners of the Sowing Peace for Mindanao network drove through the streets in a Peace Caravan that called for a more intensified campaign for awareness and solidarity for the growing number of people affected by the conflict in Mindanao. Escorted by MMDA mobile traffic enforcers and several media crew, the convoy—composed of members representing the different peace organizations, religious communities and interfaith groups had earlier assembled at the Miriam College parking lot in Quezon City, and traveled all the way to Maharlika Village in Taguig City... read more

Updates from Manila: GRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP TRAINING WORKSHOP ON MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

MANILA, PHILIPPINES— The Peacemakers' Circle Foundation, Inc. (PCFI) CC, with the support of the Australian Embassy's Strengthening Grassroots Interfaith Dialogue and Understanding (SGIDU) Program, has been conducting a GRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP TRAINING WORKSHOP ON MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE in four communities in Metro Manila since June 2008. The participating communities are: Maharlika Village in Taguig City, Salam Compound in Culiat, Quezon City, Quiapo in Manila, and Tala in Caloocan City... read more

Update from Manila: ENGAGING THE MORAL IMAGINATION IN THE SEARCH FOR PEACE IN MINDANAO

MANILA, PHILIPPINES-- The Peacemakers' Circle CC, with the help of its network of partners in SOWING PEACE FOR MINDANAO (SPM), the U.S. Embassy in Manila, and the Mindanao Peoples' Caucus, successfully followed up the series of projects and activities they conducted (from August to October) with a dialogue workshop-forum last October 23, 2008. This was entitled: IN SEARCH FOR PEACE IN MINDANAO: Engaging the Moral Imagination in Community Dialogue and Relationship- Building (a leaders' dialogue workshop-forum).

The October 23 workshop-forum was held at the Hotel Rembrandt in Quezon City and was hosted by Jasmin N. Galace of the Center for Peace Education of Miriam College. Over one hundred representatives of organizations from various sectors of society--government, media, civil society, academe, religious and interfaith institutions, and the diplomatic community-- attended... read more

Updates from Kalinaw CC - Cebu

Cebu holds big International Day of Peace 2008 celebration

CEBU, PHILIPPINES— On September 19, 2008 (Friday), Kalinaw (“peace”) CC collaborated with the University of Cebu’s Civic Welfare Training Service - National Service Training Program (CWTS-NSTP) and the Advocates of Living Values Education (ALIVE) in organizing one of the biggest UN International Day of Peace celebration in the SEAP region. With over 5,500 people gathered at the newly constructed Cebu Coliseum, the grand event saw the city’s largest participation and widest collaboration so far of multisectoral, multifaith and multicultural celebration of the UN IDP in one venue.

Around 3,000 NSTP-CWTS students from the University of Cebu (UC) were joined by 2,000 from ten other schools and colleges, plus about 500 participants from local government units, civil society groups and non-government organizations... read more

Updates from Cebu Youth CCs

CEBU YOUTH CCs ENGAGE IN PRAYERS FOR MINDANAO ON PEACE DAY

Reported by Jaimini dasi Araneta

CEBU, PHILIPPINES-- Youth for Peace (Prayers for Mindanao) was a very successful and very heartwarming event for all the participating youths. Giving, Respect, Opportunity, Wisdom, Transcendence & Harmony (GROWTH) CC, in cooperation with Mugna Kabataan (“youth…create!”) CC and supported by the Kalinaw CC, gathered together at the Multipurpose hall around 30-40 youths from the National Service Training Program (NSTP) of the Lyceum of Cebu (LC)... read more

Updates from Pakigdait CC- Mindanao

Pakigdait CC Leads the 27th International Day of Peace

LANAO DEL NORTE, Mindanao -- The civil society organisations of Iligan City and Lanao del Norte gave recognition to a member of the peace panel, Prof. Rudy Rodil, at the celebration of the International Day of Peace (IDP). The network of civil society organisations of Iligan City and Lanao del Norte, through the initiative of Pakigdait, Inc. CC-- in partnership with the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD-UK)-- commemorated the Peace Day on September 21, 2008 at the Balay Mindanaw Peace Centre in Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City... read more

We Continue Interfaith & Cultural Solidarity Amid Armed Conflict in Lanao

KOLAMBUGAN, LANAO DEL NORTE, MINDANAO-- It was a moving moment. Christian leaders waited outside the town’s main Mosque in celebration of solidarity with Muslims on the last day of Ramadhan. Muslims were greeted outside the Mosque after they completed their worship (Sambayang) by the Christian leaders with offering of warm embrace, flowers, garlands, and fruits. It highlighted the celebration of the Eid’l Fit’r, the feast signifying the end of the month-long fasting... read more

Updates from MALAYSIA CCs

International Day of Peace – Malaysia

PETALING JAYA & TAIPING, MALAYSIA--The 2008 International Day of Peace is commemorated in Malaysia in many fronts. In one of these celebrations the Interfaith Spiritual Fellowship (INSaF)/KLCC, and Malaysian Interfaith Network CC, joined partners--the Service Civil International (SCI)-Malaysia, Malaysia for World Peace (M4WP), and Malaysian Indian Youth council -- in a 2-day event aimed at touching the hearts of the participants with peace activities that involved children, youth, schools, non-government organizations (NGO), and local council units... read more

Updates from COMMON CC - Australia

Sharing our Space: Multi-faith Healing Conference held by COMMON CC

VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA-- In celebration of the UN International Day of Peace 2008 Center for Melbourne Multifaith and Others Network (COMMON) CC successfully organized the annual MULTI-FAITH WEEK that kicked off with a Multi-faith Healing Conference entitled: SHARING OUR SPACE—held on its first day on September 21, 2008... read more

URI BOWES AWARD 2008 in SEAP

The Bowes Awards were established by the URI to recognize and catalyze innovation and cooperation among Cooperation Circles and the individuals and organizations in their communities. CCs are doing amazing interfaith work throughout the URI community, and the Bowes Awards is to lift up model action projects in each of the eight regions, all which embody the Preamble, Purpose and Principles of URI.

The Bowes Award Project, Leadership Training in SEAP Region will be conducted on March 16-18 in conjuction with the next Regional Meeting which will be held in Lanao del Norte, Mindanao (Southern Philippines)... read more

HONORING MOVERS in the Southeast Asia & the Pacific

by Marites Africa & Shakun Vaswani

As we take the next steps forward in our journey towards building and strengthening URI in our region, some of us who have journeyed the longest--and have seen how URI in our region has grown through the years-wish to express our gratitude to all the wonderful people in the region who have helped give birth to URI in our part of the world.

In the spirit of gratitude, joy, and love, we have humbly attempted to recognize and honor them--the MOVERS of URI in Southeast Asia-Pacific--by presenting each one of them to the URI global list serve (one person a week in the past few months) with a brief write-up on their invaluable contributions to the URI in our region. We hope you will be inspired, as we have been, by the beautiful and colorful tapestry of diversity and uniqueness that is being created by the efforts and contributions of each precious MOVER in our part of the world. We give you a glimpse of a few of these MOVERS here—the past and present Global Trustees of SEAP…read more

Reflections/Quotes on Mayapur GA08 from SEAP delegates

Padmini Solomon (Nur Damai CC - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

In a world where there is much religious exclusivity and negative religious fundamentalism, the fact that ISKCON opened its doors to the URI GA is amazing and impressive. It shows what friendships across religious barriers can achieve as well as how the “moral imagination” of URI’s global and regional leadership enables diversity to thrive and be honoured and celebrated...

... read more quotes

CATHARSIS OF THE SOUL: A Young Leader's Experience in Mayapur

YLP delegates sharing on the role of the youth in global interfaith action

Reflections on the Young Leaders Program & GA08

By Sharon Danisha M. Vaswani*

Who would have thought that a short stay in a little rural town with a population of just over 9,000 in West Bengal, India would have such a profound effect on me?

Not that long ago, my world was amazingly cosmopolitan in comparison to the outlying villages around Mayapur but, I must admit that when I first arrived in Sri Mayapur Dham last November 24, I was surprised at the big complex of the Temple and buildings, all painted pink & white in a garden setting and at the bare foot ISKCON pilgrims walking across the campus silently chanting the Hare Krishna mantra with their prayer beads. Mayapur Dham, 130km north of Calcutta across the Ganges River, is the Spiritual Capital of ISKCON. Considered as one of the most holy and peaceful places in all of India, it amazingly houses over one million pilgrims each year.

Mayapur Dham was also the venue for the Young Leaders Program and the 2^nd Global Assembly of the United Regions Initiative held from November 24 to December 6, 2008 where I was privileged to be part of the delegation from the Philippines and experience beautiful and enriching moments... read more

A message from the URI hub: Mayapur GA08 Reflections

a letter from URI Executive Director,
REV. CANON CHARLES P. GIBBS

The Global Assembly that once unimaginably far off is over. The seeds planted here in these two weeks will grow and bear fruit for decades to come. None of the pilgrims who were privileged to pass this time in Mayapur will ever be the same. And neither will URI. We will be challenged, grow and flourish in ways we can't begin to predict because of all the connections that have been made here by URI's pilgrims of peace from many paths with one purpose.

At one point in our closing ceremony, I found myself in a large circle 300+ people of diverse religions, spiritual expressions, and indigenous traditions from throughout the world as we honored the pilgrims from each region by calling them into the center of the circle, where they were graced by a special song sung by a fellow pilgrim from a different region... read more

Prayer Song for Peace

This is the third prayer from the eight prayers of Lord Chaitanya sung by devotees. See Lyrics

Editorial: SOWING PEACE

Last September, in the Southeast Asia Pacific region, the desire for lasting peace in the conflict-prone Mindanao region of the Philippines motivated the Peacemakers’ Circle to take the lead in bringing together peace advocates in Manila in support of those adversely affected by the conflict that had flared up in the wake of the aborted signing of the of the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

The long years of building relationships between the grass roots Muslim, Christians and Lumads communities came to nothing and once again attitudes of mistrust and fear were awakened and began to create divisions among peace loving people in the different communities.

We laud the Peacemakers’ Circle CC for taking the timely lead to bring together peace advocates to join forces to sow seeds of peace for Mindanao through prayers, press conferences, meetings and various peace building activities. Likewise, we commend the work of URI Cooperation Circles all over the country and around the region that celebrated the UN International Day of Peace 2008 in September, and including in the heart of their interfaith prayers the peace in Mindanao and the whole of Southeast Asia-Pacific.

Under the prevailing situations of violence, strife and injustice in many countries of the world—like the bombing in Mumbai and the uprising in Bangkok-- it was also an opportune time that in November, over 300 youth and adults from over 40 countries journeyed to India as “Pilgrims of peace” to participate in the 2nd URI Global Assembly in the Mayapur. This was a time to celebrate our diversity, deepen our community and to engage in mutual learnings, trainings and make action plans for the next three years.

During the assembly it was heart warming to see youths and adults from different faiths engage in conversations in friendship and respect and enjoying the experience of being together and inspiring each other with their stories.

These are challenging times and as people of faith let us continue to engage in interfaith dialogue and plant seeds of hope for peaceful and harmonious societies in our countries.

Yes, let us all unite in the URI global family in the spirit of kinship and love to sow seeds of peace, justice and healing in our region and indeed the whole world!

May 2009 turn out to be a more Peaceful and Productive Year for All!

Love,

Marites Guingona-Africa
Chairperson, URI-SEAP Regional Council
Vice-Chairperson, URI Global Council

LOVE IN LUJIANG: Finding the meaning of true love and healing through filial piety

Reflections by Dr. Amir Farid Bin Dato Isahak, URI - SEAP Global Trustee

My second trip to China this year was again at the invitation of the Most Venerable Master Chin Kung, founder and spiritual sifu of the worldwide Buddhist Amitabha society. In May, I went with him, his disciples and Malaysian religious leaders on an educational tour of Beijing and Xinjiang (see Walking with the Monks).

This time we went to Tangchi, a small rural agricultural town with about 50,000 residents. It is located in Lujiang county, Anhui province. The area is calm and serene, with padi and tea cultivation being the main economic activities. It has many hot springs that provide pure alkaline water, something we were able to enjoy since it was piped into our rooms. It was autumn and the cool weather was just pleasant. Now the town is also filled with love.

We were there to observe for ourselves how the teaching of traditional Chinese morals, values and ethics transformed the townsfolk, with the hope that we can emulate their methods and transform our own society too. We were also to give input from our own cultural, religious and spiritual perspectives and offer comments and suggestions to improve the effectiveness of the programs, and on how to apply them to our own communities.

Master Chin Kung has given talks on peace, loving kindness and harmonious living on numerous occasions to audiences throughout the world. He has shared his wisdom with laymen, academicians, bureaucrats and world leaders. Often he is asked whether it is at all possible to change people from being quarrelsome and crime-prone to kind, respectful and peace-loving citizens. If that is possible, then we will see happier families, and harmonious communities. There will also be less crime, less conflicts, and less wars.

Master Chin Kung believes that the nature of mankind is kindness. It is improper and incorrect upbringing and education that make us otherwise. He decided to prove beyond words that this is true, and that it is possible to change families and communities to become good. The ultimate aim is to achieve world peace through moral and ethics education. This must start with the children, but their parents and elders must also be involved so that the children will not be confused by the conflicting morals and behaviours of the adults.

So with the support of kind donors, he built the Lujiang Chinese Culture Education Centre ( CCEC ) to revive the good traditional teachings to children, adults and parents in the belief that the families and communities that live by these teachings will become peaceful, successful, and prosperous. Tangchi was chosen as the venue as it was his birthplace, and this was one way of honouring it.

Lessons from the Sage

The syllabus is based on the teachings of the great sage Confucius (Kung Fu Tzu, 551-479 BCE), as simplified in the Di Zi Gui booklet, which teaches the “Standards of Being a Good Student and Child”, and other books of morals, good conduct and character.

The project started in 2005. The first task was getting teachers who believe in the same dream and aspirations, and were willing to become models to the students and the community. Fortunately, there were enough committed people who were willing to be trained, led by Teacher Cai and Teacher Chou, who all along believed in the teaching of the traditional values as a means of transforming the world for the better, and were willing to dedicate their lives to this noble cause.

It is under their leadership, with the guidance and wisdom of Master Chin Kung, that the first batch of teachers was intensively trained for 2 months until they became models of good values, virtues and character. By 2006, CCEC was ready to spread its teachings. Only then did the centre invite children, parents and everyone from the town to become students, free of charge, courtesy of generous donors.

The teachers also went out to the community, giving lessons in the homes, village halls and courtyards, and schools. There is a permanent open-air classroom (which also doubles as a theatre) on the park by the riverside right in town, to make it convenient for the people to attend classes.

The lessons are always enjoyable and practical. Starting from teaching children to love, respect and honour their parents and elders (which the latter should reciprocate with love and care), the lessons for adults include values, virtues and morals regarding relationships between husbands and wives, within the family, among friends, in the neighbourhood, community, workplace and in dealing with the authorities, among others. Lessons also include singing, acting, arts and craft, and other activities that can instill good values, encourage usable and valuable skills, and uplift their earning potential at the same time.

Much emphasis is placed on filial piety, something that is established in all Eastern cultures, but is being gradually eroded as the younger generation gets influenced by the western norms that come through the media and TV, and their parents are too busy chasing money and worldly comforts.

Children are taught to bow to their elders, and on certain occasions, to wash their parents’ feet as a mark of love and respect. Everyone is taught to greet others with kind words, a smile, and a bow. So it was a delightful experience as we happily greeted, smiled and bowed to all the people we met, and received their greetings, smiles and respectful bows in return. How wonderful and harmonious the world can be if we all love and respect one another like this!

Values and virtues like love, forgiveness, kindness, trust, justice, integrity, shamefulness and others are painstakingly explained through examples and actual stories of people who have found imbibing these principles into their lives beneficial and life-changing. There are many such examples, of saved marriages, reconciliations, and even reformation of convicts, through the practice of these teachings. On several occasions my eyes were teary listening to these heartwarming lessons.

Amazingly, within only 3 months of the teachers reaching out to the community, there was noticeable change. People became more honest, courteous, and kind. Less rubbish was being thrown around, and people actually started to help clean up should they stumble upon such rubbish. After one year, the authorities reported that the divorce rate was reduced by 48% and the crime rate was down by 47%! As the whole town continues to transform as more and more people learn and practice the good traditional teachings, Tangchi town will indeed become a “Model Township of Harmonius Society”. It is Master Chin Kung’s dream to see the success of Tangchi being replicated in other places, including in Malaysia.

A Harmonious World Begins With Me

This method works because the emphasis is first in transforming the teachers themselves. So it is appropriate that the theme of this study tour was “A Harmonious World Begins With Me”. As Mahatma Ghandi said, we must be the change we want to see. So if you want to see a harmonious world, you must first have a harmonious personality and live a harmonious life. Then the family, community and world around you will benefit and improve a certain degree because of you.

At one interfaith meeting recently, I was asked by a non-Muslim why the Malay/Muslim community here is burdened by many social problems like truancy, poor academic performance, drug addiction, high divorce rates, etc. even though all the children go thorough religious lessons (which also teach similar good values and ethics) throughout their formative primary school years, since it is part of the school curriculum for Muslims ?

My answer was - it is not enough that the content of the lessons are good; the teachers, parents and adults around the children must themselves be living examples of what is being taught so that the children fully understand the goodness, and know how to put the teachings into practice by observing the teachers and elders. That is, the teaching method must be theory combined with living example.