Camila Fernandez/Asst. News Director
The program in the study of spirituality will host the coming together of different western and eastern spiritual leaders to discuss today’s lack of compassion and tolerance in our society.
On Wednesday, May 21, the Kriya Yoga Institute will begin its two-day non-political forum in GC Ballrooms commemorating the 40th anniversary of renowned Indian Gurudev Yogi Paramahamsa Hariharananda and his pilgrimage to the west.
Along with keynote speaker Arun Gandhi, spiritual leaders from divergent religions such as – Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Jainism, and Islam – will promote love, compassion, and intercultural understanding.
According to professor Nathan Katz from the department of religious studies, compassion will be viewed as a common ground of all religions, for a compassionate heart allows us to understand one another.
“My experiences with the religions of the world show me that compassion is at the core of our human nature, and different religions express or practice it differently,” said Katz who will be MC for the event.
He said that events like the symposium, hope to lead its audiences to go deep within their spiritual selves since it is beneficial to us as individuals and as members of society.
One of the six principal orators of the symposium is Indian Yogi Master Paramahamsa Prajnanananda. He is the successor in the Kriya Yoga lineage first established in the West by Paramahamsa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi.
Also, socio-political activist Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, will be the keynote speaker. According to Arun Gandhi, we not only achieve peace through nonviolence, but also by how we relate to each other.
“We all want peace, but we don’t know what it looks like,” said Gandhi in an interview with Student Media.
He said that compassion is part of our natural instinct as human beings, but we need to be active in our spiritual lives and respect one another’s religions just as much as respect our own.
“It’s all just a ritual. We read all the scriptures [such as the Bible and Torah] without really making a part of our own attitudes,” said Gandhi.
According to the event’s public relations and marketing consultant Frances Alban, there is little in the way of instruction or guidance to how we interact with thoughtfulness and compassion through social media, for example.
“I don’t think we’ve been taught to take a moment [to think] ‘Am I offending somebody?’ ‘What are the effects of my communication?’” said Alban.
She also said that events that bring different religions together don’t happen very often. They all believe that this lack of compassion and tolerance is a pressing need.
“Miami has about 300 churches or places of worship. We have a very mixed culture (different colors of religion and culture) and this event is putting that on display,” said Alban.
The symposium will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and conclude May 22 at Unity Fort Lauderdale.
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