Standing together for peace, humanity and non-violence

seven religious speakers representing different doctrines came together for a thoughtprovoking Interfaith Forum in Sydney to share their thoughts on humanity and peace, in an event organised by the Hindu Council of Australia.

The forum was an attempt to create more understanding of the Indian religions or dharmic religions – Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism and to draw similarities in their teachings.

On the panel were Ashay Naik, a Sanskrit scholar and a software professional; Radha Krishna Das, the principal of The Australian School of Meditation and Yoga; Dr Huzan Daver, a mental health counsellor; Harpal Singh, a social worker and a member of the Australian Sikh Association; Sri Rama Ramanuja Acarya, a Hindu priest; Ravindra Dholakia, who has been actively pursuing his understanding of Jainism; and Yogesh Arya, an Arya Samaj priest and Vedic scholar.

Sanksrit scholar Ashay Naik spoke about the goals of human life, dharma, arth and kama, and the need to strike a balance between these to ensure stability in the world. “When I was invited to speak at an interfaith forum, I wondered whether there is a need for a forum to talk about these faiths as they are very similar in their teachings. But such forums strengthen the understanding of the faiths amongst the public,” he said.

Dr Huzan Daver, a mental health counsellor and the only female speaker in the panel, used the power of meditation to explain the origins of Zoroastrianism. “The main message of Zarthushtra, the founder of the faith, was that God is wisdom. We human beings have a purpose and that is to fight the evil within us,” she said.

Harpal Singh emphasised the importance of recognizing, respecting and co-existing with fellow human beings. Speaking about the crisis across the world because of terrorism he said, “The differences amongst us are very few; there are many commonalities.” Before becoming a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or a Christian, we should try to become decent human beings, he said.

Ravindra Dholakia spoke about the need to imbibe non-violence and forgiveness to maintain world peace.

Radha Krishna Das, a Catholic by birth and a Hindu by choice shared his spiritual experience. The practitioner of yoga philosophy for the past 35 years, Das said he has not given up on Jesus, but feels that his conversion from a Catholic to a Hindu is a continuum.

“Arya Samaj follows Vedas and Vedas are based on experiences rather than mythology,” said Yogesh Arya. All faiths speak about patience, forgiveness, control of mind, truth, knowledge and absence of anger, he said.

Sri Rama Ramanuja Acarya spoke about the importance of maintaining harmony in life by fulfilling our duties, as prescribed in the scriptures.

Professor Raja Jayaraman, the vice chairman of the Hindu Council of Australia thanked the speakers and emphasised on the need to exclude violence. “Injustice does not come from religions, it comes from society,” he said. The Consul General of India, B Vanlalvawna also thanked the speakers and applauded the efforts of the organisers for creating a platform to discuss different faiths.

“Such interfaith forums are needed to have a great understanding of the dharmic religions that originated in India. This is a forum for people to be more expressive of their beliefs and practices,” said Karthik Subramanian, Hindu Council member and the organiser of this event. There have been similar forums organised by the council in Melbourne and Adelaide.

Meenakshi Seetharaman