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The Parliament of the World’s Religions
In 1893, the first Parliament of World’s Religions (PWR) was held in Chicago. It was notable for a groundbreaking speech by Swami Vivekananda which introduced Hinduism to Western audiences and marked the beginning of interfaith dialogue. In 2009, the Parliament came to Melbourne and from the 3rd to 9th December the city was alive with spiritual leaders of all denominations.
Swamiji, Ma Devi and members of the Shiva Ashram were involved in various ways in this historic Melbourne event and the following is a record of some of the highlights of an epic and rewarding week.
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Hindu Community Night: Shiva-Vishnu Temple (4 December)
The Hindu Community Council of Victoria (HCCV) hosted an event at the Shiva-Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs inviting Mahatmas and other Hindu delegates to the Parliament. It was an evening of pujas, chanting, speeches and prasad. After various pujas were performed in the temple, the Shiva Ashram chant group sang beautiful bhajans in a marquee. Swamiji joined them on stage as did Bhakta Dasa, our good friend from ISKCON. After the arrival of the Mahatmas, Swamiji welcomed the assembled crowd as the Patron of the HCCV. Each of the eight Mahatmas then gave speeches and, afterwards, all were invited to receive prasad.
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Maha Satsang (5 December)
The following night Swamiji hosted an event at the Ashram in joint sponsorship with the HCCV. It was a magical evening in which we were graced by the presence of Indradyumna Swami and Yadunandana Swami (both senior swamis from ISKCON); Swami Sandeep Chaitanya (a disciple of Swami Chinmayananda); Swami Murugananda (a disciple of Swami Krishnananda) and Andrew Cohen (teacher and founder of EnlightenNext magazine). Swami Ma Devi also joined the group of Mahatmas. The mandap filled to overflowing with joyous devotees. After a puja by Sri Raghavan (a priest from the Shiva-Vishnu Temple), and opening words by Abhay Awasthi (President of HCCV), Swamiji warmly welcomed the assembly. He spoke about the importance of Satsang and the role of Great Beings, who awaken the Kundalini Shakti of seekers. Then he invited each of the Mahatmas to give a short speech on chosen topics, including the Guru and the Inner Self. Swamiji then teamed up with Indradyumna Swami in a Shakti-filled chant of Hare Krishna Hare Rama and the hall reverberated with ecstatic kirtan. After a meditation we all had the chance to meet the Mahatmas in darshan and then enjoy a delicious dinner provided by the Hare Krishnas, headed by Shree Goran. It was truly a night to remember.
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Who am I?: A symposium at the National Gallery of Victoria (6 December)
In the lead-up to the Parliament a series of monthly talks was held in Melbourne on the topic of ‘Who am I?’ from differing perspectives. The series was the brain-child of Swamiji and it culminated in the final event - a major symposium at the NGV - held in the Great Hall. Introduced by Isobel (Lila) Crombie, the event highlighted the responses of a groundbreaking psychologist (Jung), a scientist who probed the origins of human life (Darwin) an artist whose creativity tapped into metaphysical issues (Mondrian) and a great yogi with a profound spiritual philosophy (Ramana Maharshi). The speakers at the symposium were Swamiji (Ramana Maharshi), Patrick Mahaffey (Jung), Doug McCann (Darwin) and Jason Smith (Mondrian). Over 450 guests enjoyed the rich and fascinating responses to this most profound of questions.
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Shiva Ashram dinner (7 December)
On 7th December, our Brighton centre leaders, Alan and Maria, transformed their beautiful centre into the venue for a wonderful dinner. Swamiji and Ma Devi hosted Andrew Cohen (editor EnlightenNext) his wife, Alka and assistant Jeff, along with Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami and Paramacharya Palaniswami (respectively, publisher and editor-in-chief of Hinduism Today) and the assistant editor, Senthilnathaswami. This was the first time that the editors of these two major spiritual publications had been together, representing contrasting positions: one traditional, the other cutting edge. A lively spiritual conversation, reminiscent of Vedic times, ensued. Swamiji had Nick Brash ask penetrating questions of the esteemed guests. The topic considered was whether thought or emotion was the more important element in sadhana. We were also joined at the dinner by Judd and Geeta from the HCCV and by Swami Govindananda, who had just arrived that day from Ganeshpuri, India. Swami Govindananda was the Ashram Manager at Baba Muktananda’s Ashram and is an old friend of Swamiji’s.
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PWR talks: (6, 7 8 December)
Both Swamiji and Ma Devi had been invited to speak at the Parliament in various programs.
Ma Devi ran a very successful Self-enquiry workshop as part of the Morning Observances on the 6th December. She demonstrated the powerful Shiva Process technique.
On the 7th, Swamiji also spoke about Self-inquiry in a session titled ‘Spiritual Practice: The Inner Search’. The noted spiritual teacher, Petrea King, also presented in that session.
That afternoon, Swamiji attended the Governor of Victoria’s Reception for spiritual leaders at the PWR at the Governor’s Residence.
‘The Swami and the Rabbi’, a very lively and affectionate moderated conversation between Swamiji and Rabbi Fred Morgan took place on the 8th December. The Rabbi and Swamiji had both come from similar backgrounds, attended Columbia University and gone to India. There, they made opposite choices. Both Rabbi Morgan and Swamiji agreed that the choices were correct for each of them and guided by the Divine. Swamiji urged practicing Jews not to fear the Eastern influence, but rather to use it to help them find the deep spirituality within their own tradition.
That same afternoon Swamiji was part of a panel discussion on ‘The Challenges and Opportunities Facing Hinduism in The West’ which was moderated by Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami. Swamiji said that Hinduism is now spreading outside of India as Buddhism did long ago. He said this is an exciting new development that is in its infancy.
In other Shiva Ashram contributions, Lila was part of the Arts and Culture Committee, which mounted 5 exhibitions at the Parliament including a beautiful Jain Art exhibition and sand mandala by the Gyoto Monks.
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