Common Historical and Cultural Roots of the Spiritual Traditions of the Peoples of Eurasia

27/03/2023 03:25

This was the theme of the next, third, session of the International Forum of Spiritual Harmony held on March 25 within the Days of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly in India.

Members of public, cultural and religious associations, representatives of science and education, cultural figures, members of the delegation of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly gathered at the site of the co-organizer of the forum - the Gobind Sadan Institute for Advanced Study of Comparative Religious Studies.

The forum began with the lighting ceremony of the traditional Indian peace lamp.

Among the forum participants were representatives of Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Sweden. Issues related to the search for unifying spiritual and moral principles in various religions, teachings, theological schools were brought up for discussion.

The session was moderated by: Svetlana SMIRNOVA, First Deputy Secretary General - Head of the General Secretariat of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, and Mary Pat FISHER, member of the Presidium of the World Forum for Spiritual Culture, member of the Presidium of the International Association "Peace through Culture", member of the Council of Elders of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly.

Participants were welcomed by Hardeep SINGH, Director of the Gobind Sadan Institute for Advanced Studies in Comparative Religion; Andrey BELYANINOV, Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly; Banu NURGAZIEVA, President of the Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan.

Students from Maharaja Baba Virsa Singh Primary School prepared a creative gift for the guests.

The rich and varied experience of preserving cultural traditions in India was described by: Dr. Surjit Kaur JOLLY, Secretary of the Gobind Sadan Institute for Advanced Studies in Comparative Religion; Ms. Babli KALHA, Indian Chairman of the Indonesian Wadah Foundation, along with her friends Chetna and Ankura, who sang spiritual songs.

Bishop of the Diocese of Delhi, Yuhanon Mar DEMETRIOS; Anil VERMA, Senior Project Association (Conservation), Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts,; Susanna MATTSON, a certified yoga teacher, writer, noted the importance of interreligious contacts for mutual understanding and good neighborliness of peoples.

The program of the session included video presentations from Marko VUKOVIC, Vice-President of the International Association “Peace through Culture. Europe"; Maxim MIKHALEV, Head of the Center for State and Religion in Asia, Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Ivan LAPTEV, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia, Rector of the Theological Institute of the Church of Ingria.

The speakers agreed on the need for a broad interreligious and interethnic dialogue based on spiritual culture.

The forum session ended with an introduction to the practice of honoring spiritual traditions in Gobind Sadan, an overview of places of worship of various religions, and an evening prayer ceremony at Jesus' place.

The next session of the International Forum of Spiritual Harmony is scheduled for the second half of 2023 in Samarkand (Uzbekistan).