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Interfaith dinner with members of Auckland Sri Chinmoy Centre

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Friday, 10 July 2009

On behalf of Fo Guang Shan (FGS) Temple Venerable Miaoyu and Veronica Lee, (Vice Chairperson of the BLIA, English Sub chapter) attended an informal dinner hosted by the Auckland Sri Chinmoy Centre on 10 July 2009 at their cafe. The purpose of the dinner was to continue efforts in promoting the spirit of world harmony and oneness.

Sri Chinmoy is a spiritual teacher well known for his prolific legacy of published writings, musical compositions, art and poetry and for his lifelong commitment to world harmony. Sri Chinmoy, who passed away in 2007, was a great believer in the ties that unite all the world’s religions and a strong advocate of the world interfaith movement.

Representatives of other religions also attended the dinner including: the Abbot of Quan Am Buddhist Community, Venerable Thich Phuoc An; Mr Pandit Kampta of the Hindu community; and the President of Counties Manukau Ethnic Council, Mr Gul Zaman. Also in attendance were representatives of the Muslim community and members from the Sri Chinmoy Centre. Mr Kampta and Mr Gul Zaman have previously been guests of FGS as they attended the 2009 Buddha's Birthday Ceremony to pray for World Peace.

All participants introduced themselves at the dinner. Venerable Miaoyu introduced Fo Guang Shan, its theme and aim of how Fo Guang Shan promotes and applies Humanistic Buddhism to progress world peace and oneness. Venerable Miaoyu also shared with other dinner guests the Fo Guang Shan Living Ch'an and the Five Mealtime Contemplations, focusing on how to gain inner peace and oneness through meditation.
Members of the Centre entertained the dinner guests with songs composed by Sri Chinmoy, including Toshala Elliott- the owner and manager of the café, and Mr Jogyata - a founding member of the New Zealand Sri Chinmoy centre. A brief video was also shown of Sri Chinmoy’s world travel.

Conclusion: To respect and accept other faiths, and to reach out, interact and support other groups within our community.