Canterbury Interfaith Meet with Musical Praises

New Zealand’s Canterbury Interfaith Society held a monthly sharing session on the 19th of July and this time it is entitled “Prayers and relationship with the Divine”. Sr Bertha Hurley SMSM, a member of the Bishops’ Committee for Interfaith Relations, Dianne, the President of the Christchurch Interfaith Society, Jennifer, the Vice President and 20 more members from the Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Baha’i faiths attended the evening event. Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island New Zealand (NZ) has Vice President, James Low attending the meeting that was being led by Joseph, the representative from the Catholics.

From the experiences of each representative, they expressed that, besides paying respect to God, prayers also invigorate their kindness, hoping for inner peace and a more peaceful world. Muslim representative has then shared, for them to pray five times a day is to admire perseverance and persistence. The Sikhs has also shared that they also have their prayers divided into five parts and this is for them to appreciate survival in the morning, could be with friends and family in the afternoon and to thank fate with all Gods giving in the evening. Sr Bertha from the Catholics then conveyed a prayer is actually a conversation between God and the person praying. This practices inner goodness and grow a more charitable heart for everyone. James then represented the Buddhists and explained chanting the sutras is to have the teachings of Buddha to be kept in mind, at the same time, understanding the Dharma is also to repent to all the wrong doings before which retains the mind to be diligent in keeping the heart on vowing to learn better with everyone. Practicing Buddhism does not limit to only chanting, copying sutras, and meditation, everyday work is also practicing Buddhism. The host then thanked everyone for the wonderful sharing and gave a brief report on upcoming activities for future months.

Meanwhile, when Vice President James and Sr Bertha were sharing information, the Sister said although she could not attend “Siddhartha the Musical”, she received a DVD and have enjoyed watching it. She feels the professionalism and the earnest heart of the Catholic actors and hoped that the end song for the musical, “We Are One” could be used as the theme song for this year’s Christchurch prayers for World Peace. James thanked the compliment of Sr Betha and have invited all presidents and vice presidents of all faiths to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony of “One-Stroke Calligraphy” that will be held at Christchurch Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery. Everyone has joyfully promised to attend.