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വൈറ്റ് ഹൗസ് കോണ്‍ഫറന്‍സില്‍ ഹിന്ദു, ജൈന, സിഖ്, ബുദ്ധമതകൂട്ടായ്മ

Published on 25 April, 2012
വൈറ്റ് ഹൗസ് കോണ്‍ഫറന്‍സില്‍ ഹിന്ദു, ജൈന, സിഖ്, ബുദ്ധമതകൂട്ടായ്മ
ന്യൂയോര്‍ക്ക്: വൈറ്റ് ഹൗസ് കോണ്‍ഫറന്‍സിനോടനുബന്ധിച്ച് ഹിന്ദു, ജൈന, സിഖ്, ബുദ്ധമതകൂട്ടായ്മ ഒരുക്കി ഹിന്ദു അമേരിക്കന്‍ സേവാ ചാരിറ്റീസ് ചരിതത്രമെഴുതി. ശക്തമായ ധാര്‍മിക മൂല്യങ്ങളില്‍ വിശ്വസിക്കുന്ന വിശ്വാസി സമൂഹത്തിന്റെ കൂട്ടായ്മയില്‍ നിരവധിപേര്‍ പങ്കെടുത്തു.   Community Building in the 21st Century with Strengthened Dharmic Faith-Based Institutions എന്ന വിഷയത്തില്‍ ചര്‍ച്ച നടന്നു.

ധാര്‍മിക പ്രവര്‍ത്തികളില്‍ എങ്ങനെ കൂടുതല്‍ സജീവമാവാം എന്നതിന് കൂടുതല്‍ പ്രചോദനം നല്‍കുന്നതാവണം ഈ കൂട്ടായ്മയെന്ന് ചര്‍ച്ചയില്‍ പങ്കെടുത്ത് സംസാരിച്ച വൈറ്റ്ഹൗസ് ഓഫീസ് ഓഫ് പബ്ലിക് എന്‍ഗേജ്‌മെന്റ് അസോസിയേറ്റ് ഡയറക്ടര്‍ പോള്‍ മൊണ്‌ടേരിയോ പറഞ്ഞു. സേവാ പ്രസ്ഥാനം സാമൂഹിക നീതി നടപ്പാക്കാനുള്ള ഉപകരണമായി മറണമെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു. യുഎസ് സിവില്‍ സമൂഹത്തിന് എഷ്യന്‍ അധ്യാത്മികത നല്‍കിയ സംഭാവനകള്‍ ചെറുതല്ലെന്ന് ചടങ്ങില്‍ സംസാരിച്ച മൂന്‍ യുഎസ് സെനറ്ററും മനുഷ്യാവകാശ പ്രവര്‍ത്തകനും പ്രസിഡന്റിന്റെ ഉപദേശകനുമായ ഹാരിസ് വോഫോര്‍ഡ് പറഞ്ഞു. പാക്കിസ്ഥാന്‍, ബംഗ്ലാദേശ് തുടങ്ങിയ രാജ്യങ്ങളില്‍ സിഖ്, ജൈന, ബുദ്ധ മതന്യൂനപക്ഷങ്ങളുടെ അവസ്ഥയെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള ആശങ്ക യുഎസ് അംബാസഡര്‍ സൂസന്‍ ജോണ്‍സണ്‍ കുക്ക് പങ്കുവച്ചു.

Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs Combine for First-Ever White House Conference
- Uniting for Community Building and Social Justice -

 

Washington DC, April 22, 2012:  On April 20, 2012, Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC) made history, co-hosting with The White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Agencies and the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships an historic conference,  Community Building in the 21st Century with Strengthened Dharmic Faith-Based Institutions for the Dharmic (defined as ,Buddhist,  Hindu, Jain, Sikh) Religious  Leaders. HASC partnered with many Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Sikh organizations, including Council of Hindu Temples, Federation of Jain Associations of North America, Soka Gakkai International-USA Buddhist Association and others to create a coalition with social justice a uniting issue.

 

In his opening remarks, Paul Monteiro,  Associate Director, White House Office of Public Engagement observed that the Dharmic-American community is interested in all the same issues that everyone is interested in – healthcare, security, education, etc.  He encouraged the participants to follow up this conference with action, saying “the real measure of this conference’s success will be in how much more engaged in service the Dharmic communities become in the months ahead.”

 

“In America, our collective faith infrastructures (temples, ashrams, and meditation and yoga studios) are in early stages of development. The Dharmic Americans, mostly post 1964 immigrants, are just becoming part of the mosaic of the pluralistic landscape of America.  “As we see it, in America, the seva movement is a tool for social justice,  a way to deal with community issues.  The eastern Dharmic traditions share many commonalities. We are trying to understand how can we engage with each other collectively, what are our issues? How can more of us engage with the administration?” said Anju Bhargava of HASC, lead organizer of the event. “We hope this will be the first step in the Dharmic community coming together to explore and identify common ground and building a coalition that will strengthen each other and our nation.”

 

Former US Senator, civil rights champion and presidential advisor Harris Wofford, spoke of the profound contribution that Asian spirituality made to the US Civil Rights movement, recounting that it was a workshop on Ghandi that had deeply inspired the actions of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks on the day she refused to move to the back of the bus.  ON a personal level, it was his encounters with Gandhians in the late 1940’s that inspired his dedication to the US Civil Rights movement.   

 

During a session with Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook, United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, concerns were raised about the condition of religious minorities (Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and others) in Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as the plight of Buddhists in South-east Asia and Tibet.  Dr. Siva Subramanian, HASC Board Member called on the ambassador to bring the US Dharmic community to the table so they can work more closely with her in addressing their concerns

 

Other topics of focus for the participants were the serious challenges, including high suicide rate, being faced by Burmese and Bhutanese refugees in America; the networking of Dharmic community resources for disaster response and in support of anti-terrorism efforts; the support of religious literacy programs in the public schools and providing much needed support for dharma-based members of the US Armed Forces. 

 

"I thought this conference marked an expansion and deepening of the dialogue between the Obama Administration and the Buddhist, Hindu and Jain communities, as well as a growing recognition of the contributions these faiths are making in American society.” said  Bill Aiken, Public Affairs Director, Soka Gakkai Buddhist Association.  “And I think it got a number of the faith representatives thinking about how they can expand on and deepen those contributions."

 

Dr. Sushil Jain, President of JAINA and a retired US Navy veteran concurred, “This first Dharma Conference at the White House helped JAINA delegates understand the level of attention and priority President Obama has given to reaching out to minority faith groups in America.”

List of Participating Organizations

 Arya Samaj,Ashtanga Yoga Studio and Hindu Temple,Bhartiya Hindu Temple,Bridgewater Venkateswara Temple,Buddhist Churches of America,Buddhist Global Relief,Cambodian Buddhist Temple,Charlotte Hindu Temple,Chua giac Hoang (Vietnamese) Temple,DFW Hindu Temple,Fairleigh Dickenson University,Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA),George Washington University,George Washington University,Guruvayur Temple,Hindu Center, Charlotte,Hindu Temple of Atlanta,Hindu Temple of Metropolitan Washington,Hindu temple of St. Louis,Hindu Temple of Virgina,Hindu Temple of Wisconsin,Houston Meenakshi Temple,International Buddhist Center,International Buddhist Committee,International Society of Krishna Consciousness,Kashi Temple,M.A. Math (Amma),Mahwah Hindu Temple,Malibu Temple,Murugan Temple,Naropa University Nashville Temple,New England Hindu Temple (Lakshmi Temple),Prison Dharma Network Sanatan Mandir,SGI-USA, Youth Anti-violence program,Sikh Organization,Soka Gakkai International-USA,Council of Hindu Temples of North America,Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, Lanham,Sri Venkataswara Temple of NC ,TIPS, NRIVA,SVTP-Pittsburgh,Tricycle - The Buddhist Review,Tzu Chi Foundation #1,Tzu Chi Foundation #2,Univ of the West Buddhist Chaplain Program,UVCEF/CAACC/HCCLT,Vikramasila Foundation (Tibetan),Wat Lao Temple,Won Buddhism - USA,Zen Center for Contemplative (Hospice) Care,Inter-religious Dialogue,National Vision of Public Engagement Religions for Peace USA,Many Federal Agencies

 Organizing Committee:

HASC: Anju Bhargava, Siva Subramanian

Buddhist:William Aiken, B.N. Hebbar

Hindu:Mythili Bachu,Shashikant Sane

Jain:Sushil Jain,Manoj Dharamsi

Sik:Paramjit Labana,

കൂടുതല്‍ വിവരങ്ങള്‍ക്ക്www.hinduamericanseva.org എന്ന വെബ്‌സൈറ്റ് സന്ദര്‍ശിക്കുക.

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