February 15, 2012
Religion Gone Astray: Getting to the Heart of Interfaith
Presented by “The Interfaith Amigos”
Imam
Jamal Rahman
Pastor
Don Mackenzie
Rabbi
Ted Falcon
Join the authors of Getting
to the Heart of Interfaith and Religion Gone Astray as they confront
the imperatives and pitfalls of interfaith dialogue with humor and wisdom. Pastor
Mackenzie, Rabbi Falcon and Imam Rahman—now known
as the Interfaith Amigos—started working together
after 9/11. Since then, they have brought their unique blend of spiritual
wisdom and humor to audiences in the US, Canada, Israel-Palestine and Japan.
Their first book, Getting to the Heart of Interfaith (Skylight Paths, 2009), brought the Interfaith Amigos
international attention with coverage from the New York Times, CBS News, the BBC and
various NPR programs. Karen Armstrong calls their
“exuberant and courageous” second book, Religion Gone Astray: What We Found at the Heart of
Interfaith (Skylight Paths, 2011), “an inspiration and example for
all of us in these sadly polarized times.”
To learn more about the Interfaith Amigos, click here.
February 11-12, 2012
Buddhist Retreat:
Vilmalakirti Sutra
Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi
Director, Dalai Lama
Center for Ethics and Transformative Values
Massachusetts Institute
of Technology
This two day retreat
focuses on the Vimalakirti Sutra, an early Mahayana Buddhist text with dramatic
episodes and expansive views that serves as an encouragement that the highest
levels of spiritual attainment are open to laypersons. The retreat is being led by Venerable Tenzin
Priyadarshi a Tibetan monk and Buddhist chaplain at MIT, well-known for his
warm, humorous and lucid teachings.
Co-sponsored with Prajnopaya SoCal.
October 18, 2011
The Secret Jews of Italy: A Journey of Discovery
Rabbi Barbara Aiello
Founder and Director of
the Italian Jewish Cultural Center of Calabria
First Woman Rabbi in
Italy
In this lecture Rabbi
Barbara Aiello explored the extraordinary story of the secret Jews of Calabria
and Sicily. She is the first woman rabbi
in Italy and the first non-orthodox rabbi. Rabbi Aiello traces her own roots
back to Calabria where her father was raised and where she organized Ner Tamid
del Sud, the first active synagogue in the south of Italy in 500 years. Through
her work as founder and director of the Italian Jewish Cultural Center of
Calabria, many Italians have learned of their Jewish heritage going back to a
time when Jews, forced to convert, practiced their Judaism in secret and risked
their lives to hold on to Jewish traditions and values.
October 15, 2011
Dealing with Stress, Anxiety and Anger
Venerable Thubten Chodron
Internationally renowned
author, Tibetan Buddhist nun, and Abbess of the Sravasti Abbey.
In her teaching,
Venerable Chodron emphasizes the practical application of Buddha’s teachings in
our daily lives and is especially skilled at explaining them in ways easily
understood by Westerners.
September 23, 2011
A Contemplative Guide to Joyful Living
Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi
Director, Dalai Lama
Center for Ethics and Transformative Values
Massachusetts Institute
of Technology
Venerable Priyadarshi is
a Tibetan monk, well-known for his warm, humorous and lucid teachings that
reveal the relevance of Buddhist teachings in the contemporary world.
November
19, 2009
Restoring
Food Democracy
D
r. A. Whitney Sanford
University
of Florida
Dr.
Whitney Sanford received her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of
Pennsylvania, and her primary areas of teaching and expertise are Religion and
Nature and Religious of Asia. Her
current research focuses on environmental movements of the global South,
religious attitudes towards agricultural sustainability, and the relationship
between agricultural biotechnology and forms of neo-colonialism. Dr. Sanford has done extensive field research
in India and in this lecture, she presented a portion of her newest project
“Gandhi’s Environmental Legacy: Food Sovereignty and Social Movements”
investigating Gandhi’s influence on sustainability and food and water
sovereignty movements around the world. To
view this lecture, click here.
November
5, 2009
Jihad
and Radical Non-Violence in Islam
Dr. Irfan A. Omar
Marquette
University
Dr.
Irfan Omar specializes in Islamic thought with a special focus on
inter-religious connections between Islam and other religions, and on
non-violence. A student of the renowned
Islamic peace advocate, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, who was himself a companion of Gandhi, Dr. Omar was selected as a
Fulbright Senior Scholar in the Faculty of Theology of Muhammadiyah University,
Indonesia, for his work on Islam and non-violence. He has published three books, Heirs of Abraham, A Muslim View of
Christianity, and Islam and Other
Religions, and has two books forthcoming: A Christian View of Islam and
Islamic Thought in Contemporary India: An Exploration of Maulan Wahiduddin
Khan’s Al-Risala Movement. To view
this lecture, click here.
November 2, 2009
Islam Taken Capt
ive
Imam Sayed Moustafa al-Quazwini
Founding
Imam, Islamic Educational Center of Orange County
Imam
Sayed Moustafa al-Quazwini was born in Karbala, Iraq to an intellectually and
scholarly family, who traced their lineage back to the Holy Prophet
Muhummad. He initiated his higher
theological studies in Islam at the seminary in Qum, under the instruction and
guidance of prominent Muslim theologians and philosophers. In addition to being the founding imam of
Islamic Educational Center of Orange County, he has also published numerous
books and articles on Islam in Arabic and English and is an avid participant in
interfaith dialogue.
October
6, 2009
Loss of Land & Language Leads to Loss of Theology: A Native American Perspective
Dr. Inés M. Talamantez
University of California, Santa
Barbara
Inés M. Talamantez is Professor of Religious
Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A member of the Mescalero Apache tribe with a
Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, San Diego, Dr.
Talamantez is a pioneer of the field and an internationally acclaimed scholar
of Native American Religious Traditions. Coming to UCSB in 1978 from Dartmouth,
she created a doctoral program with an emphasis on Native American religion.
Karma
Matrix: A Buddhist Perspective on Time and Free Will
Determined to be Free & Free to be Determined: 