Report on The Urantia Book presence at
The Parliament of the World's Religions
Capetown, South Africa, December 1999
by Les Jamieson
Hello All,
What an incredible event this is! The 3rd Parliament of World Religions has drawn religionists from all over the world to converse about the need for greater unity, our basic commonality, economic equality and other third world issues, ending violence, ecology issues, and to celebrate all of the different cultures. There are many religions presenting perspectives on their beliefs, practices and approaches to various world issues. There are also several presentations on the many interfaith projects which are now in process, most notably throughout Africa and Asia. The overwhelming evidence is that there is a lot of hard work being done to promote world unity and peace. There are even a few lectures which bring up the possibility of one universal religion! Isn't that interesting?
There are over 800 lectures being given and I'd estimate that over 95% of them are by non-Westerners! The presenters are Muslims, Hindus, Shinto, Buddhists, Jains, Jews and just a few Christians. All in all, the lecture topics are excellent with only a few exceptions. The challenge is to try and choose which ones to go to because there are so many that are valuable.
Having the Parliament in this location appears to have a great value to all of Africa, helping the various religions of this continent to create greater cohesiveness in addressing the daunting problems they face. Having it here in South Africa is a well-deserved tribute and acknowledgement to the spirit of its people and what they've overcome. I spoke with a Jewish man from Johannesburg tonight who has been active with interfaith work for 15 years and he said a lot of progress has been made! It's very moving to learn about the struggle they've been through and the triumph of the human spirit which overcame the travesty of apartheid. The religions paid a big role in the process.
It's absolutely great being with Paula, Gard, Marvin, Christilyn, Travis and the others who made the trip. This is a very special experience to share with special people working on the dissemination of the revelation. I'm learning so much from everyone. Paula, Gard, Marvin & Travis will be doing a presentation on Sunday which is listed in the main program guide. This event is similar to a big Expo atmosphere in that we have 2 booths, one from Jesusonian representing the Fellowship and the other from the Foundation. We are exposing the UBook to many, many people who have never seen or heard of it before. Overall, there is a great interest in it. In some cases people are even passionate about what they are finding in this book! We have business cards and brochures with theurantia.org web address which is great to hand out to people. The internet is transforming the transfer of knowledge worldwide and this is fully recognized by all. There are even swami's and yogi masters here from remote areas who have email addresses!
Two of our community's younger members, Harry Menton and Michael MacIsaac, are here doing a great job representing the youth contingent. They are very involved with the conference as well as networking with young people working in the interfaith arena. They are also very active in promoting activities with the younger generation of UBook readers and have a lot of valuable contributions in the works. Also, Steve Rohrbach and Sali Randel are doing volunteer work in running the conference, so we have readers functioning in various other activities as part of the logistical personnel.
Ron & Shirley Rivas came all the way from Anchorage, Alaska, folks! How's that for going the extra mile! They were also at IC'99 in Vancouver. A lot of us had the pleasure of meeting them. They're having a great time. Peter & Eileen Laurence are also here. Peter is giving a lecture on his campus interfaith program at Wellesley College.
This experience is making some profound impressions on me and raising some powerful questions. Right now, as a movement we are so tiny in proportion to the major religions. Some of them have been around for thousands of years and are deeply established in their cultures. So, my first impression is overwhelm. However, I'm reminded that, above all, the UBook is to be a leavening, and through this approach it can find it's way into all the major religions. The teachings of unity absolutely support everything that this Parliament is about. All other religionists who have recognized the need to highlight our commonality and relatedness can be drawn to the UBook if it's introduced to them in the appropriate manner. The appeal of the book to sincere truth seekers is unmistakable. So, I can feel strongly that the future looks promising.
Another impression is that a large part of all of the major religions is based on age old rituals that the believers are very committed to. They seem to use these rituals to "act out" their religion, as if there is a need for going through various motions in order to experience their spirituality. These take place in the form of memorized prayers combined with things like hand clapping, chants, playing instruments, dances or movement, and singing. The Buddhists use yoga as part of their way of practicing religion. It seems that all of the Eastern religions utilize various forms of meditations as part of their practice. We are getting to witness many of these in the plenary sessions. I am conveying all of this because I am making the observation that we, as a movement, haven't yet developed anything in the way of practices which give us a unique identity. The fact is that Jesus really didn't leave us much in the area of ritual. However, this leads me to look at what He did leave us. He left us a way of living, a direct relationship with the Father, the concept of service, the mandate to love one another, the kingdom of the spirit which we enter through living faith, the concept of doing the Father's will, and a sublime example of how each of us can achieve the level of spiritual awareness and mastery that he achieved. I think we need to ask,are there ways which we can display these things in forms of worship which will help establish our own identity for the rest of the world to recognize us by. This would serve to help others understand who we are and what we believe. Since all other groups believe so strongly in rituals, they may be more apt to investigate the UBook if we had some meaningful practices which give them a sense of the depth of spiritual experience one can get from it. Also, we would benefit from practices which help us experience the teachings and live them individually and collectively.
There are several lectures on science and religion, and most of the speakers are from Eastern religions. This leads me to think they may have a better understanding of the cosmos, matter, energy and evolution than the traditional Christian religions. How interesting!
We've had the great pleasure of meeting two amazing gentlemen from Senegal who speak mainly French, were born into the Muslim religion, and have been reading the UBook for many years. One of them, Moussa, has been reading for 27 years! He actually teaches the UBook in a classroom format to lots of students. They study every day! Norm Ingram stayed with him for a month during his trek through Africa. These two have such warmth and dignity that their spiritual fragrance is like a magnet. They have people stopping and talking to them everywhere. It's as if they stand out without trying. So for all who long for the revelation to be worldwide and not just a western phenomenon, here is a real example of how it's spreading to another culture. Next I'd like to see one of the Eastern or Indianreligions become infused with it's teachings on a high level. Then it will truly be more than a western religious teaching.
Another impression is that the interfaith movement which is filled with so many great intentions, dedicated people, and examples of living truth will have to find a way to reach the political, business and military leaders of the world in order to really achieve success in transforming the world. I'll be looking for signs of this happening.
On the plane I sat next to a man originally from Botswana which is just north of South Africa. He was going there on business. We had a great conversation in which he made the point that the rest of the world is looking to America for values, and we're doing a bad job of it! Then some Sikhs we met here said the same thing! It turns out that African and Asian countries who's religions seem to play a bigger part in daily living see western secularism as responsible for the decline of the quality of life here. Since westerners have such a strong influence on the rest of the world, it's imperative that we clean up our act. Basically, we appear morally bankrupt to them. They point to things like the widespread violence committed by our youth. Folks, we have a lot to learn from the non-Western world. Most of these people are committed to knowing truth and living from truth.
Well, I just wanted to give a report on events here. I'll do a follow up when the conference is over.
Love to you all,
Les
A Service of
The Urantia Book Fellowship