Interfaith talk at the Worthington Library March 3 at 7:oo pm

Andras Arthen of Worthington, along with his family and other members of The EarthSpirit Community, recently returned from Australia where they joined thousands of other international participants attending the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne.

The Parliament is the oldest and largest interreligious conference in the world, having been held initially in Chicago in 1893. That particular event marked the first time that religious leaders and dignitaries from the mainstream Western faiths met formally with their counterparts from Asian religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, giving rise in our culture to an interest in such practices as Yoga and Zen which continues to this day.

The Melbourne Parliament, from December 3-9, brought together some 6,500 delegates from most of the many spiritual traditions including Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, American Indians, Zoroastrians, Pagans, Jews, Yorubans, etc. The week-long event featured over 600 workshops, lectures, ceremonies, panel discussions, and artistic presentations which provided insight into the richness and diversity of the world’s religions and addressed the roles that those institutions can play in resolving some of the major problems that we face today.

Andras Arthen, who is a member of the Parliament’s Board of Trustees, will offer a talk about the event (including a slide presentation) at the Worthington Library on Wednesday, March 3 at 7:00 pm. For more information about the Parliament of the World’s Religions, go to http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/ .